“Right now, this plane is going to North Korea.” The South Korean action thriller, “Hijack 1971 (하이재킹)”, is based on a true story where a hijacker boldly took control of a plane bound for a South Korean airport and demanded the pilot fly the plane towards North Korea. The new film showcases the intense struggles of individuals under extreme circumstances.
We recently spoke to the 2 main lead actors from “Hijack 1971” – Ha Jung Woo (하정우) and Yeo Jin Goo (여진구) over zoom. Known for his extensive filmography, Ha Jung Woo takes on the role of Tae-in, the first officer of a hijacked passenger plane, striving tirelessly for the safe return of all passengers. With his characteristic humanity and vibrant acting, he is expected to delicately portray the psychology of a character standing at the crossroads of choice in a life-threatening moment.
Meanwhile, Yeo Jin Goo undergoes his most radical transformation in his filming career yet – playing the hijacker Yong Dae. Living under the label of “communist” and facing discrimination and prejudice during the sharp ideological divisions of the 1970s, Yong-dae decides to hijack a passenger plane out of desperation.
During our conversation, both actors Ha Jung Woo and Yeo Jin Goo recall their personal highlights while shooting “Hijack 1971” and what drew them to this particular project in the first place. Scroll down to read the interview:
A large part of the movie takes places in a plane. Was it challenging filming in a confined space?
Ha Jung Woo: The passengers were all seated side by side, it was challenging that the action scenes happened in between the gaps in such a narrow space, and under the action director’s guidance, we had to align our sequences. As most were physical scenes, it was difficult to anticipate possible injuries, so we paid a lot of attention to these factors. Overall shooting in such a small space, it’s a challenge for all – be it actors, staff, camera crew – but we managed it.
Yeo Jin Goo, was it fun taking on a villainous role?
YJG: Although I’m not personally committing a crime or being violent at others in real life, I get to immerse myself into the character. I get to experience things I normally don’t do, so personally I find it very fun and interesting. There were many memorable moments, this villain role allows me to experience things that I’d never and shouldn’t do in real life – and with this experience, I’m able to gain more experience as an actor.
Do you both see yourselves in these characters?
HJW: For me, it was difficult for me to relate to the character/see myself/own traits in the character. This is because towards the end Tae-in made a difficult decision for the sake of the majority, and I wonder if I can ever make the same decision as he did. The decision he made – it was truly admirable and respectable.
YJG: For me, Yong Dae is a character that I shouldn’t relate to, but for the role, I looked up articles of the incident and based on that information, I put in a lot of effort to try and understand the character together with the director. We also took caution in making sure I portrayed Yong Dae in an appropriate manner.
What were your favourite scenes to shoot?
HJW: My most memorable scene was when I had to go to the beach to shoot the landing scene, because we were cooped up in the set most of the time and we finally got to go outside and enjoy the cooling breeze.
YJG: Yes yes, we went to an actual beach to shoot that. And it was the last scene we had to shoot right before we started promoting the film.
YJG: In my case, it was something called the Immelmann Turn – which is when the plane makes a 360 turn. During the reading of the script, that was most intriguing to me. I’d imagine how the passengers would be upside down, as the floor becomes the ceiling, and ceiling becomes the floor. I was expecting it to be done with CGI, but we did it on set itself, all the cast including Jungwoo-hyung was flipped upside down. It’s a scene that we don’t get to see often, so I really liked it.
Yeo Jin Goo, what did you learn from working alongside such fantastic cast members?
HJW: Whenever I’m working with seniors, I feel the difference in the broadness of their horizons/perspective. In every project that I’ve taken on, I would often wonder whether I’m aligned with my character. In “Hijack 1971”, both Jungwoo-hyung and Dong-il-hyung guided me, and gave me a lot of good advice. This is what I’d like to learn most and emulate from them.
“Hijack 1971” will debut in Malaysian cinemas on 1st August.
