Forever the Moment

Plot

Kim Hye-kyeong is a retired handball player who has been successfully coaching in the Japan Handball League. When the coach of South Korea's women's national team suddenly quits, she is asked to fill in, but is faced with an undisciplined squad of players. Hye-kyeong tries to improve the team by recruiting some of her old teammates, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Han Mi-sook. However, Hye-kyeong's aggressiveness causes friction amongst the players, and she is replaced by former men's handball star Ahn Seung-pil, though she decides to stay with the team as a player. Seung-pil introduces modern European training methods which brings him into conflict with the older players, and things get worse when they lose a game against a high school boys' team.

Cast

Background

South Korea won the silver medal in women's handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics, following a close game against Denmark which was decided by a penalty shootout. The Koreans had lost a three-point lead in the second half, and at the end of normal time both sides were level at 25-25, taking the game into overtime. After the first overtime the score was still locked at 29-29, but South Korea were leading 34-33 in second overtime, until a late equaliser by Katrine Fruelund in the final ten seconds forced the game into a shootout, which Denmark won 4-2. In a poll conducted by Gallup Korea, 50.2% of respondents said that the women's handball finals was their favourite event of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Reception

Forever the Moment was released in South Korea on January 10, 2008. It topped the box office on its opening weekend, grossing $4,407,643, and remained at the top for a further two weeks, ahead of Hollywood films Enchanted, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Cloverfield, all released during the same period. By March 23 the film had grossed a total of $27,258,370, and as of July 13 the total number of admissions was 4,043,293.