Korea, 1910
Grown-ups always grieved over how our land was stolen by Japan.
But the children always talked about Ninjas.
Did Ninjas really fly in the sky like birds?
Grown-ups said it was a lie made by the Japanese,
but none of the kids believed that.
How wonderful would it be if I could fly like a bird?
I dreamed every night
about flying in the sky like a bird.
I said never to bring these home!
All I do is cook, cut wood, and do the laundry!
- A woman is human, too! - What?
I'm going to school! Send me to school or kill me!
Fine! Then die, you wench!
BLUE SWALLOW
Tachikawa Flight Academy, Japan, 1927
Flight School Enrollment Slip
Fuselage repair is the basic of the basics.
The control stick, rudder, throttle valve, altimeter.
Everything is important.
Any slightest problem must be checked thoroughly!
Hello. Mr. Tokuda!
I'm Park Kyung-won, a new pilot student.
- Park Kyung-won? - Yes.
- Are you from Korea? - It's an honor to learn from you.
We'll see whether I teach you or not.
Why should Japan's best pilot teach novices? And Mr. Tokuda teaches communications.
You weaklings! Roll faster!
Faster!
Roll it harder!
Hurry up! Hurry!
Faster!
How do you expect to be a pilot if you're this damn slow?
Stop!
Get ready to fly!
Pull yourself together!
Hurry and sit!
Sit!
Full throttle!
Direction at 13 hours!
Spiral descent!
Hurry! Run faster!
Run as fast as you can!
Can't you run any faster?
- Yes, sir! - Good!
Tachikawa Cab Company
Increase altitude! At full speed!
Park Kyung-won!
- Yes! - Hasekawa called in sick!
- I have to fill in again? - This guy's a regular known for tipping well!
Where is he?
At Venus!
Mr. Isida?
Wait a sec. I'll go bring the money.
Okay, I'll wait. Just bring a lot of money for tip.
Please send cab fare to Park Kyung-won at Tachikawa Taxi
Gosh! Hello!
Five minutes late. That's a 10 yen pay cut.
Do you know Mr. Isida?
- Sure, did he send the money? - Money?
Not yet?
That darn weirdo.
He specially asked for Park Kyung-won tonight.
- Me? - To Venus.
Drive around some more?
A bit more. I'll tip you a lot, including yesterday's.
You must go to Venus often.
Well, sometimes when I'm depressed.
So are you depressed everyday lately?
Yes, I'm depressed. Very much so.
Bullshit.
What happened?
Damn it!
Wear these gloves.
Don't worry about staining them. Just quickly fix the car.
I don't wanna walk all the way home.
Now that I've met a rough world
Your hope What could it be?
Hope...
Excuse me!
Are you Korean?
I don't believe this!
Sorry about earlier.
- I didn't know you were Korean. - "Bullshit."
Bye.
Are you okay?
I'm alright. It's freezing, so hurry and go.
Bye!
Is this all?
I'm being very generous. Go somewhere else if you don't like it.
Thief!
Catch that thief!
Stop!
Hey!
Hold this!
Call the police! The police!
Give it back!
Give back the money, you bastards!
Mr. Isida!
Are you okay?
Mr. Isida!
- I told you it hurts there! - Stop acting like a baby.
So then what?
It hasn't been that long since I moved up to flight classes.
- Anyway, thanks. - No need to thank me.
If I had lost that money, I'd have to take a break from school.
It mustn't be easy making a living while going to school.
It took four years just to get into flight classes.
Wow, you're tough.
- You're pretty tough as well. - Me?
How could you hold on to them until you passed out?
- I had already passed out. - What?
I'm joking.
Who could that be? Wait a sec.
Who is it?
You bastard.
Father.
And who's she?
So you didn't even go greet the owner of Tachikawa Cab Company?
You disgrace.
You declined my offer to help you set up a cab company!
You declined going to a prestigious military academy!
Then what the hell do you want to do?
Did I send you here to disappear and play around with women?
Know how much your mother missed you before she died?
- You disgraceful bastard. - Mother...
How could you go fool around when your mother had died, you bastard!
Is that the best girl you can pick?
Are you joining the army?
Yes.
Wait.
Wear them when you fix the car again. They fit you perfectly.
- Why... - What are you waiting for? Hurry up!
Become a great pilot.
Mr. Isida!
Han Ji-hyuk! Wouldn't it be better to remember me by my Korean name?
Hurry up, for goodness sakes!
- Go Hujisawa! Go! - Kyung-won, hurry!
Kyung-won! Hurry!
Yes! Park Kyung-won!
A bit more! More!
She won!
You're the best in Korea! The best!
Kondo for the glide, Segi for the altitude climb, Park Kyung-won for the rally,
and I'll do the precision landing. The participants have been selected.
Our school's future hangs on this competition.
We must win.
Segi is a bit underdeveloped,
but if Kondo and Kyung-won show their abilities, we can win the entire tournament.
National Flight Tournament, here we come!
Korea's best pilots will be there!
- Hey! Stop shouting! Let's go, I'm starving. - Why do you always hit...
Hello!
Seventeen years old?
Yes, I dropped out of high school to be a pilot.
Then I learned about car maintenance and flight principles in no time.
- In one year? - Yes
That's amazing. Kyung-won, how long did you take?
- Almost four years? - Well, you had to make money on your own.
Anyway, nice to meet you.
- Study hard. - Okay!
Jung-hee will succeed.
Anyway, Lee Jung-hee's here! Lee Jung-hee is here!
Look up at Korea's first pilot, Ahn Chang-nam
- And down below is Korea's top cyclist, Uhm Bok-dong - Shut up!
Come on, sis. We're all Koreans here.
You little good-for-nothing!
And why am I your sis?
Pretty strong, kiddo!
Watch what you say, girlie! I'm your high almighty senior!
My heroine who I saw only in the paper is giving me a ride.
Heroine? Give me a break!
Park Kyung-won. Born in 1901. Graduated from Jahae Nursing School in Daegu City.
Height 168, Class 91 of Tachikawa Flight Academy. Presently, 45 hours and 35 minutes of flight time.
Now do you trust me?
Can...
- Can I stay with you here? - What?
I can wash your laundry, translate English books for you.
And I'll pay sixty percent of the rent.
Or, seventy percent is fine, too.
You came here by yourself, too.
Like I did.
Actually, I'm very nervous.
It's the first time for me to drink like this.
I drank to make a good impression on you.
I told you before.
You're my heroine.
Heroine.
Lee Jung-hee! You've passed level three!
Why?
A meteorology officer isn't an officer, too?
But I thought you went to the army.
- I did join. - For just a year?
A year�s a very long time in the army, and enough time to wait for me.
Who waited for you?
Are you sure you're posted in Tachikawa? How many times do I have to tell you?
I worked at the air observatory for half a year, and I applied for Tachikawa Regiment Five.
So you can go anywhere you apply to?
Yes, once I complete my duties.
You haven't changed at all despite your uniform.
You're not seeing anyone, right?
By the way, do you know Lee Jung-hee at the academy?
Yes.
- Lee Jung-hee? - Yes.
Cheers!
What's with the girls' clothes today?
Some parts should poke out and some should go in.
I get to visit Tokyo because of you. This is so great.
I missed you so much!
- Getting married again? What's with all the excitement? - Yeah, I'm excited. So what?
Watch what you say to your husband.
- Shut up, Kang Segi! - Hey! Hey!
For the Korean pilots today, drinks are on me so have all you like.
Cheers!
Hey what's wrong with you? Don't you know how to dance?
Gimme your hands and raise your arm
Well, backwards, one, two Right foot backwards tap tap
stay away from me!
Tap tap and turn!
Round, round!
Turn!
- Congratulations! - Yes?
The first female pilot in Korea, Park Kyung-won You're in the paper.
Well, one two three four!
Turn!
And that's the dance
I knew it was strange.
Why? Being adopted doesn't make me family?
Hey, teach me how to get adopted into the richest family in Korea.
Well, there's nothing to teach. Anyway, Ji-hyuk is great, huh?
Handsome, a good personality, tall and sweet!
He's my ideal man.
He's not bad of a dancer, too.
Don't even think about it. He's all mine.
That depends on me.
- My darling! - That's gross!
- My darling! - You'll wake the landlord.
Miss Gibe! Look this way!
Miss Gibe! Over here!
What kind of match is the rally?
I must jot down what's on four boards which are arranged by distance,
and then return as fast as I can.
- It's a very dangerous match. - Who the hell is she?
I heard she's a model. And mistress to the Foreign Minister, who supervises the tournament.
Gibe graduated from our academy.
She's a very good pilot and has won the rally before.
There's no reason for her not to compete.
If you had planned to change pilots, why was there a selection beforehand?
Anyway, it's already been decided.
I can't accept it, even if I drop out of this academy.
What did you say?
Winning the tournament?
With this lousy group you picked? Hey!
Watch what you say!
Although I have no idea how good you are.
Gibe played a significant role for the tournament to be held at our school.
Opening this tournament is big publicity for our academy.
The dean can't refuse Gibe's request.
Is there any way for me to join the tournament?
All you can do is work harder.
Why? Never seen a girl smoke before?
What?
Kyung-won, I noticed your bicycle while passing by here.
Why drink alone again?
Manchuria, Europe, the Pacific...
My dream is to go to the end of the world.
Know that?
A female pilot. Because I'm a woman, huh?
Fine, let's see who's better.
All aces in Japan are coming to this tournament.
The biggest flight competition in history.
I really have what it takes to win.
But what is this?
Bastards.
You know how much I waited for this tournament?
Are you sleeping?
No, I can't drink anymore.
I feel like throwing up. I wanna go home. I'm sleepy.
- The door won't open. - To the right.
To the right.
- The door won't open. - To the right!
Thanks for today. Go home safely.
Kyung-won!
Cheer up.
Until yesterday, ten students have died in flight accidents.
The next victim could be any one of you!
Remember, morse is the only lifeline between the land and sky.
1 minute to decode!
If a single person screws up, all of you will be punished!
- Got it? - Yes, sir!
Park Kyung-won.
- Prepare for flight. - Sir?
A special request by Regiment Five.
I asked them to send Park Kyung-won!
How could they refuse a request by the Military Meteorology Center?
They're borrowing the army's airfield anyway.
- What are you doing? - Collecting air!
Surveys! Pollution analysis! Weather forecasts! That's what it's basically used for!
- Altitude? - 1,200!
Wow, it's like heaven up here!
- You really wanna see heaven? - Are you gonna rise up more?
I was very interested in the climate and the sky since I was a kid.
But there's no meteorology studies in college,
and I didn't feel so good about joining the Japanese army.
I was very confused back then.
But when I heard that my mother died, I did a lot of thinking.
I just realized that I had to live by doing what I wanted.
So you weren't dragged into the army solely by your father?
Sorry?
Well, at the time your father... You remember, right?
Forget how I got beaten up after I took your money back?
Then have you forgotten how I was grateful and massaged you?
The evening air is so fresh.
Seems like the wind will blow.
- How do you know that? - I'm a meteorology officer.
The wind speed...
Can you really measure the wind speed if you do that?
Yes. Do you wanna try?
Hold on.
Like this?
Put some spit on your palm. You can feel the wind better.
And close your eyes.
Feel the wind?
What's the wind speed now?
- About two meters? - So it's this much.
If you keep doing it, you'll get a feel for it.
Oh yeah.
I collected this during our flight in order to give to you.
- What's it for? - Breathe it when you feel upset.
I also breathe it when I get upset. How can I explain it.
When I feel a bit stuffy, my chest feels relieved.
- This bottle looks strange. - It's pretty chilly.
- Cold, isn't it? - I'm okay.
But I'm fine.
He's such a big show off.
What the hell's he doing?
What's wrong with you?
This record's no use at the tournament tomorrow.
Come to the airstrip at seven tomorrow morning.
Sir?
It's Chief Tokuda's order. There will be a special training.
- Got it? - Yes, sir!
Why practice up till the tournament?
I'd like for you to be my practice partner.
Although I have no idea how good you are.
Gibe, today's your unlucky day.
Tachikawa Military Hospital
You're so lucky.
Apart from several scratches,
there are no fractured bones.
You'll have no problem participating in the tournament tomorrow.
- Why'd she save that rotten girl's life? - Hey, that's humanism between pilots.
But Kyung-won could've flew in the tournament if she had left Gibe alone.
You're unbelievable.
Kyung-won.
- I'm sorry. - For what?
- Sorry for going out without you. - Come on!
Do a good job today.
Okay, I will!
Tokuda is coming.
Great, that's it.
Very nice Segi. You're going pretty high today.
Wonderful.
A little faster!
Lift your nose!
This isn't happening. Segi can't die.
Surgery in Process Kyung-won, he can't die. He can't die.
Kyung-won, do something.
- Is he still in surgery? - Yes.
Is there anyone to replace him?
Hashimoto moved to another academy. The others are all freshmen.
Send out Park Kyung-won.
You said her skills are outstanding.
Putting her in the altitude match without any training is dangerous.
Forget that student applications and highly profitable work
pour into the winning school every year?
Our school's future relies on this tournament.
I can never give up. Persuade her and send her out.
- It's too dangerous. - Then I'll do it myself.
Send in Park Kyung-won.
Don't worry about the school. Decide for yourself.
That's all that I can tell you.
What did they say?
It's a big operation. They don't know how long it will take.
Oh no.
Kyung-won.
I'll be back.
Be careful.
Students from six academies as well as the alumni
will compete in the biggest flight competition in Japan's history.
The Tachikawa Flight Academy fills the seats.
Foreign Affairs Minister Sugihara, who sponsors the tournament, has just arrived.
The crowd is shouting with Minister Sugihara's arrival.
The minister has gone up into the VIP seats, and is waving his hand in response.
The crowd cheers!
The mood here is at its peak!
The Tachikawa Flight Academy fills the crowd. It's a magnificent sight.
The glide, rally, precision landing, and altitude climb.
In four section matches, the best pilots of the best schools
will compete in Japan's National Flight Tournament!
An introduction of the contestants from the six schools.
I heard about Kang Segi.
Thank you for saving me.
Sincerely.
The slowest descent from 3,000 meters wins the gliding match
Nakoya's Morisima is the fastest followed by Sakai's Ono.
Third place is Chudanuma. Last to descend is...
Yes! Kondo from Tachikawa!
Kondo of Tachikawa Flight Academy!
The planes approach the runway.
They've passed the goal and quickly rise!
Tachikawa's Kondo is the surprise winner!
Next is the 30-kilometer rally.
The first two planes are returning.
Chudanuma's Yasda is in the lead. Behind him is Gibe Masako!
Yasda is now leading. Gibe increases speed.
The close in on the finish line! Gibe gives her best!
Third and fourth place are coming! They pass the finish line!
First is Chudanuma's Yasda! Second is Tachikawa's Gibe!
Gibe Masako is on equal footing with the best ace, Yasda.
Absolutely amazing!
The precision landing match will begin soon.
Departing from an altitude of 2,000 meters,
they must make a quick and accurate landing at the T-mark.
Tokuda, who's predicted to win, will start the first landing!
A Tachikawa Flight Academy graduate, record holder of the longest flight,
Japan's best pilot, Tokuda!
Tokuda loses his balance! He makes a hard landing and bounces.
The plane spins. The plane loses a wheel.
The plane drags on the ground. It's a very dangerous situation.
Awing has broken.
The very likely winner, Tokuda.
He barely stops the plane. A big cut in points.
But luckily he's still alive.
The winner must reach the highest altitude in a fixed amount of time.
The altitude climb!
The Chudanuma and Tachikawa schools are nearly head-to-head in points.
This last match will determine the overall winner.
Currently, the planes are flying in air turbulence.
Nagoya's Morisima is in the lead. Second is Sakai.
Third is Tachikawa's Park Kyung-won. Fourth is Chudanuma.
Park Kyung-won takes second place.
She's right behind the leader. She's about to pass him.
Oh no, Park Kyung-won! She seems to have met air turbulence.
Park Kyung-won loses balance and falls into the clouds.
Chudanuma takes second place.
If Chudanuma Academy win this one, they'll become the overall winner instead of Tachikawa!
Park Kyung-won is still in the clouds.
The planes have passed 2,000 meters in altitude.
It's Park Kyung-won!
She's out of the clouds! The crowd cheers her on!
Park Kyung-won turns the plane's nose! She attempts a big turn!
To rise to a high altitude at the shortest time,
she risks her life and enters the clouds again.
She uses the turning force and rises.
Park Kyung-won rises in a straight line. But there's barely any time.
The other pilots have already descended.
Chudanuma and Nagoya simultaneously come down.
The altitude record is 4,000 meters.
Park Kyung-won seems to be descending.
No! She attempts a big turn again!
She's rushing into the clouds.
Tachikawa's Park Kyung-won rises straight up!
Park Kyung-won flies twice into the dangerous clouds.
An incredible fighting spirit!
Tachikawa's Park Kyung-won. She's rising at full speed.
It looks difficult, but not impossible.
She's reaching 4,000 meters.
She hasn't turned the nose yet!
She's reached 4,000 meters! She's taken first place!