- Date of Release: 31 July 2024
- Genre: Comedy
- Language: Korean
Pilot
Introduction
Often, storytellers have to resort to a light-hearted approach when dealing with sensitive matters. The reason is primarily to reach a wider audience and by putting across a view that explains instead of offends. One such movie is the Korean movie Pilot. This movie, while looks amply light-hearted, harbours a profound message for its viewers. It is quite commendable to see an open conversation happening in mainstream cinema about things are often overlooked but need to be addressed by everyone.
The movie Pilot was released in July 2024 in South Korean theatres. The movie received great love and appreciation for the cast’s performance and a good storyline. Jo Jung Suk starred in a dual role as Han Jung Woo and Han Jung Mi. Lee Joo Myung, Han Sun Hwa and Shin Seung Ho comprised of the supporting cast in the film.
Pilot Movie Plot Summary
Pilot tells us the story of Han Jung Woo, a successful pilot who loses his job after his subtly sexist comments against a fellow female pilot are brought to light. After being publicly defamed, he is on a verge of bankruptcy. His wife and child also leave him. He moves in with his sister. In order to get a job, one day he decides to disguise as a woman and apply for a position of an airline pilot. The company that rejected him as Jung Woo, now heartily welcomed him as Jung Mi. What follows after are a series of comical events as Jung Woo tries to keep up his disguise and protect his identity. The twist in the plot comes later when he befriends a fellow woman pilot and wants to come clean about his act.
Pilot Movie Review
Jung Woo, like most of his fellow male colleagues, saw nothing wrong with the comments he made during the team dinner. All men were of the opinion that calling a pretty woman pretty is nothing wrong. But they failed to see that while it is not entirely wrong, it is quite uncomfortable to hear the words that historically used as subtle forms of sexism towards women. Women colleagues who were present, kept their heads down, fearing it would cost them their job.
Such comments are not a new experience for women in workplaces, as male colleagues often think that calling any woman ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’ in a workplace is a compliment. People often miss the point that such comments often hint at underlying sexism and unwelcome advances. In a professional setting, it is imperative that everyone understands what sort of utterances are true compliments. If a woman expresses displeasure at a certain comment passed, it would be a welcome change if everyone understood and accepted it.
As the movie progresses, we see that Jo Jung Suk’s character goes through a progressive change. He realizes where he went wrong. The audience is told about his internal struggles as the man of the family, but those don’t fully justify his sheer neglect towards his family. He did let the fame and name get to his head. He lived under the illusion that as long as he had money, he and his family were happy. He lost sight of his childhood dream of becoming a pilot. He lost sight of things that were truly important in his life.
Throughout the movie, we are thrown predictable curveballs. But those do not take away from the viewing experience because the cast delivers a delightfully humorous performance each time. There is a tinge of dark humor to the utter chaos. Characters are not shown in a black or white light. There is a grey to all of them.
Pilot is a fairly decent movie to watch if you have a few hours to kill and are looking for a few rounds of laughter. There is a life lesson or two embedded in the story – primarily the one where micro sexism and subtle classism towards women still exist despite the show of being a progressive society.
