Jump!! The Heroes Behind the Gold (Japanese: ヒノマルソウル〜舞台裏の英雄たち〜, Hepburn: Hinomaru Sōru: Butaiura no Eiyū-tachi, lit. Hinomaru Soul: The Heroes Behind The Scenes) is a Japanese film released on 18 June 2021. It is based on a true story of the test jumpers for the ski jumping event at the 1998 Winter Olympics, who were instrumental in giving Japan a chance at winning the gold medal.[3]
Plot
Jinya Nishikata is part of Japan's Large Hill ski jumping team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, which has to settle for silver medal as his teammate Masahiko Harada fails his final jump. Nishikata proceeds to train for the 1998 Winter Olympics, which will be held in his home Nagano Prefecture. However, he gets injured during training and even though he manages to complete rehabilitation before the event, he is not selected for the team, while Harada makes the cut. He instead accepts an offer to join the team of test jumpers, which includes hearing-impaired Ryuji Takahashi; Takashi Minamikawa, who also did not make the Olympics team due to injury; and high school girl Yoshiko Kobayashi, who could only participate in that capacity as the 1998 Olympics has no women's ski jumping event[4] (the first such event would be held in 2014).
During the event, Harada again botches his first jump, and Japan falls to fourth place. A blizzard then hits the event venue, potentially preventing the second attempt to be carried out and eliminating Japan's chances of winning the gold medal. The judges decided that the event would be continued if all 25 test jumpers could successfully make their jump. Japan's hopes of winning the gold medal is placed entirely in the hands of the test jumpers.[5]
Toma Kato as Shingo Nishikata, the Nishikatas' son[11]
Production and release
The 1998 Nagano story is one that is retold before every subsequent Winter Olympics in Japan and had inspired ski jumpers such as Sara Takanashi and Ryōyū Kobayashi.[12]
Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium
Jump!! The Heroes Behind The Gold was first announced in November 2019, with Kei Tanaka as lead actor.[13] Yuki Yamada's appearance was announced in January 2020,[14] while those of Gordon Maeda, Nao Kosaka, Takayuki Hamatsu, Motoki Ochiai, and Arata Furuta were announced in February[7][15] and Tao Tsuchiya in March.[11] Principal photography took place from January to February 2020 at the actual Olympics venue in the village of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture,[13] including the 140-meter tall jumping platform at the Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium.[16]
Jinya Nishikata positively commented on Tanaka's portrayal of him, particularly noting the scene where his character wishes for Harada to fall, as at the time he had indeed hoped that his rival did not make a long jump.[17] Yamada revealed that he had never skied before the film's production, and director Ken Iizuka [ja] revealed that Yamada was his first choice for the challenging role.[18] Kosaka drew from her experience as a substitute player in her middle school volleyball club and noted that the film shows that people can shine in life even in support roles.[19]
Yoshiko Yoshiizumi in 2010
To promote the film, Yamada and Nishikata appeared as guests at the 2020 HBC Cup Jump.[14] Kosaka appeared as a special guest at the 2021 HBC Cup Jump, where Yoshiko Yoshiizumi (née Kasai) also appeared as a guest.[20] Masahiko Harada served as commentator for both events.[14][20]
Originally planned for June 2020,[13] the film's theatrical release was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan,[24] and it finally premiered on 18 June 2021.[1] The home media (Blu-ray and DVD) was released on 3 December 2021.[25]
Reception
The film was the ninth most-watched film in its opening weekend, according to cinema survey company Kogyo Tsushinsha.[26] It also earned the highest average user rating on Filmarks for films released that weekend, with 3.99 stars from 315 user reviews.[27]
Cinemarche commented that the film depicts an inspiring story and reminds the viewer that there are many unknown human dramas behind the glory of the Olympics.[28]
^"『ヒノマルソウル～舞台裏の英雄たち～』小坂菜緒（日向坂46）インタビュー｜役を通して共鳴した"ソウルとパッション"「誰かの心を支えたい」 « 映画ランドNEWS". 映画ランドNEWS (in Japanese). 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2022. Kosaka: If there had been no high school girl test jumper at that time, there might never have been a women's ski jumping event at the later Olympics. 'If I give up now, even the possibility may be closed to me. That's why I have to do my best!' I think it's really impressive that Yoshiko already had such a sense of purpose at such a young age.
^"田中圭主演「ヒノマルソウル」に眞栄田郷敦、日向坂46・小坂菜緒、古田新太らが出演！ : 映画ニュース". 映画.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 July 2022. Kosaka plays the role of the team's only female high school test jumper, Yoshiko Kobayashi. She is modeled on the real-life athlete Yoshiko Kasai, who had a passionate desire to participate in the Nagano Olympics even as a test jumper at a time when women's ski jumping was not an Olympic sport.
^"映画「ヒノマルソウル」 主人公モデル・西方仁也さん 若者に希望と勇気を". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 July 2022. In fact, how did he feel at the time? "My honest feeling was, 'Don't fly too far,'" he recalls. "'Fall down' is an exaggeration, but I felt that my feelings were expressed in those words."
^山田裕貴「初めてのスキーに挑戦」、田中圭と決死のジャンプに挑む『ヒノマルソウル』 [Yuki Yamada "attempts skiing for the first time" and takes on a deadly jump with Kei Tanaka in Hinomaru Soul]. cinemacafe.net (in Japanese). 9 January 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
^日向坂46小坂菜緒：テストジャンパー役で“支える側”の気持ち再確認 「表舞台に立てなくてもやるべきことはある」 [Hinatazaka46 Nao Kosaka, reaffirming the feeling of being a "supporter" by playing the role of a test jumper "There are things we must do even if we aren't on center stage."]. MANTANWEB（まんたんウェブ） (in Japanese). 20 June 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
