May 14, 2018. 32,000 feet over Tibet. On Sichuan Airlines flight 8633, the cockpit’s windscreen suddenly shatters, sucking a copilot half out of the airplane and causing depressurization and loss of communications.
This actual event is the story behind a new Chinese film, The Captain (also known as The Chinese Pilot, original title Zhongguo jizhang), which premiered in Beijing on September 24. It tells the story of the ill-fated flight, which begins as a standard hop from Chongquin to Lhasa. At 40 minutes into the flight, however, disaster strikes.
When the windscreen disintegrates, the loss of cabin pressure (and oxygen) causes some of the 119 passengers to lose consciousness. Communications are also knocked out, leaving Captain Liu Chuanjian (Hanyu Ziang, Operation Mekong) and the 9-person crew to deal with the situation on their own. They can’t make an emergency landing because of a raging storm at the nearest site. How can they bring the crippled airplane down safely in time to save the passengers?
Andrew Lau Wai-Keung (the Infernal Affairs series) directs from a script by Yonggan Yu (The Bravest). The cast also features Hao Ou (The Left Ear), Jiang Du (Operation Red Sea), and Quan Yuan (The First Half of My Life). The film is a coproduction of Bona Film Group, Alibaba Pictures, and Huaxia Film Distribution.
The Captain appears to be a throwback to such air disaster classics as Airport and Zero Hour! The Chinese film industry agrees, with the picture still generating $7.8 million on the penultimate day of its presale. The movie is slated for a limited release in the U.S. on October 18, 2019.
Related Content