It looks like the long, arduous journey of “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” director Peter Chan‘s new project “Leap” is finally coming to an end. In production for a long time, the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Team story was finally scheduled for a January, 2020 release and had a star-studded premiere in Beijing that month but the coronavirus outbreak delayed it indefinitely. However, it’s one of the first films to be rescheduled, with its new release date now fast approaching.
Synopsis
With glorious days from five consecutive championships in the 1980s, the Women’s National Volleyball Team of China had transcended the conventional definition of sports in the hearts of Chinese people. When the Chinese team was pitted against the US team led by Lang Ping at the 2008 Beijing Volleyball Game, everyone knew that it was a match that China could not lose, and certainly could not afford to lose.
Defeated, the Chinese team plunged into the deepest abyss in three decades. As Lang Ping returned to her country to coach the team, many mused aloud as to whether China’s Women’s National Volleyball Team would be able to retrieve lost grounds.
The film recounts the ups and downs, the sweat and sacrifice of the team over the past four decades. While the team’s persistence and teamwork became a national inspiration and collective memory in the 80s, whether the team spirit can be passed down to the new generation as China goes through rapid changes?
Gong Li plays the current coach of the team Lang Ping. Huang Bo also stars, alongside players of the actual Chinese national team, who play themselves, while Lang Ping’s real-life daughter plays a younger version of the legendary coach. It hits Chinese theatres on September 30th, 2020.
