Directed by: Choi Yun-tae (최윤태) Starring: Lee Joo-young (이주영), Lee Jun-hyuk (이준혁), Yeom Hye-ran (염혜란), Song Young-kyu (송영규), Kwak Dong-yeon (곽동연) Release Date: June 18th, 2020
By this time, most of us know what to expect going into a sports drama film. They typically feature an underdog lacking either the physical, technical, or mental skills necessary to reach varying degrees of excellence within their given fields. And (usually) with the help of a new coach, the athlete or team digs deep to unlock that door to realizing their talents in a way that fulfills dreams and becomes the inspiration of others.
But only a handful of all the sports stories out there feature female athletes. And with movies like A League of their Own (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and the Korean film Forever the Moment (2008), it’s been proven that women can ramp up the sports drama to rival the heights of even the toughest of men’s sports films like Rocky (1976) and Foxcatcher (2014). Choi Yun-tae’s film Baseball Girl is not only a another shining example of how excellent sports dramas featuring women athletes can be, but it’s also a valuable addition to the sports drama canon as a whole with its unique central character and honest portrayal of the various social and familial challenges young dreamers face along the road to realizing their dreams.
In her senior year of high school, Joo Soo-in (Lee Joo-young) has built up quite a reputation for herself as the girl who dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. Although petite in stature and carrying very little muscle mass, Soo-in remains a dedicated member of her baseball club team as the only girl at an all boys high school where her fastest recorded pitch clocked in at 134 km/hr. As graduation nears, Soo-in’s prospects of going pro will depend on her performance at tryouts put on by the various league organizations. But when her being female causes various obstacles to arise, her chance of going pro begins to rapidly diminish.
To make matters worse, the arrival of a new club coach (Lee Jun-hyuck) who sees Soo-in’s efforts to turn pro as futile, on top of her overbearing mother pressuring her to pursue a more secure vocation, Soo-in is pressed to find a special quality within herself that will make up for her shortcomings as she comes face to face with the reality of her future.
As far as I can tell, a women has never played in the senior ranks of a professional baseball organization (and to be honest I didn’t know if it was even technically possible). So Baseball Girl opens with an interesting title card to set up its unusual premise of a high school girl dreaming to become a professional baseball player. It states that in 1996, a peculiar sentence in the Korean baseball rule book that excluded all non males from playing on the basis of a medical disqualification was removed, technically opening the professional world of baseball up to capable and willing female athletes.
While obviously certain physical limitations make it highly unlikely that the next home run derby champion will be a woman, it is interesting to consider positions like catcher or pitcher being filled by a highly skilled female athlete. Baseball Girl explores this possibility with its young female protagonist, Soo-in (Lee Joo-young). Short and petite, what she lacks in muscle mass and stature she more than makes up for in determination to see her dream through. It’s clear that the path she must walk will be doubly hard that of any male in her position, so she must put extra effort into her training to give herself even a fighting chance at rising to the top. Soo-in must also specialize her talents to take advantage of her shortcomings, and developing a mean knuckle-ball as her specialty was an excellent way to further establish her uniqueness as a player.
Actress Lee Joo-young (Itaewon Class) does a great job expressing the grit needed for Soo-in to fight through the various obstacles in front of her. Whether during the well-filmed late night training sessions that have Soo-in running laps around the track and throwing pitches until her fingers bleed, or when she’s arguing with her mother and dealing with family pressures at home, actress Lee Joo-young is fascinating to watch in Baseball Girl. There’s a certain vulnerability that comes across with her physicality and appearance that adds to the overall sense of her as an underdog. Peppered with the blunt confidence her character displays in asserting her dream to the various doubters she faces provides the believability needed to create that possibility for success that will have audiences rooting for her success.
Another interesting side to Baseball Girl comes with the conflict that arises within Soo-in’s lower-middle income family, and presents itself most loudly with the rather intense scoldings she receives from her overbearing mother (Yum Hae-ran). Those more experienced with Korean films have undoubtedly bore witness to such a fierce and intimidating mother figure who often keeps the father in check, often making them fearful of weighing in on any matter.
Soo-in’s father (Song Young-kyu), now studying for his realtor’s licence, carries a silent support for his daughter’s dreams in defiance of his wife’s wishes. Her mother (Yeom Hye-ran), on the other hand, insists that Soo-in quit baseball and pushes her to pursue vocational work that will secure her a steady paycheck. Although somewhat formulaic, the ways in which these family dynamic evolve through Baseball Girl is very well done and the few surprises that arise make an important point on the different pitfalls that can arise when one sets out to accomplish a goal.
Baseball Girl builds steadily to an emotional climax quite unlike other sports drama movies. There is no big championship on the line, no record to break, or even any fans in the stands. It all comes down to Soo-in getting a chance to be seen by some major league scouts. But even with this simple setup, the drama on the line feels just as high stakes as if it were game seven of the world series.
What keeps the sports drama genre alive is that the stories in them feel so real and relatable. They focus on the lives of everyday people with everyday problems achieving excellence– that while extremely difficult, remain within the limits of human possibility. Baseball Girl makes for one such emotional experience that portrays its unique protagonist in one of the most compelling and individual looks at the team-sport of baseball I’ve ever seen.
If you enjoy this content and would like to support our ability to continue to update and increase the quality of our content.
