Never Give Up

Plot Summary

An epic “breaking the ice” story written over more than ten years:

1. Double blow of fate
   Liu Zhonghua (played by Pan Binlong), a Northeastern machinist, suffers the loss of his elder daughter in a car accident. His younger daughter, Liu Xingyu (played by Hou Jiayin), is born with Achilles tendon contracture (clubfoot). Facing medical costs and social prejudice, the couple chooses to confront adversity with resilience.
2. Awakening of ice hockey talent
   Liu Xingyu accidentally discovers ice hockey, showing amazing spatial anticipation. Her father creates makeshift training equipment (like a rehab frame made from old tires) and braves the cold to practice with her on a wild ice rink.
3. Breaking through class barriers
   To secure professional training, Liu Zhonghua takes his daughter to seek a coach but faces rejection:
   • Prestigious team “International United” demands 150,000 RMB/year tuition, mocking Xingyu as “disabled people should not waste resources”;
   • Father and daughter endure a snowstorm to wait for the impatient coach Cui Zhigang, using grit to earn a trial opportunity.
4. Dual battles on and off the rink
   Xingyu joins the amateur “Randy Team” and competes against the well-equipped International United. In the decisive moments, she innovates a “one-foot rapid turn” technique to break through defense, leading her team to an upset victory. As the final whistle blows, father and daughter embrace on the ice, their clubfoot and trophy symbolizing life’s strongest statement.

Top 10 Must-Watch Highlights

Director’s distinctive vision: An industrial aesthetic-wrapped Northeastern epic

Qi Xing uses the old industrial base of Qiqihar as the visual motif: rusty pipes, red brick factories, and the locomotive of China First Heavy Industries symbolize the steel-like resilience of Northeasterners. Shots of red-crowned cranes flying over Zhalong Wetland echo Xingyu’s breaking free from bodily shackles, completing the sublimation from “industrial ruins” to “poetry of life.”

Pan Binlong’s acting evolution: From comedian to “fatherly mountain”

Breaking his "Top Funny Comedian" label, Pan crafts one of the most moving father figures in recent Chinese cinema:

• Detail-oriented: trembling fingers stroking the price tag while secretly saving money late at night for hockey gear;
• Highlight scene: an impromptu tearful back-turned moment by the railway after hearing his daughter made the team (unrehearsed, emotionally triggered on site).

Revolutionary ice hockey cinematography: Drones + sliders for immersive experience

To capture hockey at 160 km/h, the crew pioneered a “composite camera system”:

• Drone flies at 14 m/s for close-up sharp turns, overhead shots reveal tactical formations;
• 23 camera setups for the final, immersing viewers in the collision zone, feeling the shock of protective gear impacts.

Hou Jiayin’s “flesh and blood” dedication as a rookie

Newcomer Hou trained rigorously:

• Six months of intensive ice hockey training, 5 hours daily causing knee bruising;
• Incorporated authentic clubfoot gait, refused doubles for rehab scenes, suffered 37 falls.

Prop and set archaeology: Northeastern street life recreation obsession

Over 100 old items collected from locals on Russia Street filming location: 1980s enamel basins, metal hot water bottles, hand-knitted wool knee pads. The rehab frame made from scrap tires derives from Zuo Xiaoqing’s own athlete experience.

New paradigm for sports films: Disabled ≠ mere sentimental props

Rejects clubfoot as a pity symbol:

• Xingyu jokes she “skates faster than she walks,” using humor to dispel stigma;
• The game’s design highlights tactical intelligence (creating rapid turns despite one-foot disadvantage), emphasizing the philosophy “disability is a weapon.”

Educational critique targeting “involution”

Through contrast of “International United vs. Randy Team,” sharply deconstructs modern educational anxiety:

• Wealthy team symbolizes “money ceiling” — top gear cannot buy fighting spirit;
• Liu Zhonghua’s “spiritual support” proves that breaking class solidification needs parent-child emotional armor.

Musical narrative highlight: Sun Nan performs “I’m Ordinary”

Ending theme sung by Sun Nan, lyrics “Ordinary people carve medals with scars” echo the father-daughter journey. Audience at roadshows sang tearfully, hailed as “most healing ending song of the year.”

Professional endorsement: Asian Winter Games champion as technical advisor

Invited former Asian Winter Games hockey champion Sun Huanwei oversaw:

• Tactical designs replicate real matches, like “screen-and-roll” and “fast breaks”;
• Actor equipment fitting error strictly controlled within 3 seconds, even skate wear matches professional features.

Spirit of the times: A booster shot for the “lying flat generation”

In a social media era full of “giving up culture,” the film’s fiery story of Northeast resilience declares:

“True courage is not never backing down, but standing back on the ice after backing down—because there are people behind you worth protecting.”

At Harbin roadshow, a piano student’s father choked up: “This film teaches kids dreams don’t have to be Lang Lang’s, being your own shooting star is enough.”

Social Response & Behind-the-Scenes Data

• Roadshow acclaim: Hangzhou audience praised it as “a blend of laughter and tears, the best family film for summer,” Pan Binlong’s spontaneous reenactment of father-daughter moments like “ask for living expenses” and “sign report card” sparked uproarious applause.
• Technical milestones: 40% of shooting on ice, setting a national record for sports films; 120 emergency vehicles stationed throughout production, handled 23 actor injuries including collisions and frostbite.
• Social significance: Heilongjiang Disabled Persons Federation launched the “Ice Skate Program” offering free ice sports experiences for disabled children; part of the box office proceeds will be donated to this initiative.

As director Qi Xing puts it: “This is a film made by ordinary people for ordinary people.”
While commercial films indulge in fantasy spectacles, Never Give Up cuts through the ice of the times with its skates—telling us:
The greatest special effect is the sparks flying when ordinary people crash their bodies against fate.