Japanese dialogue subtitled in blue Korean dialogue subtitled in yellow
(in Korean) His name is Koh Hansu.
And they say he's got a lot of blood on his hands.
He does the dirty work for a very powerful man in Japan.
To hear such things, it makes you wonder,
is he now one of them?
Or is he still one of us?
Who knows about all that. All I know is his prices are fair.
He doesn't hassle, and he doesn't suffer fools.
The woman who cooks for him here
told me he never wears the same shirt twice.
He uses it once and throws it out.
Can you imagine? Who does he think he is?
He's a man who knows the order of things.
He has come to pay his respects to my father twice.
They have become quite fond of one another.
But, Jiyun, does your father think he'll settle here?
Or will he return back to Osaka?
Perhaps with a home of his own here…
he might settle here.
I think he will.
- Keep quiet! - But Father. A forearm. That's the rule.
The length of my forearm!
Do you think I'd set my prices
by the arm of a babbling child?
Sir, please.
Stay out of this.
Your son must own his disrespect.
But if you want, I can stretch out that arm of yours.
I'll buy these.
Five yen for the 20 croakers.
For my gratitude.
Put it away.
Mr. Koh Hansu!
(in Japanese) Is everyone enjoying yourselves?
I just saw our bride and groom's parents.
Now I know where our couple gets their good looks from!
So everyone wants to see me fail.
That's not true. Don't always think the worst of us.
I'll try.
This country has changed much since you've been in America.
Too many people making too much money too quickly.
People who seem to barely exist a few years ago.
Maybe those people are what this country needs.
Like the son of a pachinko man?
It's a joke! You and I are old friends.
I just remembered something you said when we were kids.
What was that?
You said your father told you
that Koreans must've been raised by dogs.
Why else would we shove our faces into our bowls
instead of picking them up like you?
- Did I really say such a terrible thing? - You did.
We were kids then.
I'm sure I heard my father wrong.
Anyway, it was smart of you guys to partner Colton with Abe-san .
He's the best developer here. He has the right pull.
Certainly with half the Ministry of Finance
attending his daughter's wedding. That helps.
True, there are many of us here.
But not to worry. With a tie like that, you blend right in.
Let me guess.
Armani.
Hermès. See, you have done well.
It'll be interesting to see what Abe-san makes of you.
Dancing, dancing more
One, two, three, say cheese!
Closer, please.
You were young when you left, isn't that so?
I was 14.
I heard you were in the States as well.
Yes, Cambridge.
Ah, Harvard.
Business school.
And how was Harvard Business School?
It was a good education into the mindset of Americans.
In what way?
Americans love games.
Everything becomes one.
So whenever I met anyone, men mostly,
they wanted to play the guessing game,
"Which Asian am I?"
A classic. It's always Chinese first.
Thankfully Japanese usually comes in second.
At least you only had two countries to get through.
I'd be lucky if Korea made the top four.
If I wasn't in the mood, I'd just nod when they said Japan.
It's not entirely inaccurate though, is it?
No. Not inaccurate.
- Tom-san ! - Abe-san !
Your son-in-law has the face of a good provider. You're lucky!
For my daughter's sake, I hope so.
Let me introduce to you the newest member of the team.
This is Baek-san from our New York office.
Thank you for having me. It is an honor.
What is your blood type?
I am type O.
I see. An optimist then.
In this world, a survival instinct.
Let's see how it serves you then.
Please enjoy the party.
Hey. What was that all about?
I think he's worried about my loyalties.
Oh, yeah. The whole Koreans versus Japanese situation.
Why can't people just get over that, you know?
It's the past. It's done.
Well, you can reassure Abe-san that he doesn't need to worry about me.
My loyalties are to Shiffley's.
And that's because they pay me.
Kyunghee, wake up.
Sister-in-law, supper time.
Where is Solomon?
Tokyo, remember? Working on that big deal.
Sunja. We always knew, didn't we?
He'd be the one to do it.
He's a good boy.
Now let's eat.
Aren't you sick of nursing me?
Don't say such things.
Look, I made your favorite.
You can't take the medicine on an empty stomach.
Come, enough with this.
Sunja,
I don't want the medicine.
What kind of talk is this?
You heard the doctor.
You need to fight this.
Sunja, haven't we been fighting long enough?
You're speaking nonsense.
How did this happen?
How did all that time pass so quickly?
You still have years in you.
Don't say that.
You used to tell things as they were.
No matter how painful, you spoke the truth.
Now I see those faces again,
in my dreams.
All those we tried to forget.
Maybe it's because I'm at the end,
but I want to remember them all.
Their names,
their faces…
If only I could go back one last time.
But, Sunja,
tell me truthfully.
That man,
do you really never think of him?
Or wonder how your life might have turned out
if only you had chosen differently?
You're a fool, you know that?
I could throw you and your whole family into the ocean.
Sir, he did nothing wrong.
He didn't sell me these.
I saw it with my own eyes.
I had some extra tangerines. We traded.
See, I didn't take her money!
Don't blame him. He did nothing wrong.
Tell me,
why is it we don't sell the smaller fish?
If we catch them before they spawn,
we're always at a deficit.
Which means we never have enough,
and we fight one another for the scraps.
But aren't we already doing that now?
Go.
Sunja, what took you so long?
We've been worried.
Why? Did something happen, Donghee?
No.
Just Mrs. Kim.
This time it's true.
Mr. Rhee saw it with his own eyes.
Have you gossiped enough?
Now maybe you can actually get some work done.
I'm not slacking off on purpose.
Mrs. Kim filled her head
with stories of the Japanese kids in town
throwing mud and feces
on any Korean women still daring to wear white.
I saw no such thing.
You know how that woman talks.
But… Sunja, to be safe, I don't want you going alone.
Maybe take Donghee or Bokhee with you?
Oh, listen to you.
I've been going on my own since I was nine.
- Still-- - We have too much work here.
You hired Bokhee and Donghee to help you.
Mrs. Kim is a foolish woman who likes to make up stories.
Listen to that mouth. That'll get you in trouble.
According to Mrs. Kim,
the new district fish broker is very handsome.
Sunja, have you seen him?
What's this fuss! That man's not worth bothering about.
Fucking pain in my ass for the past three years.
Construction crews have already started tearing apart the land around 'em.
Abe-san's breathing down my neck.
Not to mention the 43rd floor calling me every day,
demanding to know when she's gonna sell.
We've made three generous offers well above market value.
Our first offer was for 295 million yen--
Thank you, I've read the briefs. I know the history.
- Hen Gunge. - Han Geumja.
She emigrated to Japan from Korea in 1929.
She and her family settled in Tokyo soon after the war.
She was the breadwinner, ran a laundry business.
And in 1955, the family purchased the plot of land for 4,000 yen.
Can't even get a good meal around here these days for that much.
It's not about the money. Not for her.
Of course it's about the money, Naomi. It's always about the--
Would you just explain?
Since you seem up to speed on everything, and don't need my help,
I'll return to work.
It's complicated.
- I see that. - Yeah.
Just focus on the deal. Make it happen.
I intend to.
A crowd of 200,000 people has braved the weather
to attend the funeral of the Emperor.
The young and old pay their respects…
You know, you yelled at me once.
- My first year as an analyst. - Did you deserve it?
…and bid farewell to the Emperor.
- Yeah, I deserved it. - Oh, good on you to admit it.
We looked up to you, the guys in my year.
That's the past tense I hear.
That's not what I meant.
Yeah, it's fine.
I know how that talk goes.
Who closed the biggest deal? Who's running the largest loss?
Who's getting bumped to the 43rd floor?
I admit, I used to do a lot of that talk myself.
That's the past tense I hear.
You wanna know how I got here? What the fuck happened?
Yeah. I am curious.
I got married.
Popped out two kids.
Bought a place in the city, bought a place in the country.
Before I knew it, the number of zeros at the end of that check
no longer felt like some game.
It felt like fucking survival.
So…
I made a few bad calls…
numbers started slipping.
Got anxious, made some more bad calls.
And while all this is happening,
my wife, Princeton degree, never worked a day in her life,
she starts complaining that I'm never home.
But when I am, I'm not really there.
So one morning,
I'm getting in my car to drive the 49 minutes to work,
popping Visine in my eyes,
and she drops the news that she's leaving me.
I tell her we'll talk when I get home,
she says there's nothing left to talk about.
So I ask her how could she throw away ten years of marriage.
And she asks me how I fucking didn't notice
that she went from being a brunette to a blonde.
Yeah, my marriage got fucked.
Then my career. And so, here I am.
So what do you think, Godzilla or Superman?
The Land of the Rising Sun finally gonna topple
the Home of the Brave and Free or what?
Well, to be honest, the question doesn't really interest me.
Are you fucking with me? It's your pay grade we're talking about, Solomon.
So you have the Japanese buying dollars
and the US taking deutsche marks
and the Germans hoarding sterling and so on and so on.
All it amounts to is money moving around the world so fast
that individual currencies almost become irrelevant.
- Tell that to the currency floor. - Countries become irrelevant.
What are you talking about?
All that matters, really,
is that at the end of the day your own tally defies gravity.
So is that why you're here?
To defy gravity?
You do this with all the machines?
Not me. Not anymore.
We have a guy who comes in at night.
But is this right?
I asked the same thing when Goto-san pulled the veil off my eyes.
I was also your age.
Adjusting the nails.
Everyone does it.
And you can't be the fool left out.
Most people think if they can flick the handle just right, they will win.
But they have no control over the outcome. Not really.
And neither do we.
Adjusting the nails doesn't fix the odds. We don't do that.
We just give them a nudge. That's all this is.
But "don't be greedy," that's what Goto always said.
When they lose, feel their heartache.
When they win, feel their joy.
Let's see how you did.
Welcome!
Bando-san , I have the loan documents.
I have to attend to this.
Please check all the numbers.
Four billion yen. That looks right.
I will get this over to the bank right away.
Do you expect any problems with the loan?
Not at all.
You can start building out the property in a few weeks.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
So this…
this tiny piece of shit land here…
one billion.
Are you fucking kidding me?
She's turned down three offers. Enough with the foreplay.
Give her an offer that she can't possibly turn down.
Five years ago, the rainmaker in you wouldn't even have hesitated.
You know it's true.
Yeah. Fine. Fine, yeah.
Wait. Aren't we going in to talk to her?
Yeah, but I'm not going in there with you.
Sunja. Sunja!
Ma'am, I don't have enough money today.
This is a gift from him.
From who?
The new district fish broker.
The one the girls are all swooning over.
I was surprised too.
I don't know about Japan, but to do that here…
so shameless.
- And to a good girl like you. - Ma'am, please take care with your words.
I don't know this man.
He's nothing to me.
I cannot accept this gift.
I'd do anything to get back to Tokyo and see a game.
There's this amazing player, as good as Babe Ruth!
- I've never heard of a player like that. - Because you don't know anything.
Hey. Where are you off to? Looks like a heavy load.
You're cute.
Why don't I help you with that?
Sorry, I don't understand. I must catch my ferry.
Listen to that. Even their language sounds repulsive to me.
What's in those bags?
My mother will be worried. I must go.
Stop that!
Now I get it. You all smell because you eat this shit.
Even our dogs wouldn't eat this stuff.
Who wants to make a bet?
These or hers? Which one's bigger?
Let's see.
What are you doing? Stop!
- Hey, what are you doing? - Let her go!
Stop it!
Someone help! Help!
Stop it! Please, no!
Get off me!
You punks.
You wanna die?
But if you were both to die here,
no one would mourn for you.
Be quick. Apologize.
Or you know what happens.
Lower.
Please forgive us.
We are worthless trash!
Let us go home, please.
We are sorry!
Tell me if you're not satisfied.
I'll make them grovel until you are.
Get out.
They won't bother you again.
What did you say to those boys?
If they bothered you again, I'd kill them
and feed their bodies to the dogs.
I say this to put your mind at ease.
I'd forgotten how beautiful this country is,
how resilient,
strong.
How long have you been gone?
Fourteen years.
I've been there almost longer than here.
Don't worry, I mean you no harm.
Will you throw this shirt away?
Why would I do that?
You're an odd girl.
I'm not the one who speaks of feeding people to dogs.
Bring it to the cove tomorrow. I'll wash it before lunch.
Grandmother,
I'm sorry to bother you, but I was hoping we could talk.
What are you selling?
I'm buying.
Those crooks must be desperate.
Where'd they go to find one of you?
I'm the one who went to them.
Why would you do that?
You're persistent, I'll give you that.
Please open it.
They're grown in that shape.
Grown?
Apparently, they taste awful.
But still, they cost 9,000 yen.
Nine thousand yen!
You must be crazy.
Grandmother.
In 1955, you bought this property for 4,000 yen.
That's less than half the price of this watermelon.
If you agree to sell,
we'll give you one billion yen.
For a young person, you speak Korean well.
I lost some of it after I went to America.
You're better than my children.
My husband passed a few years ago.
He didn't want them to learn that tongue.
And now my own children
don't even know the language in which their mother dreams.
That must make you feel sad.
Who taught you Korean?
My grandmother taught me.
My mother died when I was young.
My father worked long hours.
My grandmother was the one who raised me.
I suppose she had a hard life too.
In order to feed her family,
she worked day and night, pushing her cart,
selling kimchi.
Her hands burned raw from the chili.
Enough of that.
What family hasn't suffered?
Tell me the truth.
When old people talk of suffering,
isn't it tiresome?
Isn't that the point?
To burden us?
Think of your children. Take the offer.
Ever been to school?
Can you read and write?
My father fought for me to go,
but my mother saw no point in it.
That's a shame.
With the right skills,
you could've left this place.
Why would I want that?
This is my birthplace, the home of my parents.
And that's the lot you want?
I didn't think my words would offend you so much.
I know I am poor and ignorant.
I'll never possess the fine things you and Jiyun own,
but that gives you no right to laugh at me.
I won't allow it.
I shouldn't be here.
Come now.
I'm just asking if you have dreams.
I was once as poor as you.
Poorer, even,
believe it or not.
But even then, I had my dreams.
And I didn't let anyone take them from me.
We're here in Yeongdo.
This is Japan.
Osaka here.
That's where I live.
There's nothing you can't get there.
The sweetest oranges from the Americas.
Bananas from Taiwan.
The most beautiful candies from France.
Almost every house has electricity.
And plug-in heaters to keep you warm in winter.
Electric trains to take you into all reaches of the city.
And at night, the lights flash on,
casting the most extraordinary reflections.
It's a marvel, really.
So imagine if Osaka has all that,
what does the rest of the world have to offer?
Manchuria.
China.
Europe.
And halfway around the world…
America.
I went there once.
How was it there?
Everything. And nothing.
What do you see?
You say this is Japan?
And this is us?
Interesting.
What is?
I suppose…
I always imagined them to be so much bigger than us.
Like a huge mouth ready to swallow.
But what does this tell you?
This doesn't have to be our lot.
We can beat them.
Sunja,
I'd like to come back again.
While you're doing laundry.
Can I do that?
They tasted different today.
They were bitter.
The other day you mentioned Jiyun.
Why?
I shouldn't have.
It's not right to blame her for what I don't have.
Why not?
She earned none of it herself.
But Jiyun and her kind are in for a harsh awakening.
Why do you say so?
Her father owes a great deal of taxes on his estate.
So it's just a matter of time before their land is confiscated.
No one deserves to have what is theirs taken from them.
You sound as foolish as the rest of them.
Don't you feel any sense of loyalty?
None.
Neither should you.
People are rotten everywhere.
Then…
why are you here
if Japan is your home now?
When I was young, I left empty-handed.
Now that I'm successful, I wanted to return…
to see if the shadow I left behind…
was still here.
Foolish, perhaps.
So is it still here, that shadow of yours?
What are you doing?
When I was a boy,
my father and I each owned just one suit of clothes.
Every night, I did the wash and hung them out overnight.
We had to put them on still damp in the morning.
Once,
I got the brilliant idea to put the wet clothes near the fire
to speed up the drying.
I turned my attention to cooking supper.
I still remember it clearly.
You have to keep stirring the barley so the pot won't burn.
But while stirring, I smelled something.
When I ran outside,
I found a hole this big…
in my father's sleeve.
Burned right through.
I was scolded very much that night.
Where is your father now?
He's gone.
Forgotten a long time ago.
How is there so much rain in the world?
And why must it all fall on Yeongdo?
Why not Seoul?
Or Japan?
Or China?
Sunja!
Come help us.
What's gotten into you?
Your daughter does not want to be found,
otherwise I would have something for you.
So, nothing then?
But there has to be something.
Anything!
Nothing of use to you.
So she just disappeared and that's it?
Etsuko, wait for me in my car.
I'll handle the payment.
I knew I shouldn't have expected anything but our money going down the drain.
Leave it to me.
Thank you for your help.
So…
what do you know?
At sunset,
the Emperor was buried next to his parents as per tradition.
His body lies in three coffins, along with some personal items.
The last sign of her was eight months ago in Tokyo.
What?
What is that supposed to mean?
Well…
she was working at a soapland.
She had many clients.
Yes?
Hello?
So strange to hear your voice now.
Hana, is that really you?
Have you really forgotten my voice?
And what's with your accent?
Hana, I missed you.
Quit joking around.
Bet you haven't even thought of me till now.
That's not true.
The only good thing to come from rain.
The woods will be full of mushrooms.
Now?
Why not?
Take a batch home for your mother to make soup.
But the laundry.
There's two of us now.
It'll take half the time.
How did you find my number?
You see, everyone underestimates me.
Even you.
Where have you been?
What boring questions.
Ask me, instead, if I'm still beautiful.
Are you still beautiful?
If I close my eyes,
sometimes I can still see the two of us.
We were so full of hope, weren't we?
We were children.
No, that's not true.
We were wise, and we were free.
Tell me where you are, please.
If I told you, you wouldn't even know how to get to me.
I will find you.
I'm in that darkness, Solomon.
I've been here for so long now I don't know how to find my way out.
Even you…
you can't find me.
Etsuko-san's been looking for you.
Don't say anything to her.
If you do, I swear, I'll never call again.
But she still dreams of you.
I'll hang up! I mean it.
Why did you go? Why did you leave us?
It wasn't my choice, you know that!
I didn't want to go.
I didn't want to leave you!
But it was good that you left.
You sound like such an American now.
And that woman, the one next to you,
you have a thing for her, don't you?
But girls like that, I hate them.
Are you watching me now?
No, not now.
I'm feeling sleepy.
Wait!
There are so many things I have to tell you.
Things I can't tell anyone.
It's good to hear you still need me.
I feel better.
Where are you?
I'll call again.
When?
When I can.
Hana?