MK Pictures & Rascal Entertainment Present
Supported by Koflc
Seoul, 1953
Hello, Mister.
LEE Wan, SoNG chang-Ui
Everyone off.
- You're here. - Yeah.
- How many? - 6
Move it.
Make a Iine.
- What's your name? - HAN Chul-Ho.
Get over there!
Name.
What?
Seunq-woo?
Come here.
Producers LEE Eun, KANG ln-Ki
Associate Producers Yl chi-Yun, PARK Hong-Geun
Line Producers SoN Sung-Moon, LEE Seung-Yeon
co-producers LlM Byeong- Woo, JANG Mi-Hee - Bring it next time. - It's okay.
No one saw, right?
Screenplay HAN Ji-Hun, KlM Sang-Don Yep.
Move it carefuIly.
So, It wiIl cost always Iike this?
Director BAE Hyung-Joon
Boss! Boss!
Who's there!
- It's Tae-Ho. - What?
I think Jonq-Du took off.
I thought he came over here.
What?
Who's here?
Jong-Du.
You're sure he's here? I didn't hear a thing.
I'm sure. I followed him here.
Son of a bitch.
- Maybe he's dead. - Dead, my ass.
I knew it.
Wait.
Let's do one more round.
This is enouqh.
This is a one in a million chance.
No way. Hurry.
Shit, what the heck.
Just take only cigarettes and liquor.
They sell at high prices.
Fuck, it's heavy.
Let go of me!
Hey, come out here!
You son of bitch!
You fuck, let go of me.
Come on out.
- Here's your cards. - Got something good?
- Huh? - I win, I win.
I win!
Who the hell is it?
Laugh, you fucker.
Laugh. Go on!
What's that noise? Check it out.
Don't move!
Move if your want your head blown off.
Fucker.
That's enough.
I saw some unauthorized stuff on the market.
You sons of bitches.
You steal from right under my nose.
Sung-Jae!
Now that it's summer and all, let's round a few mutts.
Yes, boss.
Come here, you fuck.
I said come here, you fuck.
once upon a Time in Seoul
There are 50 boxes of liquor and over 100 boxes of cigarettes.
The reason they mess with our stuff is they're not getting it on time.
So I was thinking of finding some new deals.
Take care of that with Myung-Soo.
Good job, yesterday.
I'll tell Sooyangro to expect you.
Take the boys for a drink.
Good day, sir.
Hello.
How are you sir?
It should be easy to find out who supplied them.
You beat them for half a day and still haven't find out?
That black guy they were talking about,
I can't find him anywhere.
Forget it. I'll take care of that.
What about the stuff?
Why does it take half a day to calculate how much it is?
Well...
How much is just the Luckies?
The Luckies?
Well, there's 50 boxes of Luckies.
And I got 5 more boxes.
That's 55 boxes.
So how much is that, you dickhead?
Calculating that is no big deal but...
I spent all morning looking for that black master sergeant.
Get it done by tonight.
Okay.
That's reward for yesterday.
I'd like something else, sir.
Something else?
Let us work the market, sir.
Look, boy, you need brains to work the market.
1,760,000 huan.
What's 1,760,000?
One pack of Luckies is 40 huan. One carton of 20 pack is 800 huan.
One box is 40 cartons,
8x4=32, 32,000 huan.
50 boxes x 32, 1,600,000 huan.
Plus 5 boxes equals 1,760,000 huan.
You can do that in your head?
Boss, he's really good.
Forget it.
Take that and get out of here.
- I can do well, sir. - You little prick...
Why not?
Give them Kyung-Soo's store.
They're only boys, boss.
What if someone robs them?
The market's unstable now.
You know that, boss.
So what if stolen goods get stolen.
- Good day, boss. - Let'em try.
Good day, sir.
Fuck, why do we have to work for them?
We got U.S. goods, too.
So how are we gonna get rid of them?
If we move too early, we become targets.
Keep your enemies close. I got an idea.
So you decided for both of us!
Just take your share if you want to leave.
That's for running out on me.
If I had stayed there, we'd have both died.
All that for nothing.
Fuck. That's all our stuff.
Forget about it.
We'll get another chance.
- Don't eat this. - Okay.
If you' re told to stop, then pack up and come back in.
There's lots of days you can't work.
Wait, where is it?
Then find other work or something.
Here, Johnnie Walker!
- Johnnie Walker! - Hey...
You get into trouble, mention our boss.
Then the market will take care of things.
Mister Do-Chul?
Whatcha talking about?
I mean Boss Myung-Soo of course.
There's a fight.
Fuck off.
He grabbed his throat and just threw him.
Never seen nobody so strong.
He was like someone else.
They're all still thugs.
No, they said he was even better during the war.
I don't think he's just a thug.
I'm warning you now, stay away from any fight.
They attacked first.
You're working here but you take off at a time like that?
Shut up.
We got nothing to do with them.
Whoever messes with me is dead meat.
Make sure you don't mix it up with our stuff.
This is really good.
Y eah, it's sweet.
- Give me that. - No.
I heard about this place. Is this real?
Of course.
We got them straight from the Yankees.
Then l'll take one for 1,000 huan.
No way. That was the price yesterday.
From today, it's 1,300 huan.
We can't do that.
It went up again?
This is getting crazy.
Then l'll take it for 1,200 huan. But give me 3 bottles.
- I shouldn't. - Then forget it.
All right then.
Here you go.
Thank you. Do come again.
Give me chocolate.
This month's pay. Go on.
- All done? - One more to go.
Have a heart, bro.
- Please! - Next time.
No way. That doesn't make sense.
I' m telling you. Look at the office.
There's stacks of stuff that aren't being sold.
Why do you think?
Maybe other areas don't sell well.
That's not it.
Mister Do-Chul isn't interested in business.
We close shop a lot too.
I was wondering why and now I get it.
When stuff sells, you buy more stuff.
When it doesn't sell, you hold onto it.
It's because prices keep going up.
It might be better to keep our stuff.
What? Then you really won't sell it?
No, we could get caught anytime.
We should get rid of what we can.
Just as long as we don't keep it in cash.
Then what do you suggest?
I don't know about after that.
Pick it up.
Grab it.
Let go, you fuck.
- T ae-Hwan. - Fucker.
Thief! Thief! Help us!
Help! Please!
Thief!
Come on!
Let go, you fuck.
People are coming!
Come on, guick!
What's this?
What the hell were you thinking?
Things like this always happen on collection day.
You should have been careful.
Where the fuck are they?
Boss.
That's over 8,000 huan, you fuck.
You send it with these two babies?
- Are you insane or what? - They took 2 cans of Spam.
- l'll repay it somehow. - What?
They held onto the money.
- You checked it? - Yes. It's 8,060 huan.
A good meal's the best cure for a mugging, you know.
- They haven't had dinner yet. - We don't need dinner.
Give 'em some money to eat.
Boss!
We rounded up the kids.
- You boys come too! - Boss!
Please stop.
Please stop!
Please...
This is what we call hanging up a mutt.
A mutt is a dog that keeps biting you every time you let it go.
Then you have to take out all its teeth.
Otherwise, it'll try to bite you again.
So you have to take them all out when you grab them.
Come on, you shithead.
You got something to say to me?
Please don't.
Wait, wait, hold on!
Hey! Hey!
He's dead.
You' re so rough. Why'd you do that?
Clean up.
You didn't kill him. It was just bad luck.
We get screwed all the time.
So just forget about it.
But I never killed nobody.
What's with you, Jong-Du?
Stupid fuckers.
They should have left town right away, not get caught.
They were dumb to begin with.
You can't get anywhere with that kind of brains.
We' re different from those idiots.
But we need to stay on our toes.
See how he left it to you at the end.
The more I see that bastard, the less I like him.
- If we get unlucky... - Just let them try.
I' m not afraid one bit. Shit.
You' re right, Jong-Du.
We' re not that easy to deal with.
Don't worry.
As long as I have you, I got nothing to worry about.
I'll find a way somehow.
You made it?
Yes.
Do it like you're flicking it.
Where's the whiz kid?
Don't know. He went to find out something.
The first time's always the toughest.
- Goodbye, sir. - Go on then.
No RlcE
- Sell rice? - Y eah.
There's a lot of flour coming in,
but you think Koreans can live without rice?
Harvest has been bad for years.
I'll bet when it gets cold, there'll be a huge fuss.
Fuss?
Cuz of rice?
I know this rice guy from way back.
He says he'll give me more than the market price for any amount.
How much more money do we need?
I don't know.
But a box of cigarettes went up to 2,000 huan.
If the value of money keeps falling, it'll get harder to get out.
But what choice do we have?
And we have to run the store too.
Nope.
We could do better than that.
We might need kids younger than us.
Get her!
Catch that thief!
- Got ya! - Let me go!
What are you doing here?
Mister.
- She's my little sister, sir. - So what?
She forgot to take money with her.
Mom told me to go after her.
Here.
I'm really sorry about that day.
But we were forced to go there.
Maybe you were, but your pal killed someone.
No. That's not it. That was an accident.
He's still agonizing over it.
So what good does that do now?
Is that gonna bring a dead guy back?
I don't know what to say when it comes to your chief.
But you guys would have ended up like that one way or another.
What's that mean?
You would have kept stealing and gotten caught someday.
I'm sorry if I offended you.
That wasn't why I came to see you.
I've been looking for you guys all day.
That's Sang-Gook and his brother Jae-Gook.
Woo-Shik, Young-Nam, and Duk-Bae.
So what you got up your sleeve?
Why are we listening to the guy who killed out chief?
You keep guiet.
The reason I asked to see you is
to suggest selling stuff with us from now on.
I thought it was a pickpocket j'ob.
Sell what? Dirt from the street?
Selling ain't for the likes of us.
Yeah, they don't even treat us like people.
This is just a taste.
If business goes well, you'll get fed 3 times a day
and we'll give you a cut.
I guarantee it.
You're google-eyed over a few pennies?
- More soup please. - Me too.
You already forgot how our chief died?
So? They're in?
Well...
Guys should just say yes or no.
What's so complicated?
All I need to do is pay you back for what I did to you.
That's all you need, right?
Okay. I'll do it.
It won't get any worse than this.
And like someone said,
we need to get paid back for our chief's life, right?
Okay, l'm in.
- Me too. - And me.
What about us?
Well, if everybody's doing it, then...
Wow, it's an organ.
No one's been living here since it got bombed.
- You sure? - Y eah.
It's far from anybody and perfect for storing the rice.
And it's close to the stream.
Hey, what's that?
- Come here. - What is it?
Over there.
- Look at that. - At what?
I mean over there.
There.
It's done.
I miss Mommy. I wanna go with her.
I wanna go to Mommy.
Stupid fuck.
You want to be buried here too?
Shut your trap and bow.
You don't know how to bow?
Do what I do.
Go on out.
They said they'd take care of it.
- Look here. - Shut up.
Ask!
When are we startin the rice business?
Well, we work in the store tomorrow
and you guys need to get your stuff,
so the day after tomorrow maybe?
We don't really have anything to bring.
But you' re gonna have to live here from now on.
Tell me what you need and we'll try to get it for you.
Thanks anyway. It's all thanks to you.
Don't worry too much.
They know the market so they think fast.
And they follow orders well.
What's he say?
When do we start the rice thing?
What?
find the biggest landowner in the village.
All the rice will be there anyway.
And then...
Hello, sir.
Huh? Who are you kids?
Well, um. We were...
What our big brother means is
we're on our way to SeouI to find our parents we split up with.
And we ran out of rice.
What's going on?
- Good day, sir. - Yes.
Our uncle who works on the U.S. base gave us this
to give to our parents when we meet them.
But seeing as we're in need now...
Fuck. They wouldn't give us any rice.
They said a girl was bad luck.
Shut up. I told you the place we went to was stingy.
Don't worry. We can do that much tomorrow.
I heard rice prices were good in Kimpo.
How about we go there next time?
I think I heard that too.
Okay. We go to Kimpo next.
You did well for your first day.
We'll make it in no time.
We'll get more and more from now on
and l'm worried about leaving such a little boy here alone.
I think someone should stay with him.
Then Soon-Nam should stay.
You got the least.
Why me?
I just had a run of bad luck.
You have no choice.
You guys did get the least.
Hey, it's the traveling doctor.
This medicine happens to work for asthma, nervousness breakdown,
strengthening stamina.
The results will blow you away.
You gotta try it.
Mister, try this.
- Just try! - It can heal every disease!
Look at that guy's belly.
- Shall we steal that? - No.
Where are you from?
You' re not from around here, are you?
Hey, what's that on your back?
- It's nothing, sir. - Hand it over.
- You little... - Run!
Stop right there!
Get up.
I said stop!
Come on! Quick!
Bro!
Throw it!
Come on!
Bro!
I told him it was nothing.
But the cop just charged at me.
Then big bro Jong-Du swerved and took out his whip...
Yummy?
- You're supposed to fall. - Huh?
Ha, ha, ha! You're pathetic.
I'm PARK Jong-Du, the fighter from Jong-ro.
That's bullshit. He didn't say that.
Sure he did. I heard him.
Yeah, right.
Just shut up and eat.
I just got it at the market.
- This is good. - What is it?
This is porridge straight from America.
- lvory. - lvory.
- 1 dollar. - 1 dollar.
Bro!
Good to see you.
Welcome.
Wow, that's heavy.
Wow!
Hey! Stop that!
Attack! Attack!
Guys!
- And this. - Ok.
So you want to come with us too?
No, staying with Soon-Nam is fun too.
What's fun?
Dunno. She only talks about the rice and T ae-Ho.
- What about me? - Let's go.
Wow.
Jong-Du, look at this.
Gi-Dong, let's go.
Why? What's up?
Who's that little shrimp with Jong-Du?
Never seen him before.
Why those little fuckers.
I went by the office earlier.
They were all looking for you.
The market seems weird.
Is something up?
How long are you gonna stay here?
What?
You miss your timing and you'll never get out.
Like you?
No.
I don't care what happens.
It's time you stopped.
This place isn't that easy, you know.
Watch your back.
Tae-Ho!
I walked over 10 kms.
Now my legs are stiff.
I don't think l'm cut out for this.
It wasn't like that at first.
But now I can't even out-talk country bumpkins.
But you' re good at stealing money?
Why'd you do it?
We promised each other from the start
we eat, sleep together until we're done.
But why did you do it?
Eat together and starve together?
Rice rations are 200 huan.
Rice we buy from the country is 300.
Isn't that strange?
You ever been to the market?
No one's selling rice in stores.
But rice on the black market is
600 huan.
Why are we working our asses off?
We don't know shit.
And somebody's making money.
- You wanna die? - Stop it.
We have to show that fucker.
A bastard who doesn't trust his pack needs to learn a lesson.
We'll j'ust kick him out.
How does that make us different from Do-Chul?
Fuck.
Yeah, l'm an ignorant pig. You' re happy?
Bastard!
So you'll beat him to death too?
Shut up and butt out.
All right. Do what you gotta do.
It was because of my mom.
I dropped by my house just in case.
My family's come back.
My younger brothers are starving
and my mom has a lung disease. What was I supposed to do?
I feel really bad about you guys.
But I had no choice.
Shut your trap, you fuck!
You go and betray us?
Don't hit him.
He said it was for his mom.
Don't hit him.
Shit!
Get lost.
You're letting me live?
Go back to your family, you fuck!
Thanks, Jong-Du.
They're depressed because of Duk-Bae.
They're not talking but they envy him.
You too?
I got no one to go back to.
My dad...
used to make western biscuits.
After the store got bombed, I went after the U.S. soldiers.
I became a refugee on my own.
I kept going to school.
But I dropped out when I came to Seoul.
Then if this works out, you go back to school?
I gave that up long ago.
I got a much better plan.
Wait and see.
I'll make money like crazy.
I'll build a market bigger than Mangi Market.
Then nobody will look down on us.
No. They' ll be bowing to us instead.
That sounds good.
There used to be a stream outside our house too.
I went with my sisters at night.
We washed our hair and took baths.
After I became alone,
I cut my hair like a boy.
Some girls who worked on the U.S. base
said I looked real bad for a girl.
They tried to keep me there.
But I took off.
It was suffocating.
But,
I won't have to do that now.
Give me a drink.
What do I have to do to be tough like you?
What?
I saw you fight.
I want to be strong like you.
So you want to be a thug.
Anything's fine.
I don't want to rely on anyone.
I want to be strong by myself.
Like you.
You know why this is great?
It looks like it'll go out, but it never goes out.
That's what being strong is.
I don't live like this 'cuz l'm strong.
I'm just hanging on because I got no choice.
I thought you were the toughest man I ever saw.
Toughest man.
Kid!
You listen to me.
You think there's such a thing?
No way.
The tough, the weak, the cowards
all end up dying.
That's why this world is fucked up.
You get it?
You don't know either.
You don't know, do you?
Run.
Check our goods.
You're not practicing the whip today?
Nope.
The market's unstable and Do-Chul smells something's up.
I think we should pack up.
If you say so.
Don't worry. We're almost there.
Just hang on a bit longer.
And then?
Huh?
What happens after we sell off the rice?
I'll split the money with the kids like I promised.
You round them up when you need them
and spit them out when you' re done?
How can you say that?
Who says l'll do that?
- l'll make sure they get paid... - Money, money, money!
Fuck it.
All you think about is money?
That's all?
You listen.
Jobs and a full stomach is a lot in these times.
We're in no position to look after anyone else.
They have to find their own way.
Soon-Nam's gonna go with you?
Kids
Wrap it up and come to the office.
Let's go.
- Is it weird? - Wow.
I j'ust tried it on because the laundry's still wet.
You' re so pretty like an angel!
You're such a sweet-talker.
T ake this.
- Pass it back. - Take whatever you fancy.
Take one each.
Jong-Du...
- Anyone not get one? - Line up.
Who are we?
We went out on the battlefield,
crushed the commie bastards and came back alive.
We' re mighty warriors.
- Yeah! - That's right!
Commie bastards who attacked us
couldn't get anywhere near killing us.
- That's right. - Yeah.
That's how tough we are.
If we lose our lives now,
if we lose our livelihood,
then that's worse than dying at their guns.
- Yeah! - Let's fight!
- Go on. - Sis.
- Go on! - What's wrong?
The heads of those running away
Iook much bigger than commie bastards coming at you.
One shot for one bastard.
Fight like hell if you don't want a hole in your head.
- Got that? - Yes!
- Let's fight! - Fight!
Hello, Boss.
You bring kids to a territory fight?
Since when were you so low?
I called them.
If we have more people...
Are you okay?
Off!
Go home.
You shouldn't be here.
- I can fight. - I said go home!
Don't make me tell you twice. Send them home.
Go on.
- What is it? - Soon-Nam...
- Soon-Nam. - Stay back.
What's wrong?
I have a guestion.
Where's the rice?
What?
I was supposed to watch it.
Why isn't it there?
I moved it next door after Duk-Bae left.
What is it?
Don't!
Who was it?
Who did this?
What bastard did it?
Duk-Bae. I'm sure of it.
But he went home...
Who else knows about the rice here?
He used to hang out with some tramps.
It must have been them.
Let's go.
There was no rice like he said
but at least I got me some pussy.
She was so wild she bit me.
She hurt me.
You bastards!
Bastards!
Duk-Bae!
Fuckers!
Bastards!
Tae-Ho, no!
Tae-Ho!
Don't come closer!
Forget about it.
Duk-Bae started it.
Let's go see Mister JANG
and tell him we'll sell all the rice.
We have so much and that's the best thing.
- What about the market? - We guit.
If we disappear suddenly, they'll get suspicious.
We'll say we're going to see relatives.
Listen up.
Just hold up for a few days.
Don't think of going anywhere.
Bring the rice.
He's just having a hard time.
He'll be all right soon.
He's a smart one.
We haven't slept outside in a while.
Let's feed them well.
What happened?
What's the use of having a strong fist and fast feet?
You can't fight a bullet.
He killed our boss. He deserves to die.
How could he do this?
He deserves to die.
Some party last night.
I thought the tramps were talking nonsense.
I' ll make this short.
Bring all the money you made on the side and the rice.
Now that Myung-Soo's gone, no ones got your back.
Like I said before...
Run!
The bastards!
What the hell?
Get some woods.
Everything will be fine if we sell off all the rice.
That's a lot of money, even for adults.
With that money
they can all go live anywhere.
You think they can go anywhere just 'cuz they have money?
What if Do-Chul finds them?
It's the same if they're with us.
It might be more dangerous to be with us.
No way l'm sending them off like this.
Jong-Du! Tae-Ho! It's ready!
Okay!
So warm.
Chicken! Chicken!
I' ll eat noodles every day.
Me too.
I'm gonna buy shiny boots like the American MPs wear.
Wow! Me too!
- Copy cat. - What!
Then are we splitting up?
Idiot! Why would we split up?
Stop talking nonsense.
Jae-Gook! There's liguor in my backpack.
Go get it.
Liguor? Liguor?
- Gi-Dong, pour me some. - Okay!
Here.
Yeah!
Let's see. 17kg, 15kg, 14kg...
Are you gonna take all day?
I' m calculating.
I forgot where I was. Little prick.
Let's count this.
Hey, it's a puppy!
48, 49, 50
51, 52, 53
54, 55...
- 57, 58 - 52, 53
58 Damn! 58.
Where's Gi-Dong?
He was here j'ust now.
Gi-Dong's disappeared! I can't find him anywhere.
Split up and look.
- Gi-Dong! - Gi-Dong!
- Be careful! - Gi-Dong!
Gi-Dong!
The lowlifes in the market.
You shouldn't have taken him around with you.
It's a good thing we got all the money.
I was worried about it so I got it all at once.
Give me all of it.
What do you mean?
You don't get it?
We' ll use it to get Gi-Dong back.
Isn't it obvious?
What are you gonna do?
You think Do-Chul will let him go if he gets the money?
So you' re giving up Gi-Dong?
Shut up!
Gi-Dong's got nothing to do with us.
You really wanna die?
You can beat me to death but I can't do that!
You son of bitch!
Gi-Dong is one of us!
Bastard, Gi-Dong isn't the only one.
We do what you say and we all die.
I know!
Jong-Du
I know where Gi-Dong is.
We get our family even if we get beat up trying.
Don't go.
Let's go.
I hope you get your wish.
Gi-Dong!
- Be on the lookout. - Okay.
Gi-Dong! Gi-Dong!
Hey, they wanted to know where you were.
Didn't tell them.
Gi-Dong, you' re a real man.
It's okay now.
Let's go home now.
Bro!
You came?
I didn't think you'd really come.
Stop!
I' m the one you want dead.
Do what you want with me but let them go.
Why are you so upset?
After I saved your life and all.
We have a history, right?
Fuck that.
I know you' re a coward!
You shot Myung-Soo in the back because you couldn't beat him!
Don't play dumb.
The whole world knows.
You got some balls.
Bring it on, you fuck.
If that's what you want,
I'll skin you alive.
Don't. You' ll lose.
He won't let you go even if you win.
So don't.
Look kid, the world's a tough place.
Jong-Du!
Come here.
You want to fight, you fuck?
Get up!
Get up, you fuck.
Get up, you bastard.
You piece of shit.
Damn it.
Who's this?
I thought you'd split since you' re smarter.
What's wrong with all of you?
This is everything we earned.
I brought all of it like you said.
This is what you wanted.
Take it and let my family go.
You got brains and you don't get it?
You're not getting out of here.
Try it. I'm not dying alone.
I'm disappointed. I thought you were different.
Your brains shouldn't go to waste.
It's still not too late.
How about working for me?
Fuck you!
Fuckers!
Stop!
Stop it!
That's enough.
You kids.
Never show your face here again!
Ever!
- Let's go. - Boss!
What?
Tae-Ho.
Stupid fuck.
Why'd you come?
Why'd you come, you fuck!
If I hadn't, you'd have all died.
Tae-Ho.
Tae-Ho!
Open your eyes, you fuck!
Tae-Ho! Don't die!
It's weird sleeping outdoors again.
Yeah.
Doesn't this remind you of when we were in the camps?
Shit! Don't talk like that.
Just thinking about it sucks.
Me too.
I'm sure I can pull it off.
But what if it goes wrong?
Then our efforts are for nothing.
Then we do another raid...
But this time, I'm taking off first.
You stay behind and get beat up.