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EBS History of Culture Series - Part 1 THE COUNT OF MYEONGDONG
~ Episode 18 ~
You haven't changed a bit.
You're just as I left you.
What can I say...
~ Jeon Hye Rin ~
I've heard Park In Hwan Seonsaengnim passed away?!
Ohh... You've heard the news.
Yes.
A few months later.
That damned bottle...
After hearing of his death, I felt sad for quite some time.
Every time he uttered a word, we'd always end up arguing.
- That was just... - It's really a shame.
By the way... Care for a cup of tea?
Since we're here, you can greet Gongcho Seonsaengnim as well.
Later.
It's too early for drinks, so let's just have a cup of tea.
Where do you all hang out, these days?
Right... You don't know how much this place changed.
It's not the Myeongdong you knew anymore.
The Mona Lisa has closed its doors a few years back,
the Poem is history as well.
Right... Did the Poem open before you left?
First time I'm hearing it?!
We all go to the Eunseong, these days.
There's this groggery between the Arts Theater and...
Seonsaengnim. I'm sorry,
but I'll have to go.
Are you that busy?
Yes.
You don't know how picky my daughter is...
She just doesn't drink any milk.
Someone made her try Japanese milk powder,
and that's all she tolerates now.
It's hard to find at the market, so I thought I could try in Myeongdong.
So, did you find it?
Yes.
I've become an old broad like the others, didn't I?
I even had a child, so what can you do?
First... I want to become a good mother to her.
Seonsaengnim.
I'll see you later.
Why did you come back in?
Ohh... Have a seat.
Ahh... yes.
I've been gathering the work of all the regulars...
hanging out here at the Bronze.
Must be around a hundred.
Impressive, isn't it?
Did you gather that many?
This is the epitome of literary purity.
All you find these days are works stressing ideology and doctrine,
but there is none of that here.
Since they only write what they want to.
If I really had to give it a name...
Would medley fit the bill? Something like that.
What is it?
Anything against that?
Actually... I was planning to tell you earlier.
Ohh... Go ahead.
Don't literary anthologies like that need some kind of...
unified directive or stance to begin with?
They don't, they sure don't. It's not that.
Still, there should at least be a systematic...
Listen, Lee Bong Gu.
The idea that literature needs to display a uniform stance is parochial.
And it's not just literature.
Works just as well for how people live.
Become too methodical, and you will stop improving.
Let's look back at our past.
Wasn't it dominated by disorder?
What we did was instilling the willpower to open a new era.
Ehh... Forget it.
What am I talking about, anyhow?
Don't say that, Seonsaengnim.
Your words left a big impression.
Just forget it.
What does all that paltry rubbish matter, when you're an old fart?
But why do you keep trying to abandon everything that's yours?
On the contrary, I think people like you should voice their views.
Only then we can find the light amid all this disorder.
That is something you must let be.
What are you referring to?
What's so troubling about all this disorder we're facing now?
You call this much "disorder," even?!
Is modernization something you achieve in a day?
The disorder of our post-liberation, then of the war.
The disorder of trying to survive amid the rubble.
All that chaos and confusion is stirred together in the cauldron of time,
and will eventually find a new form by itself.
Ohhh... By the way,
you were on your way out, what brought you back in?
Ahh... yes.
I met Jeon Hye Rin outside.
So...
Ohhh!
That clever young lady?!
Yes. She returned from her studies in Germany,
but she came back with a daughter.
Aigoo...
Then, all that energy of hers must be vanishing into smoke?!
Gongcho Oh Sang Soon's entire life was dominated by his refusal to possess.
Also, even if surrounded by a literary world which stressed opinionated views,
his prose was always free-spirited, and devoid of any color or ideology.
Oh Sang Soon Seonsaengnim was literally living at the Bronze Coffee Shop,
~ Kang In Suk ~ (Youngin Literature House director)
particularly considering that he really had no occupation.
Still, despite his age, he would always scrapbook other people's works,
enough that the "Bronze Literature" alumni number in the dozens.
I think that omnibus is kept at Konkuk University's library,
and Oh managed to get people like Lee Hwa Ryong...
to write a few words each, almost forced by him to write.
What was used back then is what we today call "A4 Paper."
~ Lee Geun Bae ~ (Gongcho Appreciation Society chairman)
Some would write an entire A4 page,
others just a line or two.
He used this snappy cover,
and any of the customers good at drawing or painting...
would draw sketches of Gongcho Seonsaeng or the entire coffee shop itself.
It is now kept by Konkuk University,
and he would simply title these collections "Bronze Literature,"
separating every hundred pages or so.
Come here.
Come over here.
Yes... Seonsaengnim.
Write something here.
What shall I...
Anything, just a few sentences.
Anything coming to mind.
I apologize.
Wretched fool...
Is literature scaring you that much?
How on earth should we define our 1950s?
The era of a fratricidal war and the resulting rubble,
but also the days when people sought out...
new means of living and survival amidst that same rubble?
Could we sum it up that way?
The days of Lee Seung Man's dictatorship,
and the resistance which brought us to the democratic revolution of April 19?
Historically, we consider the 1950s a very precious and important decade.
Days stricken by poverty, but blessed with romanticism,
or the days when humanism reigned supreme, is how we call it.
Is it really a fair assessment?
It still evokes endless doubts.
The 1950s saw millions of people die, or severely wound themselves in the war.
Countless people had to live off coarse food, and many more starved.
There was no political freedom, either.
But... romanticism?!
Still, what if we thought of it this way?
The days when everyone had to experience poverty,
on the contrary turning it into a familiar, ordinary sight.
There were no rich to envy,
nor people whose existence depended upon killing others to survive,
or the raging materialism which excused everything at the altar of wellbeing.
All those social cancers afflicting us today were nowhere to be seen in the 1950s.
The relief of surviving through the grim reality of the war,
that sole realization bringing people happiness was...
what our Fifties were all about.
And it was from that very sense of relief...
that people started to twist and turn once again.
Why aren't you eating and just sitting there?
You must be hungry, so go ahead and have some.
Right... Let's eat.
Wow! Look... What is this...
What are you doing... Here, come.
You'll spoil them, what are you doing?
Ehh... Then, do I eat this all by myself?
They'll eat whatever is left.
What are you doing? Come have some.
I said come!
You little rascal!
How dare you act with such arrogance?
Look.
Isn't he in middle school now?
If he's that old already, then he can sit and eat with his father.
Come here.
Fine.
I'll let him join you only for today.
Ahh... I said come here.
Come sit here.
Listen.
Enough with all that obsession of yours.
When we eat, let's just do it together, all four.
Keep siding with the kids, will you?
You really want them to... You little scoundrel!
What are you touching?
Just let him do it!
Have him eat whatever he wants.
Where would you find someone who starts eating before his father does?
Enough with that!
Here you go.
Have some, uh?
It smells so good.
You sure know how to educate your kids...
I said have some!
You insolent little scoundrel!
Why are you making a scene out of a damned chicken wing?
You little scoundrel...
What did I tell you?
Didn't I tell you not to touch any food before your father starts eating?
You little scoundrel. What are you, some kind of mongrel?
Do you rush to eat food like some kind of stray dog?
You little...
I'm sorry, Mother.
And I thought it wouldn't happen today. Our Young Tae is getting hit again!
Are you really going to hurt your kids over that?
If I knew he would become such a wretched scoundrel,
I would have left him at the orphanage.
Aigoo! Violence will teach them nothing.
Stop barging in and just come here.
You little insolent scoundrel...
He's had enough!
They always say "spare the rod, spoil the child."
You little rascal, if I let you act as you please,
when will you ever become a decent person?
That's right!
You must be strict with your kids, even if it takes a scolding!
Again with that!
Close that door!
Keep taking their side, and I'll hit them even harder!
That temper of yours...
They need to be taught a lesson!
So they'll become successful and we'll live in abundance.
- You little scoundrel... - I'm sorry.
- I ought to... - Aigoo!
Hyungnim, just stay put.
Don't you know her temper?
If you get involved, she'll hit him even more.
Do as you please!
Kill them, while you're at it!
Young Seok.
Don't resent your mother.
Think she's hitting you out of spite?
It is just not to spoil you.
Understand?
Yes.
Right...
Just study hard, uh?
Pass the civil service examination like your mother wants,
and become a great man.
All right?
Yes.
All right. Let's eat.
Ahh... What are you waiting for?
I said eat.
Go ahead.
You first need to start, if...
I have plenty of tasty food outside.
So, don't worry and go ahead.
Have some of this.
Nice way to educate them!
Hyungnim, you really...
You know she'd pester you the entire night, why even bother?
I can't bear to see my kids subjected to that.
But your wife is doing a wonderful job with them.
Think of how insolent little kiddos are these days.
Right.
My mother was very strict with me as well.
And, look at me!
Look at how I turned out!
Why, what's wrong with you?
Do you live by stealing other people's things?
Or do you con anyone out of their money?
You really...
I just might be living honestly because of my mother, then.
As for us, we still have no kids, so...
Don't let that disappoint you.
Indeed.
Those kids are just a fortune to me, a fortune indeed!
Sure they are.
Only thieves would do that without the owner's consent!
If you're not a thief, then who is?
No need to waste time prattling, just carry him to the station.
Let's talk down at the station!
- A moment... Just a moment. - Yang, what...
What's wrong?
I always tell you that I always lose my camera, don't I?
But he was the one stealing it.
And he always comes dressed all nicely.
So this is your camera thief, you mean?
He was suspicious so I pretended I didn't notice him.
But this fella was putting my camera in his inside pocket.
I wasn't trying to steal it.
Shut that trap!
You don't have anything better to do than to steal other people's cameras?
Enough with the hitting!
Yang, what are you waiting for? Take him to the police.
Let's go!
I said wait!
There must be a reason why you tried to steal his camera, right?
Reason, my ass!
Let's at least listen.
Listen.
You look old enough to know better,
so why are you going around stealing things?
I'm just so hungry!
You're hungry, so you steal other people's things?!
Do some hard labor, if nothing else works.
And where would I find that kind of work?
My wife's illness is killing her,
I don't even have money for the hospital,
and my kids keep crying that they're hungry.
That's a bunch of lies.
Stay put, will you?
Shouldn't we at least listen what he has to say?
Ahh... I know what the "reason" is!
You heartless old fart...
If we bring him down to the station, it'll be a ticket to the can.
Do we really need to do that?
I apologize.
If you could only forgive me this once,
I will never, ever do it again.
I swear, Seonsaengnim!
Still... No matter how hard things might be,
you can't steal other people's things, can you?
I just was blinded by the moment...
And since I was so hungry...
Look, Yang.
He's apologized, so let's just forgive him this once.
How about the cameras he stole before?
This is my first time!
You've been prancing around my place for the last few days!
Ahh... It wasn't me!
I told you it's the first time.
Look, Yang.
You found your camera, so that's enough.
He says he won't do it again, so let's forgive him, uh?
What are you doing?
- Apologize and just go. - Yes...
My apologies.
I will never do that again. Of course I won't!
Yang, are you letting him go?
Just let him go!
Ahh... If he's so hungry he's about to starve,
where did he find the money for those fancy clothes?
Now that I think about it, that's right?!
Thievery is his trade for sure.
And he has the guts to act all preachy...
In other words, back then,
~ Jung Ha Yeon ~ (The Count of Myeongdong writer)
compassion and humanism were much more important to people...
than merely abiding by the law.
So, if anyone from your neighborhood had done something wrong,
more than just leaving him to the authorities, he would be scolded by the elders.
So common sense was much stronger than any other law.
And if someone acted against common sense,
then the verdict of the people was decided upon before the trial started.
But these days, at the slightest sign of confrontation,
we're all up in arms and let the law deal with it in black and white ways.
That didn't happen back then.
It was a time when common sense and that basic human "code" reigned supreme.
You will do what?
Movies!
Movies?!
Yeah... I plan to make a really great movie, Sister.
What is it now, you plan to end up on the street?
Don't you know that every movie released these days hits the jackpot?
To my knowledge, there's a lot more of them ending belly up.
The story is just to die for.
It's one of those great tearjerkers.
What is it about?
There's this coachman,
who, come rain or snow, works his hardest to see his son succeed.
Anyhow...
After enduring all sorts of difficulties,
at long last, his son passes the civil service examination.
Aigoo, I'm in tears already...
Of course you will be.
What is parents' greatest wish, these days?
Isn't it seeing their children succeed?
There are parents in this country who would even sell their cows...
to send their children to college.
So you plan to completely abandon the underworld?
Swordsmen die by the sword,
and it's only natural that the same would happen for gangsters.
But I hear Lee Jung Jae is doing quite well.
He made Im Hwa Soo establish this "Anti- Communist Artist Association" or something.
But I also hear that Im Hwa Soo is employing actors as if they were servants?
You just wait and see.
The world will be turned upside down.
And when that happens,
gangsters will be the first to suffer the consequences.
So what are you going to do?
Want to see me taken to the penitentiary?
Here...
I don't really know much about movies,
so I leave it all to you, Director Kang.
Ahh... Still, you're the producer...
I'll leave it to you and Kim Seung Ho.
Don't worry, Lee Sajangnim.
Director Kang will make a great film out of this.
~ Kim Seung Ho (actor), Kang Dae Jin (director) ~
But you're investing so much, what if it flops?
Just make a great movie, what are you worrying about?
Don't worry about the producer, and do as you wish.
Thank you, Lee Sajangnim.
What did I tell you? There is no stopping him.
But... This is such a burden...
Is there such a thing as a free lunch?
That over there...
Go out and double it.
Y...es. Yes! Certainly. I will do my best.
Kim Hyung.
Can we really accept this money?
Didn't he give it to you to make a film?
I mean... Don't you know who Lee Hwa Ryong is?
There is nothing to worry about.
He and Lee Jung Jae are just on a different planet.
Anything to say?
You need to wake up and smell the roses, Aunim.
What is this movie thing?
I will leave this scene.
Uh?!
How long do you think the Liberal Party will last?
A...At least ten years, I guess.
Lee Gi Bong will at least have his shot at power.
Isn't that right, Aunim?
Unless it was something urgent,
why would they ever try to assassinate VP Jang Myeon?
Wouldn't have they tried that because...
they have no confidence of winning the next elections?
Ahh... Still...
Are you just letting them take over Myeongdong?
If the regime changes, first thing is they'll go after gangsters.
So we must leave the scene before it's too late.
Who could be considered the most popular star of the 20th century?
~ A Coachman ~ (1961, directed by Kang Dae Jin)
Sending off the century on December 31, 1999,
Weekly Korea asked experts from all branches of the entertainment world...
who the most popular star of the past century was.
And the result was...
~ Romance Papa ~ (1960, directed by Shin Sang Ok)
Kim Seung Ho for Korea,
and Charlie Chaplin for the rest of the world.
Yes. That's right.
The biggest star in the 70-year-old history of Korean cinema...
was indeed Kim Seung Ho.
He debuted in 1949,
and until he passed away two decades later,
Kim had starred in a total of 540 films.
Thanks to the film produced by Myeongdong gangster Lee Hwa Ryong...
and directed by Kang Dae Jin, "A Coachman,"
Kim had the honor of leading the very first Korean film...
honored with the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
It was one of those characters oozing real life,
~ Director Yu Hyeon Mok ~
one to which the masses could tremendously relate.
At the time, Kim was one of the very best actors,
as he would shoot over ten films at the same time,
moving from set to set, just another example of his popularity.
And he was just phenomenal when it came to portraying...
such down to earth characters.
Both in the 1950s and 60s, what most characterized Kim Seung Ho's acting...
~ Film Critic Jo Yeong Jeong ~
was representing the lower classes.
Think, for instance, about his work in Kim So Dong's "Money" from 1958,
or Yu Hyeon Mok's "Seizure of Life" (1958),
not to mention Jo Geun Ha's "Way of the Body" (1959).
If you look at his performances here,
you will notice how they represent the life of the working class.
And moving onto the 60s, he starred in notorious films like "A Coachman,"
"Mr. Park," "Sunflower Family," or "Romance Papa."
The father figures he played in these films...
The, how should I put it, working-class father?
This style of his was very familiar and endearing,
and it seems they perfectly exemplified the lives of the working class.
He worked with me on many films as well,
but no matter which character you asked him to portray,
his range would allow it, not to mention his dubbing his own lines.
At the time, only a few stars dubbed their lines,
and voice actors from the radio would fill in.
We were essentially shooting silent films, so they dubbed them.
But as far as Kim went, he was always adamant it had to be him.
Only then his performance would be true to life and sincere.
His earnest efforts were always praised, in that sense.
With the success of Lee Gyu Han's "Chunhyang Story" (1955),
the Korean film industry entered a golden age.
Jo Geun Ha's "Bear" and "Way of the Body,"
Hong Seong Gi's "Stars in My Heart," Shin Sang Ok's "Dream,"
Kim Ki Young's "A Woman's War" and "The Twilight Train."
These, and so many others that it would be hard to list them all,
made big money at the box office.
But on the other hand,
the female classical opera which was all the rage until the mid 1950s...
was falling into ruins.
Of course, the theater scene was experiencing similar difficulties.
Aigoo... Lee Hae Rang Seonsaengnim, long time no see.
Seems like you're not producing any plays, these days?
I guess...
Then again, all you find here at the Arts Theater are these singing shows.
These days, aren't Hyun In and Nam In Soo at the top?
Isn't that right?!
So, how did it go?
That lady...
Remember Im Chun Aeng, who used to be so popular...
That's quite a sad story.
She's always in and out of the Arts Theater asking for a spot,
but it seems like they're not giving her any.
Then again, classical opera has lost all its popularity, these days.
Have some.
Haven't you heard the news?
The National Theater from Daegu is moving to Seoul in June.
Is that so?
Seems like it's curtain call for the Arts Theater,
and a new day for the National Theater.
Aigoo, really...
Aigoo...
I guess I'll have to leave this place as well.
Then, they'll only welcome pure arts, from now on?!
Well, don't ask me that.
These days, there seems to be no place for pure arts.
Since movies and gayo (pop music) have invaded the entire place.
But, let me get straight to the point.
I was wondering if I could borrow your cooperation...
to establish a national theater troupe.
What are you referring to?
To be really honest,
most theater actors are under Shinhyeop's wings,
so in truth, the national theater troupe has no members.
So?
So, hoping that you and all the Shinhyeop members could join the troupe...
All the better.
Funding for stage plays is on its last legs, so if you enter the national troupe,
our days of worrying about budgets are over.
Not to mention that members would be paid salaries.
But we wouldn't be part of the National Theater,
but be employed by the national theater troupe.
Isn't that the same thing?
Far from it.
They're asking us to disband Shinhyeop and join their ranks.
So Shinhyeop must close its doors?
If all Shinhyeop members join them, wouldn't that happen anyway?
~ Kim Dong Won, Jang Min Ho (stage actors) ~
Really...
Let's just do it.
Then, how about Shinhyeop?
If Yu Chi Jin Seonsaengnim learns of this...
We can't allow our members to starve.
~ National Theater ~
The Arts Theater was renamed National Theater.
It was the result of all the efforts the stage scene went through...
to protect their arts from the onslaught of mass entertainment.
You were hungry?
Is that why you sold out Shinhyeop?
Seonsaengnim...
It's not that...
Then?
These days, stage plays don't draw anymore.
Let alone fees for our cast, even renting the place is impossible.
Then...
~ Yu Chi Jin (playwright) ~
Go work in the movies like Kim Seung Ho or Ju Seon Tae!
My apologies, Seonsaengnim.
One of the "founding fathers" of Shinhyeop was Dongnang, Yu Chi Jin.
After losing in one day all the efforts of cultivating Shinhyeop for a decade,
Yu Chi Jin's anger was touching the sky.
Go get it back.
Even without members, I'll help Shinhyeop survive on my own!
You'll pardon me, Seonsaengnim.
But talking to our members after they've finally found food for their tables...
I didn't start this troupe to fill my belly!
Same goes for you.
If putting food on the table was all you cared about,
don't waste your talent on the stage,
and become a film director!
I can't live without theater.
That is why I told you to get Shinhyeop back.
Why aren't you answering me?
Yes... I will.
So you're unemployed once again?
What else could I do?
Yu Chi Jin Seonsaengnim was spitting fire at me.
Still, did you need to hand out your resignation?
It could have ended up with other members doing the same,
What could I do?
Lee Hyung, you really...
How many mouths do you have to feed?
Isn't that seven?
How are you going to put food on the table now?
It's not like we've been starving...
What could possibly happen?
But the same Lee Hae Rang was met with good news.
Lee Hyung.
So you quit your National Theater post?
Yes, I joined the jobless once again.
Ahh... Good to hear, Lee Hyung!
Remember Lee Jae Hak?
Vice President of the National Assembly.
Yes.
He wants to establish a cultural village in Hongje-Dong.
Cultural village?!
For free,
he's giving lodging to poor artists.
Give it a try, will you?
Back then... So, we're talking right before April 19.
~ Kim Si Cheol (poet) ~
Lee Seung Man presented his candidacy as president,
and Lee Gi Bong was his running mate, running for Vice President.
Up until then, Lee Gi Bong had been Speaker of the National Assembly.
But as he joined the race for vice president,
he thought that helping out the poor artists and scribes...
could help him out in the long run, in terms of votes.
I don't know who gave the order specifically,
but there was a rumor they would establish this cultural village in Hongje-Dong.
At the time, I was editor of a magazine called "Free Literature,"
and since all writers working there were poor,
many of them applied to be welcomed into this village.
There were supporters of Unam (Lee Seung Man) among scribes,
~ Lee Wan Beom ~ (Academy of Korean Studies professor)
but the majority opposed him,
so the number of those against him far surpassed those who supported him.
So the intent in building this cultural village was to sort of turn the tide,
but they didn't succeed at that,
and even that small success, by turning into failure,
practically made sure this "cultural" village deviated from its name...
and initial intentions.
With April 19 behind the corner,
we've been neglecting our protagonists for quite a while.
We'll now return to Kim Su Young's story.
Here...
Look at this...
You've been good, haven't you?
Oppa.
- Here I am. - Ohh... It's you?
Oh my!
Look at how quickly he's growing.
Right...
Eonni?
She'll be in the backyard, fixing the rabbit cage.
Are you raising rabbits again?
We can't make it by raising chickens alone, what else can you do?
I hear you're delivering eggs to the American base?
The feed is getting more and more expensive,
but the price of eggs is stagnating.
Those American troops sure are something.
They keep selling feed at higher prices,
but just because the price of eggs hasn't changed back home,
they refuse to pay more for eggs here.
If they don't want to give us more money, then stop raising prices for feed.
How can they act that way?
Again with the complaints...
Su Myeong, do you know how many hours a day I work?
I bring eggs to the base early in the morning,
buy the feed, come home and feed the chickens.
My wife goes by the riverbank to get clovers for the rabbits, and feeds them.
I clean the cages,
and later, just to make a few pennies,
I spend the whole evening translating.
All this work is killing me, why are you laughing?
Because, even if you complain, you still look happy.
Now that we have one more mouth to feed, I have no time to complain.
What's with the flowers?
This? I'll give them to Eonni.
Here... We're all done.
Eonni.
Ohh... Come on in.
Congratulations, Eonni!
Oppa is being awarded.
Awarded?!
For what?
They're having this award thing at the Korean Association of Poets,
and Oppa was proclaimed the very first winner.
Is it true?
Dear!
Dear...
So you're winning an award?
What award?
The Association of Poets is awarding you.
I haven't told him yet.
Dear.
- The Association will award... - I have no interest in that.
If they give me something to eat, I'd reconsider.
Why I told you, Eonni?
I knew he'd react that way, so I told you first.
Why are you against it?
Dear.
Aigoo, let's go play with Auntie.
Are you really going to refuse it?
Don't care.
What is the reason?
That association was made up by conservatives.
Why would they ever award someone like me?
What does it matter?
They're acknowledging your work!
I don't need their approval.
Just out of courtesy...
Give useless awards like that to people like Park In Hwan!
How can the dead accept an award?
Know why I always hated Park In Hwan?
Go out in Myeongdong and take a look.
See all those alleged scribes riding the high horse.
All they're worried about is art, in their putrid nihilism.
All they do is prance around haberdasheries and put on fancy clothes.
Why do you always need to speak ill of other people?
Can't you acknowledge others, for once?
How can you keep writing if you ignore reality?
What the hell is this "reality" of yours?
Ideology.
Are you...
still trapped inside that POW camp?
Now...
Now nobody is ever thinking of you as a commie.
Why do you keep...
That's not the issue.
Then, what is?
This Lee Seung Man dictatorship is not the issue,
it's the ideology oppressing us behind it that's the problem.
Without even knowing what ideology is,
and oppressing us by ignoring it,
this life of ours is the real issue.
Dear...
Since you're a poet,
you must be different from the others.
Even what doesn't concern others in the slightest...
can hurt and bother you, I know that.
That's right. You're special.
But...
Can't we live a normal life, at least a bit?
If you don't accept this award,
you'll really become an outcast.
They'll all turn their backs on you.
Then, how are we going to go on living?
Listen.
I myself...
don't want to spend the rest of my life cleaning chicken shit.
I'm enduring this all to see you become a great writer.
What ideology is really about...
I know that, I know.
That this damned ideology is suffocating us all.
But if that's what our reality is, so what?
If you really can't take it anymore,
go out on the streets of Gwanghwamun and scream at the four corners.
That this damned anti-communism is making your life hell,
that being a commie or not is not the issue,
but that freedom is.
That absolute freedom is what you want.
If you can't even handle that,
let the flames burn you into oblivion.
Dear.
Don't talk to me.
I need to fix this before letting the rabbits in.
So we'll at least sell some rabbit fur and get a few briquettes for the winter.
Sorry.
I was just embarrassed.
I have no recent memory of having written any poem,
but since they're awarding me for a poem,
I felt as if they were making fun of me.
Why, what's wrong with your poems?
I always enjoyed them.
"My boy, my child."
"Here are your ten fingers,"
"Moving inside the red socks your mother made."
"My child, my boy."
"Wound around the nylon of your diaper,"
"For fear of your wetting your pants is what scares your mother away."
I'm sorry, my dear.
I...
am proud of you.
Stop living as if you had anything to be embarrassed about.
He would never, ever write poems the same way,
~ Kim Hyun Gyeong ~ (Kim Su Young's wife)
that was his philosophy from the start.
Not to mention the many books about philosophy that he'd read.
I saw him read Plato on more than one occasion,
and, starting from there, he moved onto Nietzsche,
but right before his death, he read Heigel a lot as well.
No... not Heigel. Heidegger, I mean.
So we bought one of his anthologies.
He loved his writings so much that,
when we buried him,
I put a copy of Heidegger's anthology inside the coffin.
After winning the first award handed out by the Association of Poets,
Kim published his first anthology in 1959, "The Moon's Jest."
Also, he wrapped the copies he received instead of his royalties,
carried them on the side, and went to meet his friends.
Here... Fix your shoes!
We fix shoes.
I'll give you a discount.
Aigoo, Seonsaengnim. How are you?
Here... Fix your shoes.
I gathered all the new magazines, care to take them?
Today...
Yes, go ahead, Seonsaengnim.
I wrote this.
Give it a read.
Thank you, Seonsaengnim!
What is this?
Seems like Kim Seonsaengnim wrote it.
Really?
Ahh... It's an anthology, all right!
The Moon's Jest?
This title is funny.
So they jest even on the moon?
Ohh... Su Young!
Long time no see.
~ Im Geung Jae (critic) ~
Here... Congrats.
Why are you so stingy?
If you won something, you should treat us.
Right...
So you published an anthology?
So...
The Moon's Jest?
Sure sounds like something you wrote, uh?
The Moon's Jest!
Right, how's your sister doing?
I'll remind you that she's mine.
Then, so long...
Why? Come on in, everyone must be there.
- I just came out. - Really?
The Moon's Jest...
That's quite a title...
Kim Su Young?
He said he just came out, so I let him go.
Ahh... Shouldn't he treat us at least once?
His sister is so pretty...
Wonder why he's always so grumpy.
Nice.
Really nice.
It's nothing special.
Why are you so humble?
It's your fierce temper that makes you charming.
I'm sorry.
Give it a read when you find the time.
Nice job.
Then, if you'll excuse me...
Aren't you going to share those?
What?
Your anthology.
Ahh... Yes?
Just leave it here.
I'll find those who like your prose, and give them a copy.
Will you do that for me?
The kiddos will like your work.
Since it's so rugged.
Thank you.
Look who's here.
So now you're writing poems, and stuff?
Aren't we past the age of drunken rampage, Kim-gun?
Ohh, listen. Kim-gun?!
Unless you want to croak like Park In Hwan, give the bottle a rest.
And I thought I'd compliment you for finally writing something,
and you start scolding me?
So Kim Gwan Shik has compliments for me, now?
"A top is spinning."
"Be it a child's or an adult's,"
"Life enthralls me, I love to watch it."
"And before my eyes wide open, a child is spinning a top."
"Just as kids playing housekeeping,"
"There is no greater wonder than a child at play,"
"So much I forget to converse with the master of the house,"
"Hoping the top will spin one more time."
"A top is spinning, a top is spinning."
"A thread wound round the foot of the top, so peculiar,"
"One held between the fingers, the top thrown to the floor,"
"And there it spins, soundless, pale gray."
"A jest played on the moon I hadn't seen for so long."
"A top is spinning."
"Spinning as tears flow down my face."
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~ On The Next Episode Of ~ THE COUNT OF MYEONGDONG
My poems are still rubbish.
And the same goes for you.
But... your poems show something.
And what is that?
It's the truth. They scream out the truth buried inside.
And if I really should be honest, Kim-gun.
You're a lyrical poet.
Whenever I'm drunk, my body feels like that of a cat.
That's probably why I didn't get hurt.
If I ever drink again, I'll come home barking like a dog.
No matter who, if they want to stay on top,
they'll need anti-communism.
As long as this monster called anti-communism survives,
common sense and logic will never be welcome in this land.
In that kind of world, what freedom could there ever be?
I can't live in this world.
One where nothing is changing,
and nothing can be changed.
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