A SINGLE SPARK
Reform the pension system!
In 1975...
many faced death sentences for political activism
against the military dictatorship.
Those were truly dark days.
I was on the run myself researching
and writing a book about a worker.
Jeon Tae- Il
He had died just five years earlier.
Yet he was already half- forgotten.
But to me he represented all my hopes and dreams for the future.
Why are you out here again?
Told you I'd get off one stop early.
Don't you trust me?
- You must be tired. - We've reached our quorum for the union.
Well done!
Been up all night?
- Good progress with the writing? - Not bad.
Life seems miraculous sometimes.
Don't you think?
You mean because of the baby?
To think of ten little toes
wriggling inside me...
cracks me up.
But you only think about Jeon Tae- II, don't you?
Jung- Soon, you matter as much as he did.
Umbrellas!
For sale!
Umbrellas!
For sale!
Umbrellas!
Hey, umbrella boy!
- How much? - 35 won.
- 30 should do. - No, they're 35 won.
Then call it 33.
- Then I make a loss! - Nonsense, give it here!
- This is used! - I just got them.
You little cheat!
Taxi!
No wonder you can't get a decentjob!
There's always one isn't there?
The one who wants tea
when everyone's having coffee.
This plant is one of them.
He gets the same water, grows in the same soil,
but he gets up later than the others.
Maybe his nights are like yours!
Ah, I forgot the sauce.
Anyone home?
- Who is it? - Hello!
I'm coming.
Excuse me, I'm from the district office.
You must be Mr Lee Hui- Jun.
Owner and sole occupier.
My youngest son is working in the Middle East.
My daughter visits me often.
Oh.
So who uses this room?
Since my eldest son didn't come back from Vietnam...
I've rented it out.
Anybody in? I'm here for the census.
- Wait, wait a moment - Anybody in?
Yong- Su, are you there?
It looks occupied but the door's locked.
Look through here.
They aren't even registered.
They're a nice couple.
She has a factory job.
And he's studying for the civil service.
- Who's there? - Me
Aren't you asleep yet?
Oops
- The laundry's still out! - A man was here today.
- For the census. - Really?
- Your husband seems to be away. - Yes.
- He says you must register. - Of course.
Poor thing works so late!
Where's that husband of hers?
Good night.
I told him you were good people.
Sssht!
- You've been hiding all day? - Yes.
Hey, don't fall asleep!
Come on!
Come on, bring it here. Hurry!
Come on, move it.
Bring it here!
- Have you done this work before? - OK, here it is
- No sir, it's my first time. - Put this up.
- Where are you from? - Taegu.
- I see... Well, work hard! - Thank you, sir!
- Tailor! - Yeah
You have a new assistant
Come on, come up here
He's around my age.
- Here - Assistant tailor!
- Yes
- Where are those pattern cuts? - Coming up.
- Assistant 4! - Yes.
- Here you go. - Here.
Are you free?
- Sit here and give me a hand. - OK
- Assistant 2! - Yes.
Get a move on!
Call these finished?
Do them again!
I can sew shit like this.
Work properly!
Hey you... you!
If you nod off and hurt yourself who'll marry you?
And you! Just do your own job, understand?
Yes, sir
- Where are you going? - To the toilet.
How many times a day is that?
- Hurry up! - Yes.
Excuse me, sir... I need to go, too.
What's up with you kids today?
- Trying to out- crap each other? - Anybody else need to go!
All 1000 pieces must be finished today.
I wish you kids worked as hard as you crap.
Yoon- Shil!
- Yoon- Shil! - Why?
The manager's asking for the stitched quilts.
They're piled in front of the machined ones.
You gonna take all day in there?
Tae- Il wanted so much to study.
He loved reading books.
He went to evening classes for a while
He said those were his happiest times.
What's that?
Aiming for college now, are you?
Working at Samil, Tae- II?
- They say the boss there is a real slave driver. - He's okay.
Anyhow, tailor is best in this field.
Time's up kids! Back downstairs!
Damn, I've hardly digested my lunch.
Downstairs now!
You're still not done yet?
Almost done.
Don't make such a fuss!
I was an army medic, you know.
These shots will really keep you awake.
Nothing works faster.
Anyone else need one?
Yung- Bae, these are for export!
- Must be ready by tomorrow! - Yeah.
Hey, you kids!
Two night's without sleep is nothing!
They must be done by tomorrow!
- Got it? - Alright.
Kyung-ja!
She's coughing blood! She should go to hospital!
- What's up? - I'll be all right.
- Don't need to go to hospital. - Kyung-ja.
Hey, Kyung-ja.
- Hey, Kyung-ja. - Kyung-ja.
Tae- II, take her home.
OK
- What is it? - It would be when we're so busy.
Come on, you all knew she had TB.
Get back to work!
There's no where to wash my hands.
Nowhere at all.
What are you looking at instead of eating?
Mum... there's a girl at work, about Soon- Ok's age.
She got fired for coughing up blood.
No wonder you kids get ill, working in all that dust.
But the boss just doesn't care.
Those bastards would be in jail
if the law was enforced.
There are laws to protect workers.
Don't know about that, do you?
"Clause 45: Time off. The employer must grant
the employee a minimum of one day's paid leave per week."
Goodnight, sir.
- Goodnight. - Yeah.
Take care.
- Goodbye, sir - Yeah, goodbye.
- I'll be off too. - Thanks for today.
- Sorry I can't stay to tidy up. - Don't worry. I'll do it.
- OK - See you early tomorrow.
- Don't be late yourself. - Take care.
Yong- Su...
Yong- Su, are you there?
- That was your Chinese reading class? - Yes.
You teach it well.
- Where are you these days? - I'm fine.
Come in.
- Impressive students! - Yeah.
The classroom is clean.
We must do something to mark Kim Sang- Jin's suicide.
- What's the mood on campus? - As you'd expect.
...and even religious groups are on the streets.
Nursing the sorrows of defeat, the citizens of South Vietnam.
Have been forced out of their own homes.
Mind if I turn off the TV?
Who is to blame for that disaster?
Hungry?
You know why I was looking for you this evening?
You said you wanted to have something special.
Today...
they turned down our request to start a union.
One of the managers must be an informer.
They even knew about my evening- class study for workers.
Let's eat first.
Then we'll talk about it.
- Go on. Eat! - Suddenly I'm not hungry.
Aren't you craving squid?
Now I want something fresh... like fruit.
- Enjoying it? - Sure...
but it's too much for one.
Remember when we first met?
I complained that you went on about the labour laws
- instead of teaching academic subjects. - Yeah
I was pretty green, wasn't I?
Yes, you were.
Now try this pear... it's fruit!
Kim!
Yong- Su...
I know where Kim Yong- Su is.
Can we really win?
We'll win.
When things are this extreme the system is bound to crack.
They've executed those members of the Revolutionary Federation.
What'll happen if they catch you?
They won't catch me.
Call me when
the sun comes up at dawn
Call me when
the moon comes up at dusk
I've waited and waited
but my love does not come...
That's her, coming now.
Goodnight
Goodnight... sleep well...
Where have you been this late? Out on a date?
- Why are you here? - We have something to discuss.
Why else would the boss come all this way?
- Good evening, sir. - Miss Shin...
- Let's have a little chat. - These are for you...
Take them, they're expensive.
Park, that's enough!
Why don't we talk in a coffee shop?
It's very late, let's talk at the factory tomorrow.
Show some respect! Come on!
- Let's move. - What do you want?
- I said move! - Why are you doing this?
You little...
I was going to be gentle, but... Don't you like the present?
Park, that's enough!
Miss Shin!
Surely you don't want to eat prison food? Take my advice.
Forget this nonsense about founding a union.
This isn't much, but please take it.
- Go on, take it. - Please don't do this.
We're doing nothing illegal!
Stop trying to bribe us!
Who does this bitch think she's talking to?
If you're so hot on the law, sue us!
That's a loud bark for this time of night!
Who the hell are you?
Someone who won't let creeps
harass my neighbour!
You bastards!
You scums! Come back!
Are you all right?
On a day like today... couldn't you stay home?
I should make a point of being on time today.
You told me yourself...
We have to show them they don't scare us.
One night it was way past midnight
Tae- Il didn't come home.
He finally stumbled in at dawn.
Of course, I asked where he'd been.
He just smiled and said nothing.
And after that, It was the same
for the next three or four nights.
So I sat him down and demanded an explanation.
He told me the workers
kept falling asleep on the job
and couldn't even have lunch.
So he was buying sweetbreads for them
with the money I gave him for the bus. That helped to keep them going.
On his way, walking home he was caught
breaking the curfew and had to spend the night in police custody.
It was heartbreaking to hear this but what could I say?
Anyhow this set the pattern
for the rest of his life.
He always dreamed of having an educated friend.
Now he has one... too late!
It must be hard to be on the run
Are you eating well, at least?
You girls can go now.
I'll finish the rest... go home early.
- Are you sure it's okay? - Can we really go?
Sure, go get some sleep.
- Thank you - Thank you.
What have we here?
You think you're a tailor now?
You go out
to buy medicine when a girl gets sick
and you side with them when I need more overtime work.
I've had enough of you, I really have.
- President Kim is back! - And "Mr Vice President" too
Welcome, gentlemen!
Tae- II, be here for the early delivery tomorrow.
- Come early. - Yes, sir.
You don't have what it takes to be a boss, you sap.
Stop being lazy and make some money if you wanna be a boss!
The fucker...
- What's up with that bastard? - Dunno.
- Just finished? - Yeah.
- We have this Sunday off, don't we? - Why?
Let's go somewhere with the others.
We can share the costs. We'll get to know each other better.
I'll bring the tent. It's an American one.
And I'll get some girls to come.
Oh, fuck... Let's face it...
This place sucks.
When did we last enjoy a Sunday off?
Cooped up in here all week, we're usually too shattered
Shit!
The Labour Law sets minimum standards for the workplace.
It's supposed to protect us and improve our working conditions.
- Want to see? - What is this?
Most of it's in Chinese!
- What's that? - The Labour Law book.
- Hey - Labour Law?
- The weathers already... - What is that?
Let's all get together and discuss...
- Yeah, this is a great chance... - What's up?
Anyway let's go to the beach.
I am a fool.
I said nothing when girls
only twelve or thirteen years old
were fired without compensation
for catching TB from all the dust.
The Labour Law says
we have an absolute right to decent treatment
as human beings.
All of us in the clothes industry are fools!
When we openly admit that...
then we can hope
for better treatment some day.
Okay, now a song
from the Fools' Association president.
The fool of fools... Jeon Tae- II.
I bottle up my tears and sighs
I roam the alleys in the dark
Only for love will I risk my life!
Don't despise me for being a child of the streets!
Fools' Association president Jeon Tae- Il [Recommendation]
Fools' Association?
Let me see that.
From early morning till late evening,
we work an average of 15 hours per day.
And when extra work comes in,
we sometimes keep going four days without sleep.
- But our pay... - Get to the point
That is...
that they flout the Labour Law.
- The Labour Law states... - I see.
We'll look into it. You can go now.
Where are they all? Why is a tailor doing detailing?
I sent them home.
The nerve of it! I warned you about this.
Sorry.
But they haven't slept in days
they were too worn out.
Are you the boss now? Consider yourself fired!
I can't work with a tailor
who won't follow orders!
Working conditions?
Those wretches aren't hungry enough!
Tell them to leave. Making me crazy.
You're still waiting? We have to close up.
Sorry, they'll be here any moment.
Where are the others?
Jin- Chul can't make it.
Did they sack you too?
Yeah.
I'm gonna join the army.
Mr Lee, any message for me?
No, nothing.
Let's go!
You can't pay?
Don't you have a healthy son lazing around?
Please give me a little more time. I'll pay before the end of the month.
Shouldn't borrow if you can't pay back.
Debtors should take rat poison and kill themselves.
I'll fight to the end
to make sure we never have another year like this.
Who is it?
I'm from the shop. There's a phone- call for you.
Yeah.
They dumped us here last night
Are you badly hurt?
Mi- Ae was hurt worst.
Yesterday was our fourth day on strike.
The cops kept threatening us then they scared us
by cutting off the lights.
Suddenly Jin- Ok fainted.
She couldn't speak or breathe.
So we opened the door
to take her to the hospital.
- Yeah - And those thugs...
charged in with wooden clubs.
- We were all bleeding and fainting. - Calm down.
- And they dumped us here. - It's OK now.
Don't know what happened to the others.
Mi- Ae...
Let's go now.
Can you climb on to my back?
Get on.
Be careful.
Hold on.