My angel, you look more charming out of the barber shop.
Forget about the barber shop.
Thanks, but about the favor I asked last time
Clean the blood off with that.
There's still a little moisture there, huh?
Took no time at all getting it there.
Oh boy, she's truly a sexy woman.
Bye bye.
These panties will make you look cool...
You'll feel the difference when you wear one...
Sorry, I'm late.
You watching TV?
Who'd you see today?
Me? Clients, as usual.
Right, one of your recent regulars,
I met him too.
I almost talked him into signing up for insurance...
But when it comes to the crunch, he's a chicken.
He was just a blockhead.
Hey, how this get here?
I was wondering where this went.
I thought it was pervert who must've taken it.
You know that kind of a psycho.
What?
Are you listening to me?
It was next to the laundry machine.
I'm sure I hung it up after washing it...
must have dropped it.
Whatever, I'm hopping in the shower. Feel sticky.
Jang-gil All-a-round Consulting
Jang-gil Consulting - Guaranteed Discretion
So you want me to look into this guy?
- What's his name? - KIM Yang-gil.
KIM... Yang-gil.
KIM Yang-gil?
Name rings a bell. Age?
I don't know exactly, but roughly...
From late 50s to early 60s.
Damn old too!
Address?
That's one of the things I'm asking you to find out.
No idea where he lives...
But I know the place where he shows up often...
When I see him, I'll call you.
You can follow or shadow him...
That happens to be my area of expertise, ok?
I'm sorry...
So, what is it exactly that you'd like to know...
I mean, the reason you want me to investigate?
Well...
Do I have to tell you that?
No you don't. Never mind, that's fine.
There's no need.
Your wife must be in this,
and it's too private to reveal.
So, what is it that you want to know about him?
Everything.
Any stinking sore spots, weak points...
Trust me, he's an ex-convict,
so criminal record could help...
I need to get something on him.
So you're looking to full counter-attack?
Good!
You're so realistic in this horrible world.
We hustle and tussle in this bloody world.
So only 'weak-to-the-wall' and 'the survival of the fittest' work!
Damn, it's so ruthless.
But your project is no joke, so...
It'll cost a lot.
Money is not a problem.
Nothing is too insignificant to know.
Nothing...
Ok, let's do it. Alright?
The Customer Is Always Right?
But you are not!
Hello.
Hello, AHN Chang-jin?
This is Jang-gil, All-A-Round Consultant.
This is what you paid for.
I suppose you'd like to take a look.
A character and a half that guy, eh?
Real name is MYUNG Sung-nam, an actor.
Well, he's not in movies anymore,
so he used to be an actor.
He is... an actor?
Right, except that
he never had a leading role.
KIM Yang-gil is the name
of the character he once had.
He played the ring leader in a flick
a while back called "Green Fish."
And the guy's name in the movie was KIM Yang-gil.
He was nuts about acting on stage
since he was in college but...
He couldn't make ends
meet with just acting.
So he got a job
at an ad company.
But the next thing I just don't get.
One day he just leaves his regular paying job
and starts over chasing his dream of acting.
He was over 40!
Such a wretched looking old
aspiring actor! Not even funny!
But such an evil looking man is rare, so...
His specialty was a thug, a crook...
Or a blackmailer, you can say.
Blackmailer?
Yeah, blackmailer.
You know what? He was so good at it.
He was self-nicknamed Actor M,
meaning, Maestro and MYUNG.
It should be funny!
Something else!
Rumor has it that...
Once he was kicked out...
Just because the leading actress
told the director to dump him!
'Cause she didn't want to work with him.
The director asked why...
she said she was scared of MYUNG.
And it was true,
he almost made their blood so cold...
like a wacky psycho who didn't tell reality from films.
He was supposed to rape her in it,
so it makes sense.
Any criminal record?
Nope, he's clean.
And he has a family?
His only family is his daughter.
His wife and his daughter were
victims of a hit-and-run
at night, on their way back home from school.
His wife died instantly...
and his daughter barely survived.
But he couldn't afford to pay the hospital bills,
heavily in debt...
He's been half-dead for years,
no social contacts.
He's been forlorn and
poverty-stricken since, no job.
Here I attached the list
of the films he was in.
You can watch them for fun.
I say I've done my part.
I suppose there's only one little thing left to cover.
After one more project is completed.
Hey, Actor M!
Green Fish
Let's go.
My benefactor, KIM Yang-gil, sends his regards.
You son of a bitch!
Let me tell you dogs a story.
There are 2 only kinds in the world: Purebred and hybrid.
Sometimes, the worst kind of hybrids pretend to be purebred.
It's time I make a move.
It's just my job to make you see what kind of mut you really are.
Who the hell are you guys?!
Sir? Your fly's open.
- What the? - Look, I'm not joking.
Are you okay?
No, I guess not!
Know thy self.
Don't bet more than you can cover. Play it safe!
This god-damn life...
"Let me share your provocative marketing strategy on your manager."
"Jang-gil, All-A-Round Consultant"
Welcome, sir.
To where has my angel gone?
It'd sure be nice to get a massage from Yeon-ok today...
Sure be like heaven if a sexy woman was
running her fingers all over me.
Can't claim to be a primate if that
fails to get your blood pumping.
I'm warning you, but
If you get my wife
involved in this
I'm not going to just let you be
What?
Did I just hear what I think I did?
So please tell tell tell.
What will you do to me?
I'm going to do something, something
What? Tell me what!
Kill me with that razor?
Right, I will kill you. I will really kill you
- Oh yeah? - Kill
In that case, why not give it a go
Come on, go on
What's with you?
Try it, go on and do it.
Have you ever been to a cage? I mean a dogfight?
It's really exciting, you know.
You know they got their own strategies!
They first take
a wiff for a measure of the other
If they sense even the slightest weakness, then...
Wham!
Bite the neck and hold
before tearing 'em up.
But once in a while,
the bitten mutt runs wilder...
To be honest, it's more exciting and thrilling.
It's not over until one of the two is
squashed to death.
The thing between dogs, you know.
There are 2 kinds: The purebreds and the mutts.
Because they're mutts, mutts think they're something other than a mutt.
There's just one one thing to be done with these mutts.
Made to know that they're mutts
Once I had a puppy and kicked him
whenever I had the chance
This dog grew up to be huge
But he never showed me his vicious canine teeth.
Know why?
Cuz my foot still looked bigger
than a elephant's.
Bye.
See you again!
Gotta say. You're hula-hoop technique
is fantastic!
You sure you got no back up file for this?
Oh, no.
So that sorry ass put you on my trail?
Not really, I was working on the first target.
And along the way, I smelled something else.
And, you don't think about your future?
If I were you, I'd be split, period.
You must be fed up with a moronic haircutter and...
Hey!
Drop it
Oh, you gave your handle to him?
Shut up and promise me to keep this secret.
Okay Okay.
But a deal is a deal.
How about we occasionally rendez-vous like this, to Hong Kong next time?
But you know
The one you should really worry about
is not your husband
It was an accident.
I didn't mean it.
I was shaving him and
He, dozing off, suddenly pulled back his head...
Not knowing he would move that way...
I know it was my mistake but it just happened.
His neck was a mass of bleeding flesh...
He was mumbling something, but I couldn't make him out
All I could make out was that...
I was dozing off and it just happened?
Then we strapped him in a respirator.
I heard the ambulance and then
someone saying he was a goner!
As a man of honor, I rushed to the spot!
He was all but dead by then
with blood gushing out his neck
when I saw him giving his last parting words to an ER man...
The barber did nothing wrong, it was my fault...
I hope you got my words clear.
But I did my best.
I don't know a damn thing about this.
As I'm already busy as a professional life planner...
I don't work at the barber's shop so...
But if my husband confessed that he did it
It must be true, it was an accident.
As you see,
he never lies, being honest by nature.
But he killed a person, which means...
He'll have to put in time, right?
The defendant,
accidentally cut MYUNG into the neck
and killed him and...
AHN is charged of professional
negligence resulting in death, but...
There was no malicious intention...
and considering the victim's family
isn't pushing for a harsh sentence
3 years incarceration with
1 year suspended sentence
How much is this?
- No charge today. - What?
A gesture from your friendly neighborhood grocer.
Here, wash it down with this, as a set
Bet you went through hell, huh?
Bury the past and try to move on, ok?
Don't you have Haitai milk?
So so picky are we?
Haitai milk is laden with gold dust, you know
But it's Haitai when it comes to milk
Go ahead.
Maestro Barbering Shop - 3rd Generation -
Honey, it's you
Should've called you're being let out today
Are you alright, huh?
Oh, look at you.
Don't look so good. Oh gosh...
Hold on, ok?
Don't worry about it, honey.
I'll design a brand new life plan for you
Oh where did I put it?
Here it is.
Here.
Some girl, in a wheelchair, brought this for you.
From: KIM Yang-gil To: AHN Chang-jin
What is it?
Oh my god, it's money!
Oh my god!
By the time you read this letter,
I'd already have crossed that river.
I return your money except for the medical costs
for the injured girl.
Please forgive me.
"The Customer Is Always Right"
Life is a play.
Isn't it?
Life is such a fun play.
So this is where the actor MYUNG took his leave.
The police seem to have closed
the case without as much as a second glance, but
it still give off a nasty stink, don't it?
I'm here to share an interesting story on the 2nd project.
I found out something interesting on the way.
Look here!
What?
Please... finish me.
Is that really what you want, huh?
Come on, do me.
No matter how small the role may be,
if I can only die while acting
I'd have nothing more to ask for
I am sorry about your wife.
And your daughter is getting better, but is still critical...
Unless she gets the treatment she needs
she may be paralyzed from the waist down
I'm so sorry I have to tell you this but...
the account must be current for continued attention
I believe I've already made this clear
I'm sorry, but your loan application is incomplete
You state no place employment
or proof of regular income
Nor a pledge of any security I'm afraid.
I'm in motion pictures.
I'm sorry, what motives do you have?
I mean, I am a professional actor.
I've appeared in many films.
Oh really?
My poor daughter desperately needs medical attention.
Please, I am looking at you
I see that you are
but I'm afraid I cannot
Please, cannot you not reconsider this once
Could you pass the seal?
Does he think all actors cut from the same dirty rag?
Don't move, give me your damn finger.
Don't do this Oh, don't do this to me
A little more time, that's all I ask. I'll pay you back.
You took from me 'cuz you said you were hurtin' for your precious daughter of yours
So I gave it to ya 'cuz I felt sorry for ya
And so you put it to good use
But I only gave and got nothing in return. I feel cheated.
It's gotta be a two-way street, no?
I'll pay you back, really I will
There's a new flick on the way with me as lead.
When that deal closes
I'm serious. I got the lead this time.
I'm here the minute I get paid
You got the lead?
You got to believe me, come on.
Get it over it
I'd have been happy with even minor parts
But I didn't even get calls with those offers
How much I loved my being an actor, it's all I got!
I almost ended up as a worthless, old,
pathetic no name actor!
I'd have gone off the stage,
ending this deplorable play of mine...
Without my daughter who can't stand on her own.
Being her father, I wanted to leave
some money for her.
And he got life insurance...
But if he commits suicide, money doesn't come along.
For her to get the death benefit,
he had to die in an accident...
Or he needed...
Somebody who could kill him.
That night, I was having a smoke when
I just happened to witness it.
The girl was carried to ER, turned out fine.
She was a bar girl and...
Being so drunk, she remembered nothing...
not even why was taken to the ER.
But I searched for the driver with the plate number...
And the moment I found out it's a barber...
it came to me
Whenever I felt sorry for manipulating this barber for my advantage...
I swore to myself it's for my daughter and my dead wife...
And that driver, whoever it was, deserved it
I worked so hard on this project of my life.
I observed him over months and
developed a villain character.
It took a lot effort but
It was so also exhilarating!
Why? This was to be the role of
my career!
It'd be the happiest moment of my life...
If my script worked perfect
and he bought it and killed me!
With that, my daughter could live in comfort
And most of all,
my heart would be full of joy
and thrill as an actor.
I could be a low-rated,
no name actor playing only thugs...
But I'm a maestro of acting myself.
A maestro no matter how small
and two-bit a role may be
Why, when you knew along...
didn't you tell me?
How I could screw his once in a lifetime acting project!
And personally, I wanted to see how it all ended.
But I still smell something fishy.
To me, you just don't have it in you to kill
and take off like that,
But Yeon-ok, well that's altogether another story.
But the police are still in the dark about the case.
They don't have any clue about the hit-and-runner.
But the bittersweet twist of fate sent a witness in it.
You know who it was?
It was...
Me!
Oh, honey...
Honey.
It was my fault.
Make sure to tell it to the police.
I was dozing off and it happened.
I'm so sorry, and...
Thanks.
Actor M used to say that life is a play and...
everyone's a star at least in his own life
Actor M's curtain might have fallen like so, but
the act of the barber and his wife appears like it go on a bit longer
maybe indefinitely
Am I right?
Life Insurance Policy
I love you, smile, Dad.
Sir? Your fly is open.
- What's wrong with you? - Really, look
Sir? Your fly is open.
- What the? - Take a look, it's loose!
Damn!
What a maestro!
February 1997, 9 years ago.
Sorry, Chang-jin, I am late.
No, you're right on time.
Let's go in, the play's about to start.
Title: Contrabass Starring MYUNG