[rock music plays]
[Solomon's friend] Solomon, show Tetsuya.
[Tetsuya] Yeah, I'm watching.
[boy, in Japanese] Solomon, who's that?
[Solomon] Hana.
You should've told me you were coming.
I'm glad I came.
Now those bitches over there know who you belong to.
[teenagers giggling and mocking]
What's with her attitude?
[teenagers mocking and chuckling]
-[Hana] Solomon, look. -I don't have any money today.
[Hana] Look.
The rice is hard.
Don't touch if you're not buying it.
It's wrapped. It's meant to be touched.
Do you think this is what America's like?
Like a convenience store?
All prepackaged, ready to buy. With so many choices. I love it.
Hey. We should run away to America together.
What are you talking about? We don't have that kind of money.
[sighs]
[exhales loudly]
Money's easy, if you don't care where it comes from.
Of course it matters where it comes from.
Amen to Solomon.
Your family raised you too well. A boring life awaits you.
That's not for me. I want to see it all.
Hawaii. Paris. The penguins.
But most of all, Hawaii.
Mr. Nagano,
my mama's always praising how smart you are.
But you're married, isn't that so? She missed her chance.
I've tasted your mother's fried chicken, Hana.
Tell her I'm the one who's missing out.
[bell rings]
[door closes and bell rings]
[customer speaking indistinctly]
Let's not.
Prove that I mean more than those bitches from school.
You already know how I feel.
Do it.
[sighs]
[bell rings]
[door closes, bell rings]
Wait, what's in your pocket?
Run!
[footsteps running]
-[bell rings] -[grunts]
-Hana! -[Hana groans]
Mr. Nagano, it was me!
This is what you've come to!
-Aren't you ashamed? -I'm sorry. I'll pay for it.
Her life's hard enough with a divorced mother.
-I promise, we'll never come back! -Huh?
You're not getting off that easy!
I know how to deal with your kind.
You bastard! [bangs door]
Hello? I caught a shoplifter in my store.
[Solomon] Please, my dad will kill me!
-Another Korean, these troublemakers. -[Hana shouts]
I want him taken in.
[voices start echoing] Right now.
But if I don't do something, this kid will never learn.
[Hana shouts]
[Solomon breathing heavily]
Come immediately.
Solomon, stop!
Don't do it! Solomon!
Don't do it!
[breathes shakily]
Are you hurt?
No, I'm okay.
[police officer] You're his father?
He's never done anything like this before.
That's why we call it a first offense.
This is how it starts.
No, he'll never do it again.
-I swear it. -[cop sighs]
The store owner asked us to inform his school--
But then he'd be suspended!
Even kicked out.
He's committed a crime.
It was just some candy!
I know what he did was wrong,
and I will reprimand him severely for this.
-I ask you to let him go, please. -[phone rings]
Hello?
Yes, I am dealing with that right now.
Why is that?
But shoplifters should be--
I see.
Yes. I understand.
[knocks on desk] Look at me.
Looks like you have a powerful friend in this world.
You can leave now.
[stammers]
-That's it? -I've been ordered to release him.
[Solomon] Who made that call?
That doesn't matter now.
Explain yourself.
Why did you do something like that?
It was her fault, wasn't it?
-No! -Tell me the truth.
Hana had nothing to do with it.
Fine.
I believe you.
This can't happen ever again.
Hmm.
But you're not getting off that easy.
I'm sending you away to America.
-I've finally made up my mind. -I don't want to!
Your know, your mother never wanted you to grow up here.
But I wanted to keep you with me. I was selfish.
I see now that I was wrong.
No, I can't leave Hana!
Do you know how much worse tonight could've gone?
I don't want to go. This is my home.
This is where you'll always have that mark. You're going.
Your grandmother will be sad,
but I'll convince her it's what's best for you.
Get in.
[car engine starts]
["Let's Live For Today" playing]
[song continues]
[song speeds up]
[song continues, regular speed]
[song fades, ends]
[Yoseb] Have you lost your mind?
-What kind of women go to those places? -[Kyunghee] Lower your voice.
[Yoseb] The whole neighborhood knows! How do you think I found out?
[Kyunghee] We were trying to help.
Am I no longer head of this house?
That's what you just announced to the world!
[Kyunghee] It's not like that.
Of course you are.
[Yoseb] And you. Have you no shame?
As if things aren't hard enough on our people already around here
without the two of you acting with no shame.
No wonder the Japanese think the worst of us!
She had nothing to do with this.
The idea was mine alone.
We had no troubles until you entered this home.
What should I do now?
How can I show my face again,
knowing that you silly women paid my debts?
My nuts are shriveled!
Why are you speaking like that? [sighs]
[breathes shakily]
Where did you get the watch?
It was a gift from my mother.
[Yoseb] Your mother?
How does a widow with a boarding house get a watch like that? [sighs]
[breathes heavily]
I can't even breathe in this house.
We know what we did was wrong and we're sorry for it.
Please, come back home.
[people chattering]
-[Kyunghee] Sunja! -This can't be.
It's far too early for this.
[director, in Japanese] Unfortunately, there is very little we can do.
Your daughter has been ill for some time now.
At this moment, this is beyond help.
And if rumors were to spread that we have an AIDS patient here--
In other words, we aren't prepared to care for her.
Please don't say that.
I advise you to treat her at home.
A family doctor--
No. She deserves your care.
[director] I understand how you feel.
But I cannot possibly ask my staff to care for your daughter--
[doctor] I will do it.
Let's move her to a separate wing.
I think we can care for your daughter.
Thank you very much.
Very well.
Thank you for speaking up.
[sighs]
[director] Speaking frankly, there is no cure.
We don't know how long she will hold out for.
It could be months.
It could be weeks or even days.
I'm sorry to come to you like this, but I am desperate.
At first I thought he was with those gang boys at the dock,
now I fear he's involved with something more dangerous.
I'm worried sick. He's my eldest.
If anything were to happen-- [sighs]
I was hoping you could speak to him.
What makes you think I'll have any success?
Surely Pastor Yoo would be better suited.
He'll listen to you, you're younger and more vigorous.
You'll understand what he's going through.
I'm just a novice. I can't--
He doesn't answer my questions,
he tells me it's safer the less that I know.
What could he mean by such a thing?
I've already lost my husband here.
If I lose my son as well-- [sobs]
Don't upset yourself.
I will go and speak with him.
[sighs]
I know there are those who believe you are too young
or inexperienced because of your privileged upbringing,
but I feel very fortunate to have you with us here.
Thank you, but I know I still need to prove myself.
[sighs]
I will do my best for him, hmm?
I believe you will get through to him. I know it in my heart you will.
Thank you.
Hey, kids. Let's go. Come.
[street noise]
[indistinct chatter]
[loud construction noise]
So my mother thought she'd try with you as well.
A mother's love endures through the hardest of challenges.
You should be grateful for this.
I have to be somewhere.
Allow me to walk with you then.
Alright.
[coughs]
[Isak] Every day, I walk these streets,
and it reminds me of how much I lived with my eyes closed.
I heard about your father.
How old were you when he passed away?
I was 14.
It must've been hard to have to feed your family at such a young age.
Who here doesn't have a story like that?
Just ask anyone here his story.
What would someone like you know about that?
[Solomon, in Japanese] Hana, you should go to America.
They know more about this over there.
I have a friend from college whose father is a famous surgeon.
I'll reach out to him.
Are you listening?
[Hana sighs]
-Hana, listen to me. -[sighs]
It is what it is.
What?
You were the only 14-year-old boy who talked like that.
I'm not going to America.
Then what are you going to do?
Staying here won't change anything.
I'll just die.
[laughs]
Solomon, you still can't take a joke.
So adorable.
But you never could see things as they are, could you?
Never could.
It's time to open your eyes, Pastor.
Those men and I,
we go into the ground.
For what?
So we can build a subway to carry more workers.
So they can break their backs like us.
But do you hear us asking for the spoils?
Just something, anything, to set us apart from the animals that shit on the streets.
I feel what you are saying, truly.
But to voice this so openly in public like this--
It's not just your family who will feel the hammer blow.
We will all feel it.
You think I'm not aware of that?
You don't think my mother's face haunts my dreams, startling me awake?
I think of all of them.
My lost sisters, my lost brothers, even strangers I've yet to meet.
That being said, if I were to allow my fears to take control of me now--
[sniffs]
I wouldn't recognize my own outline anymore.
Then how can I call that my body?
And without a body, can I call myself a man?
[in Japanese] Solomon,
after you left for America,
I used to stare at all those fancy homes and imagine
how great it would be to grow up in a family like that.
Surely, the children of those families
never got the empty feeling that nothing good would come of them.
I got this disease from a guy who came from one of those families.
You know,
one of those who loves to brag about their samurai ancestors and crap.
Why are you telling me this?
Because you need to know how I've lived my life.
And you need to see how I've ended up.
The Hana you knew is gone.
[woman's son] We are not men.
At least not in their eyes.
And with this humiliation, it drives us to drink,
to fight each other,
and when we get home, we end up beating our wives.
Because there, at least we know we're not the lowest.
There, there is someone lower.
We've been playing by their rules, Pastor.
And yet we are we still cold and we are still starving.
It's about time we break their rules apart.
Mind your words.
Some men have been arrested for saying far less.
[sighs]
You still don't see it, do you?
Maybe it's the suit.
Wait.
What do I tell your mother? She will worry.
You will tell her she has a son who is grateful for his mother's love.
[Hana, in Japanese] Solomon, look at me.
You will never be one of them,
even with your nice clothes, your fancy degrees.
Sure, they'll leave the door open just wide enough
to make you think you have a chance, [sighs]
but don't be fooled.
[office chatter]
[grunts]
[footsteps approach slowly]
Looks like you're having a rough one.
I know you. You're Mamoru Yoshii.
I've heard of you too. The boy who crashed the deal.
Is that what they're saying?
I'm not a man with a good reputation either.
I think the two of us--
we have much in common.
[Isak] Are you okay?
Don't worry about me.
Women have been giving birth forever, haven't they? Go on now.
[pants] Go and find Yoseb, quickly.
Kyunghee is worried sick. [groans]
-[moans] -[Kyunghee] Yes, go find him right away.
[moans]
He's been known to get reckless.
Any idea where he might be?
At the bar below the streetcar stop.
-[gasps] -But please don't judge him too harshly.
Don't worry. I'll fix this.
[moans and cries]
Ow! It hurts!
[bar noise, men cheering]
Do you know who I am?
I'm from the noble class!
[bar noise gets quieter]
My lineage is from one of the oldest houses in all of Pyongyang!
[bar patron 1] Oh, wow, you're a noble?
Why not mention it before?
Me, I'm a noble as well!
And so is this good man right here.
[bar patron 2] Me as well! Noble class! [laughs]
What the hell gives you the right to mock me? Hey!
My boss relies on me.
You hear that? He relies on me, you know.
Can you say the same about your foul pigs?
It's the other way around, as I see it!
I always wondered
how that all worked out, how you kept your job for so long.
What are you? A spy for the Japanese?
Or a thief? Which is it?
Yoseb!
What are you doing here?
Did she send you?
Sunja's in labor right now.
[sighs] Go.
I want to finish my drink.
I'm of no use to them anyway.
Now you're feeling sorry for yourself?
Hey! An extra cup over here!
[Yoseb] Why are you here? Go to your wife.
She's the one who told me to find you.
[bar patron 1] And you?
Are you a noble as well?
Is that of any consequence? That doesn't mean anything here.
[chuckles]
[grunts]
You dirty bastard.
It's what they want,
for us to turn on one another.
[Yoseb] Hey, brother,
do you really think we're all the same now?
At home, you had a servant tending to you.
Well, where is that servant now?
Our parents' struggles are not made easier by our dwelling upon what's been lost.
That's a fool's game, brother.
[sighs]
[exhales loudly]
What's the use in fighting amongst ourselves?
[man in bar] Are you out of your mind?
You look like a crazy man.
[gasps]
[Yoshii] Your family certainly made the investment.
Choate, Yale. Expensive résumé.
[Solomon] Could say the same about you.
UCLA, Stanford Law.
And now we're both back.
[in Japanese] I hear your father's pachinko parlor is doing well.
Why bring up pachinko all of a sudden?
Pachinko interests me.
Why? It's for people who have no other options.
Perhaps a long time ago.
I'm not following.
You want us to get into pachinko?
Not here.
The market's too crowded, thanks to people like your father.
But in Korea, Thailand, Macau.
Who knows? Vegas even.
[in Japanese] And this big idea of yours--
Is it legitimate?
You mean is it legal?
Yes.
I--
I loved my grandfather very much.
But it's not like I didn't know who he was,
or what he was doing.
I don't deny it.
The world may have seen him as a villain,
but to me,
he was the man who saved me
from my drug-addicted father, his own son.
What I'm trying to say is--
I am not ashamed of my grandfather.
However--
I'm not him.
And people like us,
we don't need to walk in our family's shadows.
Not anymore.
Just think about it.
[in Japanese] Where's your yakuza boyfriend?
Just because he owns a pachinko parlor doesn't mean he's a yakuza.
We came here in a hurry,
so he went back to get some things we'll need.
I always wondered.
I'm sure he had a lot of women to choose from,
despite being Korean.
But why did he choose you?
And he didn't leave you, even after he heard
how often you spread your legs for all those other men.
[groans]
Save your breath.
You can't make me fight.
So you'll just bore me until I die?
In that case, bring me a knife and I'll just die right now!
[door opens]
Grandmother--
[in Japanese] you're here too.
It's a damn family reunion.
Go buy me some coffee.
Etsuko spent a great deal of money looking for you.
You Koreans are so obsessed with money.
Everyone told her it was hopeless,
but she wouldn't give up.
No mother can ever give up on her child.
Why are you here?
Tell me the truth. You don't even like her.
Just like you hated me being with your darling grandson.
I know you knew about Solomon and me.
Grandmother--
[in Japanese] everyone thinks you're such a saint.
But if Solomon ever finds out
you were the one who told me to run away,
what do you think he would say?
What the hell?
Don't you remember what you said after Solomon went to America?
[scoffs] You said it was good that he had gotten away from us.
Because if he stayed, we would only ruin him.
You meant me. I would ruin him.
I've despised you ever since for saying that,
even if I knew you were right!
You thought I was talking about you?
[sighs]
I said those words-- about me.
You?
Once, I had another son.
And he was good as well.
But because I ruined his life--
he is gone now.
[gasps and groans]
Why won't the baby come?
Oh, Sunja, I don't know.
[Mrs. Choe] Enough!
How am I to rest with all this noise?
What's with you? You can't barge in here!
Look at those hips!
What are you doing?
I've delivered enough pigs to know.
Help me, please. I need your help.
[Mrs. Choe] Come on, up! On your feet.
Hey! Listen! More clean linens. And water. Now!
Bear down on your feet!
But I have no more energy.
Here we go! Push!
Together!
[straining and groaning]
That's not enough! More! More! More! You must push!
[loud cheering]
[in Korean] ♪ In this world of troubles ♪
♪ What is your hope? ♪
♪ Isn't it enough that you've enjoyed ♪
♪ Wealth and prosperity? ♪
Cheers!
[door bangs, whistle blows]
[in Japanese] Special Higher Police. Routine inspection.
[bar falls silent]
I need to check your bag.
-Get up. -Is there a problem?
I've done nothing wrong.
Your bag! I need to check inside.
[customer] Just my work clothes.
[policeman] Hand it over now.
Hey!
What's inside your coat pockets?
Rise.
Hurry.
Please. They're for my pigs.
[scoffs]
[rumbling and rattling]
Stay still.
[Mrs. Choe] A bigger push!
-[gasps] -You're doing well.
You're doing great. Just a little more! Just a little more!
Push for the baby to come out.
-[Sunja] I can't push any more. -Come on! One more!
[Kyunghee] You can do this. Sunja, you're strong.
[Mrs. Choe] Come on, one more! Come on!
A little more, then the baby will come out.
It'll come. Keep pushing! Keep pushing!
You're doing well.
-Almost there! -Breathe!
[Solomon] How could we have all just sat there?
To think I didn't do anything--
Of course you didn't do anything!
We obey to survive! Don't fight this fight here.
Why do you always have to carry the load?
How much longer, huh? Haven't you suffered enough
by taking pity on a girl like her and bringing her into our home?
Just stop it, OK?
You are not to talk about Sunja like that anymore.
I won't allow it.
I'm sorry. I misspoke.
It's not just your words!
It's your thoughts as well.
Listen--
I should've died this year, brother.
But instead of dying, I'm here.
And we have Sunja to thank for that.
You've no idea what she's done, no idea of what she's capable of doing.
But I do. I do.
-[groans] -It's coming!
Keep pushing!
One more time, push!
Push! Push! Yes!
I see the head. The baby's coming!
[Solomon] With Sunja, I have this feeling--
that perhaps my life--
can be significant somehow.
I don't mean on a grand scale,
but I feel like I can do something.
I don't want my child to grow up in a world like this one.
I want my child--
to recognize the outlines of his or her body,
that's what I want, I want this child to thrive.
Brother, don't our children deserve at least that?
You do,
and I do as well.
-[Sunja whimpers] -[Mrs. Choe chuckles and coos]
[Mrs. Choe coos]
It's a boy. You have a son.
Here you go.
[Sunja] I know this face.
My mother.
My father.
I know him.
[Kyunghee] Come, meet your son.
Son?
My son.
[sniffs]
To think that they turn into us. [sniffs]
And brother-in-law,
will you name the baby for us?
Name him?
I don't deserve that honor.
You are the crown of this family.
It is not an honor, but a duty.
[baby gurgles]
[sighs]
[cries]
[sobs and sniffs]
He who opened a new world. You know the name.
He believed wholeheartedly.
Even when no one else did.
We'll call him Noa.
[chuckles]
[in Japanese] Do I--
look hideous to you?
I only worry that you are in pain.
You are still my Hana.
Nothing will ever change that.
Is there more?
I didn't realize how hungry I was.
There's always more. Eat up.
[elevator bell rings]
[Solomon] Grandma, where did you get all this?
The hotel had a portable gas stove.
I brought the side dishes from home.
You brought them from home?
I wasn't sure how long we would stay here.
Look how much this box holds.
-Come eat. -I'm not hungry.
You need to keep your strength up now.
-Come eat. -I told you I don't want to.
The bank fired me, you know.
And it was because I told Mrs. Han not to sign.
And it's your fault.
I blame you because you made me weak. I took pity on her.
No, that's not weakness.
[scoffs]
Whatever it was, I'm completely ruined.
Everything I've worked so hard to get.
Do you honestly believe that your life has been so difficult?
Oh, now you too?
You probably resent me then, huh?
For having what you didn't, or not suffering as you did?
I get it. So just stop.
I'll never win that argument.
[Sunja] I had a choice too, you know.
A long time ago.
I was offered unspeakable riches, but I turned it down.
This was before the war.
It was before I was married to your grandfather.
Why didn't you take it?
Take it? How could I live a life split in half?
One half I could talk about, and the other half hidden away.
That means something.
More important than being successful is how you came by your success.
I know, Grandma.
I'm trying.
You'll be late.
[sighs with resignation]
Why don't you wear your suit anymore?
God doesn't need me to wear a suit.
It's more comfortable.
[happy swing music playing on radio]
[Chiyo, in Japanese] What is it?
[Hansu] I have a son now.
Where you failed,
another woman has succeeded.
Are you listening?
Some women are more accommodating, aren't they?
I don't need to explain her to you.
But with this,
you are released from your conjugal duties.
You must be pleased.
I know this marriage has been a curse to you.
It's some solace, I suppose.
But it's too late.
My body--
You have sullied it.
But--
your darling son,
I wonder what he will think of you.
[retro Asian pop music plays]
Subtitles: DUBBING BROTHERS