WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES
Oh dear.
Poems aren't that hard.
Just write down what you'd like to say.
That's a poem.
Ok-sim, make some food.
Look here, I want some food.
Mom, give me food. Food. Food.
Stop asking me for food.
Ok-sim's life has flown by, just feeding her family.
The words you've held deep in your heart all your life.
"Loyalty and Filial Piety" by Lee Byeong-seon.
Eyes are fading, ears are fading.
Listen, my son and daughter, my back is killing me.
Come see me more and more.
Someone hasn't been able to write a single letter.
Just write down what you want to say the most.
That'll be the best poem of your life.
I had no idea back then
that I would ever turn 70.
I had no idea back then…
that what I'd want to say the most at 70
would be the word I used to say all the time.
Mom…
Mom.
Mom!
Come ashore quickly!
Why are you always the last one to come ashore?
Seriously!
Is your daughter an abalone or something?
Why did you go back in?
Did you go back in there just to annoy me?
Mom!
Seaweed flourishes in the spring. That willful soul won't leave the sea.
Ae-sun.
Stop shouting for your mom.
Take a look at Mr. Yang's cheeks instead!
It's just sunburn!
Why is Ae-sun the only one who can't see his heart burning in the spring sunlight?
Seriously, think about it.
If a haenyeo's daughter wed a fishmonger, wouldn't she own the whole sea of Jeju?
You're so annoying.
There she goes.
Did you get slapped?
Why are your cheeks always red?
Gwan-sik got rejected again.
She should've given birth to an abalone instead of me.
Mr. Yang.
I have two conches. There you go.
Come on, give me a good price.
Yes, ma'am.
Did you even scoop red seaweed off the Dragon King's throat?
Greed kills a haenyeo, not her lack of knowledge of the sea.
Greed is what gets a haenyeo.
How is Granny Hallim doing?
Her breathing isn't improving.
Our nets are the lifeline for the sick haenyeo,
so let's share and save her life.
Is there only seaweed here?
My mom told me to get some abalones.
They're in there. Find them.
Spring abalones are as tiny as rat poo.
There's nothing to eat.
Why don't you just give her everything? Go ahead!
There she goes again, freaking out.
Granny Hallim has three sons.
Why is it on us to feed her?
Would I risk my life every day diving to the underworld just to feed her?
I sell my breath to catch abalones to feed my own kids, not some granny!
You think you're so clever?
Who taught you how to dive?
Who do you owe for being able to feed your kids?
All of your families have hungry kids waiting open-mouthed,
and you wanna take care of a sick old woman?
There's no way I'm giving my abalones away.
The thought alone angers me.
Count properly!
How did she get sick?
We'd do the same for you if you got sick.
I'm not going to get sick.
Haenyeo live and die together. We can't do it alone.
If you're all so giving, why live in service of the Dragon King?
You got a new husband for a better life, but you're even more willful now.
You take care of a new husband who leeches off you,
but you won't share with the master haenyeo?
When we both fled here and lived like beggars,
who taught us how to dive?
If you don't appreciate Granny Hallim, you're worth less than a saury.
So did your husband's mouth droop 'cause you're better than a saury?
He slept in the cold!
Your husband's mouth drooped because he couldn't eat.
Yet you run your mouth like you're special?
Even if you're right, someone worthy should say those things.
Your kids have different surnames. How worthy are you?
-Enough! -Gyeong-ja!
-Come on! -I knew it.
We can't go home until they fight.
What? Not again!
What the hell… You damn bitch!
Crap! Damn you!
What are you… You damn bitch!
Damn it!
I shouldn't have brought her when I fled here.
What a waste!
So why poke a puffer fish?
Why mess with someone who lives out of spite?
What a damn waste!
Go home and kick your leech of a husband.
Don't kick someone else's stuff.
Is an abalone your daughter?
I got an award, but all you do is look at abalones.
Why would you write a poem?
Does it get us an abalone or a conch?
Come on, give it a read!
I was runner-up in the writing contest.
Go show it to your grandmother.
The Oh family loves scholars.
Show them and demand, "Help me get through school."
Grandma doesn't like me.
She says I look more like you every day,
so she doesn't want to see me.
Go to your home and eat there.
I told you I'm eating here.
Go! Your stepdad will be back soon.
So what if he is?
Can't I even eat the conch and red seaweed my mom collected?
Oh's daughter should eat with the Ohs. Why beg for food here?
Uncle doesn't let me have croakers.
He doesn't?
He says Oh Jong-gu always comes last because I get full marks and win awards.
He says I take all the eldest son's luck.
It's not that I want to eat croaker.
It's just not fair that he's like that with food.
I don't want to eat at all.
While I eat,
I keep choking.
Can't I just live here?
Can't I?
No chance?
-Never? -Why would you choke?
You did nothing wrong.
Who's gonna like you if you choke while eating?
Go.
I said go!
Go earn your own love.
Go find your own food.
Hey, you're here again, Sun-ae.
It's Ae-sun!
Are you stupid?
Ae-sun.
Are you staying for dinner?
No, I won't be eating.
That rascal.
Here, Dad.
She's like a thorn in my side.
I heard smoking can kill even the Dragon King.
It's a death wish for a haenyeo to smoke when her life depends on breathing.
Why don't you just bring her here?
I still think you should just bring her here.
For someone with nothing, you're so damn nosy.
Even if we take her in, do we have a house or any money?
There's no room in this little thatched rental.
How can you stop a child from snuggling into its mother?
What if I take her in? Will we raise her instead of cows?
Or make her look after her stepsiblings?
Blood is thicker than water.
You insist on staying here so you can see your precious daughter.
And that kid walks all the way here every chance she gets.
She's dying to see her mom. What good is keeping her registered there?
It's just making you both suffer.
At least they have money.
She can finish her studies there.
Why make a girl study?
It will only cause her more stress.
I heard that haenyeo start learning how to dive in their early teens.
Would you say that about your daughter? Would you make your daughter dive?
These damn island women jump at every word that's said.
I will never let her dive.
It's better to be born a cow than a haenyeo.
I slog my guts out all day and still have nothing to show for it.
It's discouraging.
So what's the point of coming to live here?
That kind kid would be nothing but a maid here.
I'll throw this away.
Reading it will only hurt you.
Why are you folding it?
Why would you fold the runner-up's work?
It's best not to read it.
GYONGGI NOODLE
It's how you write "stupid idiot."
Does he wanna die or what?
I only bought five.
One of them is free.
Did your mom say so?
Did she say that?
There are six people in the family, but you only ever buy five.
Do you make a fortune selling fish?
Nosy little brat.
That little punk.
Look here!
Ae-sun, you need to soak the cauldron first.
What? Why come here?
There! Damn croakers!
Look here! Are you out of your mind?
Where do you think you are?
Are you saving croakers?
What are you saying?
Making a fortune off croakers?
Mother, she's also a daughter in the Oh family.
Surely, she resembles her father!
Don't be like that.
Please don't.
Your son!
Your big brother is shedding tears of blood from his grave!
You're the bad luck that killed him!
How dare you mention my brother's name!
What's up with you? Are you possessed or something?
Is it my fault your brother lived a short life?
You ought to be sorry for giving her a father with a short life.
My daughter! I'm taking her back.
Screw washing dishes.
Unbelievable!
I'm glad he didn't feed me any croakers. Now I get to live with you.
Do you like me?
Why do you like me?
Because you're my mom.
Goodness.
I like you because you're my mom. Isn't that obvious?
If you like me, then grow up fast.
Grow up fast
and give me 100 hwan every day.
You read it?
"Stupid Abalone"
by Oh Ae-sun from class 3-8.
Abalone every day.
Abalone when it's stormy and gray.
Abalone over her daughter I'd say.
I hope to see you come ashore soon.
Why don't I see you when I see the moon?
Are there no abalones about,
Are you out of breath searching for abalones,
Your daughter worries, starts to fret.
Catching no abalones makes Mom sweat.
The 100 hwan she earns from selling an abalone.
I want to pay it so I can buy her day.
My mom whose back aches,
my mom who coughs.
With 100 hwan every day, I want to let her rest.
Do you have one?
A daughter like this?
How did I get so lucky?
Good grief.
Give me 100 hwan every day so I don't have to dive.
I also want to spend the whole day looking at my precious child.
-It was good enough to come second, right? -Those blind fools.
Was it that bad?
Second place for that?
It should've come first!
Don't mistreat her. If you do, you'll be kicked out, not her.
You may not be lucky with husbands, but it seems like you are with your child.
This little rascal.
She's the biggest rascal.
Where else would you find a rascal like this?
I wouldn't mind a rascal like that.
My parents were deep in debt.
I had to nurse my first husband.
And the new one is a freeloader.
I was destined to be a porter.
Everyone just wants to ride on my back…
but this kid, as tiny as a bean, keeps getting off my back.
and offering to help carry my load.
That's why she's a rascal.
She gets to me the most, so she's a rascal.
Just wait and see.
That rascal will take care of your ancestral rites after you're gone.
A shameless mother like me couldn't possibly ask for such things.
I won't let my precious child carry a funeral palanquin.
I'll see her in a dignitary palanquin later.
Even Confucius couldn't write as well as her.
Ae-sun
is sure to make it big one day.
THE FIFTH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION
Thanks to my daughter, I get to hold a big title.
You're the vice president, so I'm the vice president's mom.
Should I hand out rice cakes?
I don't wanna be the vice president!
The fishing co-op is the same.
The deputy chief is just as important as the chief.
If everyone wants to be chief, who will be deputy?
Normally, the deputy has more power than the chief.
Who on earth wants to become a deputy?
I've never even had a chance to be a group leader.
I want to write in the family records that you were the vice president.
Don't write it down! Absolutely not!
Actually, Oh Ae-sun was supposed to be the president.
Right. I'm sure you think she was.
You should at least treat her like a president.
Oh Ae-sun got 37 votes, and Lee Man-ki got 28 votes.
Why is Lee Man-ki the president?
Why am I the vice president? Why did they steal my president role?
"Steal"?
CLASS PRESIDENT ELECTION OH AE-SUN, LEE MAN-KI
Don't you think you're being selfish?
But I'm the one who got 37 votes.
You have some nerve keeping this up.
Didn't you eat the cream buns Man-ki's father gave out?
Didn't you scrub the floor with the wax he provided?
I'm still the one who got 37 votes.
Those 37 who took everything but didn't vote for Man-ki are unethical.
But wherever it may be, a person at the top
should be competent both mentally and financially, you know?
I'm the one who got 37 votes.
So what if you got 37 votes?
Do your 37 votes matter now?
In real life, 37 votes don't mean anything!
Between you and Man-ki,
there's something that goes beyond just nine votes, okay?
It looks bad to be dragged down, but stepping down preserves your dignity.
Sacrifice for the greater good.
The one who loses wins.
The one who loses loses.
The one who loses just loses!
Why am I the vice president?
Why?
Hey, quit it!
Why did you run for something like this?
Haven't you seen the election posters on the wall?
You could lose everything if you love titles.
I should be the president!
Give it back to me!
You caused a scene and stormed off as if you'd never see us again.
You know what?
I'm speaking honestly here.
I think this family needs to wake up.
You're a daughter-in-law, not a cow. How will you plow this field alone?
I have no money.
You should leave. Go now!
If my mother-in-law finds out, I'm dead.
You can just run away,
but I have to stay with the Ohs for the rest of my life.
I'll wrap this up quickly and harvest the sesame for you.
I told you I have no money!
I have nothing.
Search me. See if I have anything.
No. You have something.
I know you do.
-Right? -Just take me instead.
I'm dirt poor. I've got nothing at all.
No, I'm not talking about money.
You know,
what I want is…
that thing.
No. Not in a million years.
Will it wear out?
I'll plow the field and harvest the sesame for you!
Can't you at least lend that to a servant?
Absolutely not! I cherish it too much to use it myself.
I swear I will plow this whole field in two days.
Think of it as borrowing a cow to plow the field for a few days.
Who lends their wedding jewelry? Why didn't you get one when you remarried?
Come on. You know me!
I can plow better than a cow.
STUPID ABALONE
THE LOYAL LEE FAMILY BY LEE MAN-KI FROM CLASS 3-8
MY FATHER IS LOYAL TO THE COUNTRY!
Loyalty, loyalty. What endless flattery!
A kid wrote this?
This homework is for kids, not their parents.
Hey.
Isn't it obvious that this one should be the winner?
So what if it's in a gold frame?
What's inside is on a different level.
I get it.
The general's son gets first place.
The general's son gets to be president.
How disgusting.
It's such a disgrace!
Do you happen to be
Ae-sun's aunt?
Take a seat.
Thank you.
MASTERMIND OF THE 3.15 ELECTION FRAUD
Actually,
I'm Ae-sun's mom,
not her aunt.
Right. I see.
Ae-sun has a mom too.
Sure.
I've been busy making ends meet, so I couldn't visit you.
I brought some rice cakes for you to share with the class.
Oh, there was no need.
Actually, I did need to.
PRESIDENT: MAN-KI VICE PRESIDENT: AE-SUN
To celebrate my kid, who deserves to be the president.
The runner-up who deserved the first place.
What did he say?
Am I gonna be the president?
Do I get it back?
Did you get mad again?
Did you cause a scene again like you did at Grandma's?
You bet I did.
I made sure to shut him up for good.
All right, then.
I'll have the rice cakes with the kids.
I left my child in your care,
but I was too busy making a living, so…
But you know,
there are 70 students in the class,
and every one of them eats like a pig.
I'm not sure if there's enough to go around.
I'm sure all parents feels the same when they leave their children with someone.
Please take good care of my daughter.
There's nothing much I can do. It's all up to her.
The rice cakes might be a bit lacking,
but all parents want their children to be loved more than anyone else.
If I could,
I'd have brought a whole cow.
These are just to…
keep your feet warm.
You didn't have to do this.
They are for keeping your feet warm.
They are made from nylon.
At least she's respectful.
THANK YOU ALWAYS FROM OH AE-SUN'S MOTHER
This is making me uncomfortable.
Did she stop by the bank, or what?
Crisp new bills.
Why did you dress up like this?
I didn't want to reek of salt.
They say to show teachers the utmost respect.
I couldn't bring rice cakes while smelling so salty.
Make sure to listen to your teacher so you become a good person.
It'd be nice to live like your teacher, sitting at a desk and writing stuff.
He won't let me be president, will he?
Did he ask you to buy something? Like a broom?
For mental and financial competence?
I tried it for a few days, and vice president is better.
The only difference is the "vice" in the front.
It's practically the same thing.
I can't lead the greeting to the teacher, but it feels like I am.
When Lee Man-ki does it,
I also do it in my mind.
Vice president is just better.
Ae-sun.
I am the poor one, not you.
Don't hang back.
Live your life to the fullest.
You shouldn't hang back either.
When I grow up, the first thing I'll do…
-What's gotten into you? -I want to live for a long time.
Our eldest daughter says the first thing she'll do
is buy me a pearl necklace.
I need to try it on.
Oh dear.
In what lifetime?
Kids grow up in a heartbeat.
I'll put on the pearl necklace in no time.
Kids aren't the only ones growing quickly. We'll grow old fast too.
I was watching the news earlier.
They say the average lifespan in Korea is just 52.
I'm going to outlive that.
I'll keep enjoying my life into my 60s and 70s.
When that time comes, this hardship will seem like nothing.
Then I'll laugh it off.
I don't remember quitting smoking.
Quit starting today.
Hey, come on.
-Whoa. -Damn it.
Spring is just so short.
Just when I think it has arrived, its blossom festival fades in an instant,
so heartlessly.
Enough with your tenacity!
How can you keep diving when you can barely breathe?
Don't say pointless things.
Let me live long enough to need diapers again.
Your chest is so bad you reek of blood, but you still dive?
You might as well dive with a coffin!
To die out here or in the water, it's all the same.
Hey! Can't you see him standing there waiting for you outside?
He's standing there in black waiting for you.
Go into the water,
and the Grim Reaper over there
will stare down at you like this in the water.
If I were scared of him, I wouldn't have dived for a living.
A haenyeo's life depends on luck.
I've come close to death in deep blue water countless times.
Are you doing this because you might starve your kids?
Gwang-rye! Haenyeo live and die together.
We are going to feed you, so--
I'd rather die earning a penny than die begging.
I can’t die until I leave at least a penny more for my kids.
No, I won't.
It doesn't take much to turn into a ghost.
Your fear of regret makes you resentful. Your willfulness will make you a ghost.
Ghosts don't scare me. My children do.
If I'm living on borrowed time, I'll earn what I can until I die
to keep my kids fed in this world.
Way to go! She can't dive without her diving suit!
That rascal. I shouldn't have brought her back.
OH AE-SUN IS YANG GWAN-SIK'S WIFE AE-SUN IS GETTING MARRIED
Am I a beggar?
Am I?
Leave my mom alone!
At least leave my mom alone!
Why are you doing this?
Why do you take innocent people whenever you want?
You should go easy!
You should go easy on Mom!
She's spent her whole life working hard
and has never been on a plane.
I was going to get her
a pearl necklace
and fly her on a plane.
Why?
Cat got your tongue?
You're as quiet as a mouse! Why aren't you saying anything?
What is it this time?
What?
Show me!
-Can I come closer? -Come here!
You think I wouldn't be able to eat croakers or mackerels without you?
It's meat, not fish.
People don't even share precious meat with their in-laws.
Are you dumb?
Is there something wrong with you?
If you cry, you'll be hungry.
Are you pitying me?
Is that why you keep bringing me food?
If it was out of pity, I'd feed a beggar.
You little punk.
I am
older than you.
Bring me beef instead of chicken every day.
I still won't marry you.
I didn't ask you to.
Please, God, she must live on.
How could you take her away from her kids?
Mother.
Could you please come with me?
I'm scared to go on my own.
What is it?
Is that you, Mom?
I feel like I got a golden axe instead of my own.
Am I just an iron axe, then?
Did you go somewhere?
You could've given them to me tomorrow.
Your siblings would take them all tomorrow.
You can sell them for 100 hwan each.
It's worth 1,000 hwan if you eat them.
Ae-sun.
As soon as I die…
leave this place.
Go to your uncle and beg for your life.
Don't stay here and be a maid for the Yeoms.
Leave this place, no matter what.
Promise me.
I won't promise.
Stop talking.
Live with your uncle, and have him walk you down the aisle.
If you get married without a father figure, I will cry.
I said I wouldn't promise. Why are you still talking?
I won't rest unless you promise.
Dad died.
You're dying too.
Why is everyone dying?
Then why did you give birth to me?
Ae-sun.
In the end, we all end up living as orphans.
Even though parents die first,
their children carry on.
Life goes on and on.
There will be tougher days in your life.
One day, life might get so tough
that you feel like you can't go on--
I told you to stop talking!
I won't promise.
I'm not going to eat abalone.
My precious little one.
When will you grow up?
The eldest daughter heard her mom's last words
at the age of ten.
Sleep, sleep
Rock to sleep
Sleep, sleep, rock to sleep
My baby sleeps well
Sleep quickly
A black dog walks away
A black dog walks this way
Come help my baby sleep
Then I'll help your pups sleep
Sleep, sleep…
She left behind her three children…
at the age of 29.
If you cry, you'll be hungry.
So eat while you cry.
What should I do now?
What should I do?
This morning,
my mom
passed away.
But…
but…
I miss her already.
I miss my mom already.
I…
I miss her so much.
Mom.
Ae-sun, Sun-nam, and Sun-bong.
Think about it. You all have "sun" in your names.
You are connected by blood.
Look at you.
A scruffy dog might ask to marry you.
I have no choice. It's yellowtail season now.
I need to go on the boat to feed your younger siblings.
If you go to your uncle's, you'll just end up being a maid.
A maid who takes care of her siblings is more fulfilled than one caring for others.
I won't be a maid.
Mom told me not to live like that.
Hey, Ae-sun.
Your mom can't rest in peace if your siblings live like beggars.
Just during yellowtail season.
Okay?
Are you going to just let this field rot?
Why waste perfectly fine land?
Just until Sun-bong is out of diapers, okay?
Let's go.
Just until Sun-nam starts elementary school, okay?
Just wait and see.
As the flower dye fades from your fingernails,
the living will forget and carry on.
Life goes on and on.
Just as fingernails grow,
new days rush in.
How could you not forget?
Did your business go under? How do you always have leftover fish?
I'm leaving home.
POEMS OF YU CHI-HWAN
Just until this upcoming trip, okay?
A few more deep-sea fishing trips, and we can find a way to survive.
Other kids are taking private lessons while I'm farming and cooking.
I want to get first place too.
And I want to…
Just forget it.
What, a Korean literature major?
Is that all you want? A Korean literature major?
A poet. That's right.
You said you wanted to be a poet, didn't you?
That would be wonderful. A poet--
Yi Sang, Kim So-wol, and Yun Dong-ju all majored in Korean literature, right?
"If you choose to leave,
weary at the sight of me,
tread gently as you go."
I'll lay down money before you
until you become a Korean literature major.
Okay?
Anyway, who paid all of your monthly school fees?
Am I just some random man?
I'm like a father figure to you now, aren't I?
I'm telling you, I'll make money and send you to college.
Your uncle won't send you to college.
If that family wanted to take care of you, they would've--
To the mainland, okay?
To the mainland. A college on the mainland.
You swear on Sun-nam and Sun-bong?
I swear on Jeon Gwang-rye!
If I forget everything you've done for us, your mom will kill me.
There's an active campaign to promote a simple and practical lifestyle
by encouraging the public to wear simplified clothing.
When you're at your busiest and in a rush,
wearing a long traditional skirt is simply cumbersome and uncomfortable.
The purpose of this campaign is to improve these inactive lifestyles.
SPY DETECTION CAMPAIGN PERIOD
ICE
YANG GWAN-SIK
Would you like some?
No, I want cabbages.
Exactly. Do you want some cabbages?
Do you also sell cabbages?
Well, they are sweet.
Her cabbages.
They are sweet.
Here, check it out!
Fresh, fresh catches!
Freshly caught by haenyeo just moments ago!
Straight from the sea!
Please stop by!
Fresh sea squirt, abalone, and conch! At an unbeatable price!
Why worry about Gwang-rye's daughter?
She has Steelheart by her side.
They are sweet. Would you like some?
Would you like some?
Gwan-sik sells all of Ae-sun's cabbages for her.
The bold shortening of skirts is promoting a decadent trend.
These cabbages are sweet. Would you like some?
In Myeong-dong, Seoul, women can be seen waltzing around
with their thighs fully exposed.
Now you could say that Gwan-sik is raising Ae-sun.
Now there are calls for strict measures to combat the decadent trend.
"First, they said to wear shorter clothes, and now they're complaining!"
Arguing like this will only make our testing lives even harder.
CREATION AND CRITICISM
Would you like some?
The cabbages are sweet, especially the ones over there.
I'm sure everything is sweet to you.
Looks like you'll have to serve both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Gosh, it's just my luck.
How much are the cabbages?
Fifty won each, 150 for three.
What kind of absurd deal is that?
If one is 50 won, then three should be 150 won.
OH AE-SUN
That's justice.
Hey, who talks about justice when buying cabbages?
Did I even ask for the price of three?
I make peanuts selling cabbages,
but everyone wants to haggle over the price.
I wanted to raise awareness--
Who cares about awareness when buying cabbages?
-Well… -There he goes!
-Do you want some? -He won't allow a second complaint.
I gave birth to a fool.
Give me one. Just one.
Doesn't Ae-sun have hands or something?
I didn't make him do it.
He's doing it because he likes it.
She's not making me.
I should've raised a stray dog instead of him.
You'll wish you were dead if you get caught hanging out together.
They have the exuberance and fearlessness of youth.
As if they'd be scared of a granny.
Oh no.
-Out of the way! -Grandma!
Haven't I told you not to let her open the stall next to him?
Why do you keep coming all the way here?
Haven't you heard daughters inherit their mothers' fate?
Her mom's spirit is still lingering to protect her.
Why would you let her stay next to my grandson?
That hag needs a baptism.
Barnacles and whelks are no different!
Ae-sun, that brat!
You brat!
I don't even want him. Yang Gwan-sik? No, thank you!
No, thank you!
This is insane.
-Ae-sun, that brat! -Mother.
Ae-sun, that brat!
Some faced the "No, thank you days"
and did not back down.
"THE SAME SKY, THE SAME STARS, ETCHED IN THE SAME HEARTS."
Subtitle translation by: Sung In Jang