Original subtitles

[metal clanking]

[metal scrapes]

[in Japanese] Koh-san! Welcome home.

- Unload the cargo. - Yes, sir.

Unload now.

It seems

your trip was fruitful.

Who will it be then?

The Soviets

or the Americans?

It's still not clear.

I need you to stay behind.

Watch the men.

Make sure no one thieves.

Everything will be as you instructed.

Do not worry. [pants]

[worker speaking in Japanese]

[announcer] "We are showing the world our nation's great might.

Our brave soldiers storming the battlefields..."

You better not lose on purpose!

"...our cowardly enemies retreating in fright."

[vendors clamoring]

[Noa] Mozasu!

[in English] Noa!

[in Japanese] Come on! [exclaims]

[groans]

[huffs]

[Sunja] Come, get a taste of home!

- [Noa, in Japanese] Good morning! - [in English] Noa! [in Japanese] Wait!

[Sunja] Try it with your ration rice!

Tastes better, stomachs feel fuller!

Come, get a taste of home!

- Kimchi! Delicious kimchi for sale! - I won!

- [Mozasu] No fair! Noa! - Noa.

[in Japanese] You always win.

I told you not to drop your guard.

[in English] Why do you encourage him?

Mother, if I don't nag him, he'll never leave the house on time.

[customer] May I get some kimchi?

[Sunja] Mr. Kim, good to see you. It's been so long.

Yes.

I was worried you went elsewhere.

How could I possibly go elsewhere? No one's kimchi compares.

Have you been busy?

Yes, it's been good.

You're running low. I hope that means sales have been good.

I wish that were the case, but no.

I check each day for cabbages but they're in short supply.

[clicks tongue]

This is the last of what I have.

My sister-in-law scours the markets for anything to pickle, but no.

What will you do then?

We'll manage somehow.

We always find a way.

[Mr. Kim] Here.

You look like someone who can handle his money.

That's good news. I want to be very rich one day.

[chuckling]

You have a son you can count on.

- [Sunja] Thank you. Be well. - I'll come again.

Goodbye.

That man's definitely gotta be a spy or something.

[Sunja clicks tongue]

You should never make a joke about that.

Who's listening?

You never know. Not in times like this.

[person speaking in Japanese]

[person] Look at that!

[people on street clamoring]

- Mama? - [person] American planes!

- [siren blaring] - [people screaming, clamoring]

Mother, look!

Something's falling.

[Mozasu, in Japanese] Got it! What is it?

What does it say, Noa?

[Noa] "To the people of Japan,

petition your emperor to halt this brutal war.

If Japan does not surrender, the situation will worsen.

We strongly urge you to accept the consequences

and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan."

I don't understand.

How will things get worse?

Mama, don't you get it? This means the Americans are coming.

[Sunja panting]

["Wait a Million Years" plays]

[song fades, ends]

[Solomon, in Japanese] With 500 million yen in funding

from wise investors like you,

I can put my previous experience to work.

How much have you raised so far?

I've almost reached my goal.

Investors are enthusiastic.

With modest investments, limited risk,

especially in a runaway market like this,

the potential returns are substantial.

You plan to manage the fund on your own?

It will keep overhead low.

Besides,

I'm neutral.

Whether the dollar or the yen come out on top,

it makes no difference to me.

But you certainly weren't neutral at Shiffley's.

We heard...

You were compromised because of your sympathies with that landowner.

That deal fell apart

because we were all too emotional about it.

That woman...

She was never going to sell.

Not to Abe-san. Not to Colton Hotels.

What I'm trying to say is

it's dangerous to do business

based on loyalties.

[investor clears throat]

Your relationship with Mamoru Yoshii...

We have our concerns.

To be frank,

his associations.

[scoffs]

Tokyo is now a metropolis of 11 million people,

and yet it still feels like a village.

You do not need to worry.

I have nothing to do with that man.

[loud rock music plays]

[Solomon, in English] Brock, listen. It's not hype.

I mean, look at the Nikkei!

[chuckles] Aw, come on, man.

Would you even be sitting in that cushy Goldman Sachs chair

if it wasn't for me hauling your ass through college?

[sniffs]

I-- I'm not asking for a huge investment. It ju--

[sighs] Listen, I-I don't know which story you've been told, but--

Talk soon, yeah.

[march music playing]

- [march continues through speaker] - [students clamoring]

[in Japanese] Hey!

What stinky food are you eating today?

[cheering, booing]

Listen up!

You need to learn this too.

This is beoseot gangjeong.

It's usually spicier,

but there's no more chili peppers. Still...

[moaning]

Delicious. I could eat 100 of them.

Neulgeun hobakjeon.

Last fall, my aunt went to a farm in the country

and bought a huge pumpkin.

- [students chuckling] - Five times the size of my brother's head!

She said we had to make it last the whole winter so enjoy every bite.

And I do!

[moans]

Bando-kun! Get off your desk now!

- [moans] - Get down!

To the wall!

[student] Hey, Bando.

[chuckles] Is it true?

The gossip about you.

Hey, garlic breath.

I'm talking to you.

I hear your family lives with pigs.

And the pigs sleep inside your house. Is it true?

- Look, he's not denying it! - [students laugh]

If it wasn't true, he'd deny it. Right?

[laughing]

[sighs]

[Noa] He just lets that bully come after me!

I know the jerk is just trying to get my goat,

but come on!

I'm gonna smash his face in one day. You'll see--

Noa.

I know how you're feeling.

You're not the only one. We all live feeling that rage.

Especially here.

Look around you.

Angry husbands shouting terrible things at their wives.

Tired mothers snapping at their children. Brothers fighting each other.

But, Noa,

You must realize, that anger comes from feeling so powerless here.

That's just how it is. [sighs]

If you don't like it,

then my advice is don't be Korean, Noa.

[chuckles] Even if only in your imagination.

[whistling hymn]

[opera music playing]

[guests, in Japanese] Cheers!

I hope you are satisfied now.

With our major contribution of military supplies.

Yes. Everyone is pleased.

Does this mean

in our next contracts,

our loyalties will be rewarded?

If we don't,

we risk displeasing you, Koh-san.

When you are displeased,

It seems everyone in Osaka knows what happens.

Speaking for myself,

I prefer to keep all of my limbs.

[guests chuckle]

Rather than worry about pleasing my son-in-law,

let us all enjoy ourselves.

After all, his generosity is just as well-known.

Please, enjoy.

Inoue-san.

We have all this rice piled up in our colonies,

but it's impossible to get it shipped to us now.

Yes.

I say we strap the rice on the back of the Koreans, make them swim it over.

Serve those lazy cockroaches right. [laughs]

Go and see where those two guests are.

They've been gone too long.

- [speaks Japanese] - [all speak Japanese]

[guest 1] So it's happening then?

[guest 2] It's not confirmed yet.

But some messages have been intercepted.

There are whispers that the bombings are imminent.

[guest 1] Imminent?

[guest 2] Within days.

Quickly get your family out of the city.

I've already sent mine to the country. I'm following in the morning.

[guest 1] But first, we can't leave without eating all that splendid food.

That Koh-san is impressive.

How he manages to find all that food.

[guest 2 laughs]

[Tetsuya] You really kicked the hornet's nest.

Abe-san is on the warpath.

Believe me, I feel it.

Tonight is his big award ceremony.

Japan's Businessman of the Year.

It's quite the honor.

- Give him my best. - [chuckles]

[grunts]

[grunts] So, tell me honestly.

How much of the fund have you raised?

[sighs, clears throat]

No way. Zero?

- Zero. - [chef] Yellowtail.

You should have asked me.

[chuckles] What are you talking about?

I don't want your pity.

I want to help you.

You serious?

And to think I was once jealous of you.

You don't need to open old wounds, Tetsuya.

I realize it's petty of me.

That was always your specialty, being petty.

[Tetsuya] 200 million.

After all, you're my oldest friend.

I still remember

when I was transferred to the school, you were good to me.

You could've been cruel

like the rest of them.

The new kid is always an easy target.

But you...

[sighs]

You never played that game.

It's a stupid game.

So it is.

Thank you.

[chef] Abalone.

[leader] Ready?

One!

Two!

- Three! - [class exclaims]

When those American bastards set foot on our soil,

we can't allow them to ransack and desecrate our great empire,

turning it into a sea of flames!

So we have no choice.

We'll take a stand against those devils, won't we?

[clicks tongue]

- [growls] - You're doing very well, young one.

[chuckles]

Now, everyone listen carefully.

When we attack today, don't stab at a straw dummy.

It's our enemy that you're attacking!

Those bastards will send our houses up in flames.

They'll steal away our children,

and God only knows what other horrors they'll subject us to!

So ask yourselves the simple question,

when you see those savages, will you let them come for you?

[class] No, sir!

Are you going to just let them tear your family apart?

[class] No, sir!

Get ready! Charge!

Ready? Charge!

[grunting]

Why are you destroying it? We won't be able to use it again.

Mama, that's the point!

Take the enemy down so they won't get up ever again.

Away you go.

- [leader continues shouting] - [baby crying]

[leader] Concentrate I said! Concentrate!

[class grunting]

The truth is, I was curious about you.

I wonder how you're doing, whether you have it good or not.

[children speaking outside]

You married a pastor, isn't that right?

The sickly one.

Well, he recovered from his illness.

We had some good years together.

And then,

one day, the police took him.

Really, for what?

For helping the laborers fight for better wages.

That happened seven years ago.

[Jiyun sighs]

So then how are you managing?

Truthfully, I still consider myself lucky.

I have my brother-in-law.

He was drafted to work in a munitions factory in Nagasaki last year.

The financial support he sent us was a godsend,

but lately, they've been paying him in promissory notes.

I only have one more batch of kimchi left. After that, I'm not sure.

[clicks tongue]

Then there's my mother.

Why? Has something happened to her?

It's been three months since she wrote a letter.

My mother...

She has no one.

It's a struggle, isn't it?

Even so, I keep smiling in spite of it all.

I have to smile, or my children,

they will only see a mother's tears.

I do not want that.

Listen, Sunja.

I heard a few women here make rice wine to sell at the black markets.

You and I could--

But isn't that illegal?

You said so yourself.

You have just one batch of kimchi to sell.

And no one can afford to pay me for their laundry.

Sunja, I'm...

I'm so desperate now.

Don't get me wrong, alright?

I am not judging you,

it's a tough situation--

Never you mind.

Your boys are growing up so well.

[sniffling]

GRAND OPENING

[machines chiming]

Grandma!

Look who's here!

At least you arrived before the opening.

Solomon, you could've ironed it.

- And you wonder why I worry. - [chuckles]

- [Mozasu] Solomon! - Dad!

- [in Japanese] How do I look? - [exclaims] You look sharp!

You both do!

Don't we?

Shiny new business with shiny owners.

Perfect, right?

Congratulations.

[Mozasu] Somehow, it all worked out. I'm relieved.

So, how's the fundraising going?

I just caught a big fish today.

Remember Tetsuya?

That crybaby who was always picking his nose?

He doesn't pick his nose anymore.

He just proved he's a true friend.

For someone like him to invest, it makes it all real.

Is that so?

Look.

Your grandmother and I have been talking.

We don't want

to miss out on a real gold rush.

- [Sunja grunts] - What is this?

[Mozasu] Just open it.

$700,000

Where'd you get this kind of money?

I took out a mortgage with this place as collateral.

You took on

more debt then?

What does it matter?

The banks are practically giving money away these days.

The interest is almost nothing.

But...

it's still a debt.

[Mozasu] What is this?

We do this for you and all you do is complain?

It's not that.

But if anything were to happen-- If I were to fail, this money--

You are my son.

If I can't believe in you,

then who will?

Just do your best.

Don't worry. You'll do well.

[teacher, in Japanese] Tanaka Akio. Yoshida Isamu.

In second place, Nakamura Minoru.

And in first place...

Bando Nobuo.

We will pick up where we left off last week.

[school bell rings]

Bando.

A word.

What book are you are reading in class?

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

An American book?

You know it is forbidden.

I am sorry.

Try putting some effort into your work.

Your mind...

it can open many doors for you.

What kind of doors?

A chance to escape these wretched slums.

University, perhaps.

I went to Waseda in Tokyo--

But I don't want to get out.

I want to stay here.

Become a pastor.

[sighs]

I hear your father is no longer at home.

He's coming back.

Excuse me?

My father...

He's coming home.

That's why I need to be here.

And what if

he doesn't?

I told you.

I won't leave.

[sighs]

Here.

I don't need it anymore.

WASEDA UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAM PRACTICE TESTS

But I'm not...

You know.

I know what you are.

Noa Baek.

THIS BOOK BELONGS TO OGAWA EIICHI (GO YOUNG HO)

[grunts]

[Kyunghee] It's bootlegging.

[Sunja] But, Kyunghee, what choice do we have?

Our savings are gone, and there's no money coming in.

Sunja, if anything were to happen to you...

I'll be careful.

I heard that the Economic Police have informants there.

I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous!

I won't allow it.

- Should we starve to death then? - [sighs] Sunja!

Do you know who does those things?

Hungry people.

Parents trying to feed hungry children.

Kyunghee...

I heard Mozasu's stomach growling.

It was very loud last night while he was sleeping.

Our children also have empty bellies.

[sighs]

Do you think I'm not aware of that?

A couple days ago,

I found maggots living in the ration rice. Maggots!

And what's even worse is that

I considered leaving them, with the hope that it could fill their bellies.

There would be no shame if you did.

Fortunately, we're not there yet.

Kyunghee.

Until that time, shouldn't we try to avoid feeding our children worms?

[sighs]

Promise me one thing.

Every night, you must come home to us.

You know I will.

You know that I will.

[siren blaring]

[Sunja] It's just a practice drill. Let's keep working.

[pachinko parlor guests chuckling, chattering]

- [bang, muffled] - [shouting inside]

[baby crying]

You better go.

Don't worry about it.

I'll take care of this.

I'm sorry to make you go alone.

It's fine. I'm good at selling.

But hurry now before your husband gets angrier.

[husband shouting]

[sighs]

Don't forget.

Show only your smiles.

[shouting continues]

[Jiyun screams, crying]

[in Japanese] Solomon? - Oh, Tetsuya.

I'm in Osaka now. What is it?

Abe- san...

He heard about my investments.

[stammers] But--

He's threatening to destroy us both.

He claims you're conning me.

What are you saying, Tetsuya?

[Tetsuya sighs]

I'm sorry. I can't.

Solomon?

- Are you still there? - Don't worry.

I understand.

I'm sorry, Solomon.

I know.

[Tetsuya speaks Japanese]

Solomon. What are you doing there?

Let's go to the store.

- What? - The grocery store, come along.

The cake will be ready now.

We need some cups too.

I told your father not to serve grape juice.

Why are you just standing there?

[in Japanese] I'm going.

- [melody plays over intercom] - [groans]

[employee speaking Japanese over intercom]

[Sunja, employee 2 speaking in Japanese]

[employee 2] Maybe the person who took your order couldn't understand you.

[Sunja] They couldn't understand "50"?

[in English] Grandma, what's going on?

I ordered a cake for 50 people, and this is what I got.

[in Japanese] Isn't this your mistake?

Listen, this is a custom order.

It's written here.

But this isn't what we ordered.

In any case,

don't blame me for not understanding half-assed Japanese.

Half-assed?

I'm just saying, if you're going to live in this country,

you should learn our language properly.

[in English] Let's just go.

[in Japanese] This isn't about the cake, is it?

I don't know what you're implying,

but if you don't like our service, please take your business elsewhere.

[in English] Solomon, don't.

[in Japanese] There are stores for people like you, isn't that so?

What did you just say?

[grunts]

[Solomon] Don't walk away. I asked you a question.

Who the hell do you think you are? Huh?

I was born here, just like you.

I went to Yale University.

You get it?

I made your monthly salary in a single day!

You are in no fucking position to put us down! You idiot!

Solomon!

[panting]

[banging on door]

[Jiyun] Anyone home? Please open the door!

[sobs]

The police raided the black market.

Sunja didn't make it out.

- She was arrested! They took her! - What are you saying?

Where is she now?

Where have they taken her?

- [sighs] - [Jiyun crying]

[inmate] Let's hope we get the older judge.

At least he's fair.

Just hope we don't get the younger one.

That man is cruel.

[guests cheer]

Solomon.

What was that? You scared me earlier.

I'm sorry I scared you.

But, Grandma...

It's just too...

It's just become too hard.

I can't do this anymore.

I...

I can't live always feeling sorry for you.

I can't do it anymore.

Time to wake up.

Auntie, what did the police say?

Oh, no news yet, I'm afraid. But the officer promised to look into it.

Could we stay home today?

I'd like to wait here with you.

Your mother would want you both to go to school.

You know that.

[chuckles]

[in Japanese] Mozasu, wake up.

[Mozasu groans]

[door closes]

[inmate] He's coming. Brace yourself.

What's happening?

He's here.

[in Japanese] Name?

Ryu Kimiko.

[judge] Your third offense. [scoffs] I see.

[Kimiko] He tried to run off without paying me!

[judge] Two months' sentence.

[Kimiko] Two months?

- [judge] Name? - Hayashi Asuka.

[judge] First offense. Three weeks' sentence.

[Asuka sobbing]

[judge] Name?

Bando Nobuko.

Oh...

It's you.

You may go.

Don't count on your luck next time.

Remember that.

Next.

Name?

[applause]

[Abe clears throat]

It's a great honor to accept this award.

I am humbled

to think I have done anything worthy of such a tribute

from so many of my fellow countrymen whom I admire.

[sighs]

[clears throat]

As I was saying,

it's an honor to receive this award.

Thinking back on what we had to overcome to be here today.

A nation once reduced to burned-out ruins.

But from those ashes,

we rose...

Mr. Kim.

I went to the station,

but they said you were already released.

But...

how did you know I was in prison?

Get into the car.

You want me to get in that car with you?

Where would you take me?

I am not at liberty to say.

[American jazz playing faintly]

[footsteps approaching]

[gasps]

A mineral found in the bowels of the earth.

It's called tungsten.

Once processed, it's resistant to corrosion.

Useful for building airplanes,

missiles and grenades, as well as other uses.

This makes the war possible.

How did you find me?

I didn't have to look for you. I never lost you, Sunja.

Mr. Kim.

He works for me.

I tasked him years ago to watch over you and the kids.

Noa specially.

He's a clever boy,

but he's not applying himself.

[sighs]

What is it that you want?

The bombs are on their way.

It's what they've said for years.

It's real this time.

And it'll happen soon.

Not just smaller bombs targeting the factories.

They'll carpet-bomb the entire city.

The Americans want all we've built to burn.

How can you be so sure?

How did I know you were making rice wine?

Or that Noa's teacher is Korean and he pretends otherwise?

It's my job to know what others do not.

It's how I learned to survive through it all.

Now you must do the same.

I've arranged for you, your sister-in-law

and the two boys to shelter in the countryside.

I won't leave my husband to rot in jail.

Do you understand what I am saying?

The Americans are sending in their planes to destroy this city!

Everything you know will be gone.

You pretend to know what that reality is.

No.

You don't.

I do.

But as I explained,

it's impossible.

You would risk your children's lives, all for some imbecile who got arrested?

I'm not going to leave him behind.

I won't.

You...

You actually care about him, Sunja.

Don't you?

Subtitling: DUBBING BROTHERS