14 Apples (2018) - full transcript

Recently, Shin-hong suffers from insomnia
and encounters so many problems in his life.

His mother goes to a
fortune-teller for advice.

The fortune-teller asks Shin-hong
to get fourteen apples.

Then he should take them to
a temple in the rural area

in Central Myanmar and lives
as a monk for fourteen days.

What would you like?

I need some apples.

Sure, have a look.

How much are those?

250 kyats each.

- Any good?
- Very good.



It's a bit smaller.

Bigger ones are 1,000 kyats each.

- Where did they come from?
- Thailand.

Those are from China.

I heard there are some from California?

Yes, please come over.

Bring them to me.

It's 1,000 kyats!

- 1,000 kyats each?
- Yes.

Will it keep for 14 days?

No problem! It can keep up to a month!

Which is better?

Of course this is better!

- You sure it'll keep for 14 days?
- Yes.



Well, I'll take those.

Those from China will do.

Can I taste it?

Sure.

If it's good, I'll take 14 of them.

If it's no good,
I'll just pay for this one.

Get off! Don't beg here.

Try and see if it's good.

He's gone.

Stop him. Give him the apple.

Sonny!

This one from China is good too.

Yes, it is.

You can get 20 of them.

I need only 14.

Make it cheaper.

I'll make it 3,500 kyats for you.

I'll get this knife too.

I borrowed it. It's not for sale.

Sell it to me.
Who did you borrow it from?

From my neighbour.

Tell him I'll pay for it.

No, I can't.

I'll get the knife and the apples.

No, not the knife.

Ask him to get a new one.

I've told you it's not for sale.

It's not my knife.

Forget it.

- There is a knife shop over there.
- Okay.

Come on, my car is blocking the traffic.

Excuse me, ma'am.

How to get to Aungda village?

- Anyone heard of Aungda village?
- Keep going ahead!

Keep going ahead?

It's very far, over the hill.

How far?

Do I have to drive across the hill?

Yes.

Oh, okay. Thank you.

Excuse me, sir.

Can I drive past the road ahead?

Where are you going?

Which village is this?

Guongji village.

I'm going to Aungda village.

You have to cross the river.

- Along the road ahead?
- Yes.

Thank you.

It's the village up there.

Where are you going?

You need any help?

Where are you going?

Where?

Aungda village.

Here it is!

Oh, so I've arrived.

Yep. We're from the village.

Wait.

- You need straw.
- Yeah.

Need any help?

So many things.

There is cereal.

No, it's not.

It's cereal.

Have it.

Can't you say "thank you"?

Thank you for pushing the car for me.

You need to put straw under the tyres.

The truck drivers always
put straw under the tyres.

- Would that do?
- Yes.

Would that work?

Let's give it a try then.

Come on!

1, 2, 3. One each.

You two aren't helping me?

Come on!

Get my car out before
having the biscuits!

Put it across the path.

Across the path.

So it'll be solid.

Go get more.

Cover the path with it.

Don't slack.

Go get more!

He's good!

You're good too!

We need to push the car from behind.

- Ready?
- Yes!

Push when I count to 3.

Okay!

One, two, three!

Too bad... Too bad...

Go... go!

It's stopped.

Yes! Go! Go!

Repeat after me.

Slowly.

The rest of you follow.

Slowly.

Open the bag.

Slowly.

Keep walking.

Keep walking ahead.

Slowly.

It's full.

Walk straight ahead.

Raise it higher.

Take your hat off.

Slowly.

Slowly.

Sir.

Some money just fell out.

Some money fell out.

Okay.

Go straight up.

Go up.

He arrived this morning.

Don't put the incense
and coffee together.

Put the incense before
the statute of Buddha.

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Collecting alms...

Master.

My daughter donates this to the temple.

She bought it when she was
working in the gold mine.

Can you write our names on it?

My daughter's, my husband's and mine.

My daughter bought it.

My husband's name is Gyiman.

Wu Gyiman.

And yours?

Banyi.

My daughter's name is Sangyi.

- Your daughter's?
- Sangyi.

- Name?
- Thin Oo.

Repeat after me.

Places where they air women's clothes...

Where they hang women's sarongs...

Don't touch it.

Or you'll have bad luck.

Especially for monks like you.

Monks have to avoid where
women's clothes are aired.

Men have better "fortune"

Don't go to those places.

Avoid them as much as possible.

Men and women have different "fortune".

But men have better "fortune".

Women have worse "fortune".

It's okay to touch men's clothes.

You have to be careful.

Don't fight each other.

Be quiet.

Don't fight each other when I'm away.

I'll know about it when I come back.

Be quiet when I'm away.

Then I'll be happy when I come back.

- You get it?
- Yes!

Will I be happy if you fight each other?

No!

Slowly, you'll become grown-ups.

- Right?
- Yes!

Behave yourselves.

If someone snitches on
you when I come back...

- Will I be happy?
- No.

I'll be very annoyed.

Those who went to work in China...

Any news of them?

I've asked around.

They don't have any problems.

People from the neighbouring
village are okay.

All the villagers have gone.

Many of them are in China.

Master, time to collect alms.

We still have so much rice in the pot!

The villagers brought
us a lot of food today.

Those who were conned.

Didn't they check before they left?

We didn't know anything before.

The traffic was bad.

They were from Tangong village.

A group of men were conned.

They stayed in China for seven days

and became illegal migrant workers.

In the end, they asked a Burmese
monk living on the borders

to bring them home.

Their family had to send them money.

The monk brought them to Mandalay.

The family paid for the fares.

It's impossible to get caught now

because we don't go to big cities.

We just work on the borders.

Some people from our
village work as carriers.

Illegally.

When the cops come,
you just hide yourself.

If they shoot,
you just jump into the river.

Myanmar is right on the
other side of the river.

They really shoot people?

Yeah, with guns...

But they don't shoot you.
Only to scare you.

Anyway, when the cops come,
you just hide in the river.

The cops won't keep chasing.

They do that all the time.

Many people work in the sugar factory.

Some work as carriers.

Some work in the chilli factory.

Some grow bananas in the village.

The banana trees in China are very tall.

Grow bananas or work in the
chilli factory or the laundry.

Are they earning good money?

Not bad.

I don't know the exact figures.

Many people from the
neighbouring village have gone.

Only a few from our village.

Very few.

Most of our villagers
work in the gold mines.

Only two or three went to China.

Everyone goes to the gold mines.

Even women go there too.
They get paid monthly.

I'm the first woman to go to China.

On 7th this month.

Hope I'll make it.

Hope my mum would let me go.

My mum is really worried.

Worried that I might have accidents.

Worried that I won't
be able to come home.

No matter what, I'll come back.

Of course I'm worried I
might not make it home.

If I'm in Myanmar,

I can come home anytime.

As long as I can afford the fares.

I'm not sure about it
when I work in China.

It'll be harder.

I'm thinking about it too.

You're scared coz
you've never been there.

Many people go to Thailand and Malaysia.

People go there all the time.

You're scared coz you've
never been abroad.

Do those who came back from
Malaysia want to go to China?

No.

People in our village
rarely go to China.

They go to work in the gold mines.

Because when you go abroad,

you have to sign up for a year.

How many years do you sign up for?

Six months at first.

Do they say what your
job is in the contract?

Roughly.

I'm going to a canvas factory.

To help them load the goods.

And cleaning.

Men do the packaging.

That's all I know.

But I'll have to stand all day.
I can't sit down.

How many hours a day
do you have to work?

I didn't ask.

If they ask you to
work 24 hours a day...

I don't think it'll be that bad.

You have to ask about it.

You get paid extra when
you work in the evening.

You have to find out about
the daily working hours.

Overtime hours.

The details of your job.

Food and accommodation.

I did ask about food and accommodation.

But not the working hours.

I didn't ask how we're going to

get into China.

We'll call and ask them later.

I'll find but about it.

I'll ask how we get into China.

We'll ask them.

Are you going into China
legally or illegally?

If it's illegal,
who will deal with the cops

when you get caught?

You have to ask about all these.

I did.

They'll help us get into China.

If you want to come back
before the contract expires...

It's harder.
You have to come back by boat.

And after you've fulfilled the contract?

There are one-year or
three-year contracts...

You can come home in a year.

If you get sick,

they'll bring you back.

That's it.

You can sign for six months,
three or five years.

- You're allowed home only once a year?
- Yes.

How long can you stay for each visit?

I don't know about it.

We'll have to see what they say.

As far as I know...

I can extend the contract
after six months.

If you're paid less than
stated in the contract,

will you get compensation?

- I don't know.
- We don't understand these things.

But people who had been
there say it's good.

Many people go back.

Each time at least thirty
people go together.

You have to pay 150,000
kyats for the transport.

Prepare your own clothes.

We don't work on the weekends.

When you go out on the weekends,

you wear your own clothes.

The factory gives you plain clothes too.

But you have to wear uniform at work.

I don't know anything else.

That's it.

Where is the factory?

I don't know.

I don't know the name
of the factory either.

My friend must know that.

So many people in her
village have been there.

They know.

They've been there once.

My friend wants to extend the contract.

But her friend got fired.

There is a problem with the Chinese.

They talk with their "feet".

When a Chinese asks you
to give him the plate,

he doesn't say. They don't speak.

He just points at the
plate with his foot.

Asking you to bring it to him.

You have to put up with that.

In Myanmar, we point with our fingers.

Not with feet.

To order someone with
your feet is an insult.

We don't like to be
pointed at even by fingers.

My friend asks us to
be prepared for that.

That's how her friend got fired.

The Chinese asked her
to bring a book over.

But he didn't say it.

He pointed at the book with his foot.

She pushed the book to the
boss with her foot too.

Then she was fired.

She had to come back by boat.

The Chinese order
people with their feet.

Is it what they usually do?

Or they do that to bully the workers?

My brother went to work in China.

He says the Chinese
talk with "feet" too.

They don't use hands but feet.

Not every Chinese is like that.

There are good and bad
people in every country.

You talk with your mouth.

They order people with their feet.

It's the first time I've heard of it.

None of the Chinese I know does that.

Maybe some do.

But they really order the
workers around like that.

The Burmese workers
can't understand Chinese.

They do that in the
factory my brother works.

They order you around with their feet.

They don't point at
things with their fingers.

I don't know if they do
that only to the Burmese

or to the Chinese as well.

Well, we don't know.

Many people have similar
experiences like this.

We'll just have to put up with it.

To be bullied by feet.

Put up with it for the sake of work.

It's different from what we do here.

How many are going this time?

Many plus those who
are returning to China.

The girl who got fired
is going back too.

They're not afraid.

I'm a bit afraid.

But I'll do my best to stay.

We have to make the decision today.

Focus on your mind.

You shouldn't hear the dog barking.

Or me talking.

That's what we call "meditation"

How much did they donate?

There are only 100
families in my village.

More than that!

There are 200 families in your village.

There is no difference.

I'm telling the truth.

They donated 10,000 kyats each before.

They give 10,000 kyats to each monk.

Some give only 5,000 kyats.

We got 10,000 for chanting scriptures.

Your village is a big one.

There are less than a
hundred families in mine.

I'm telling the truth.

You can't compare your
village with mine.

I'm not comparing.

We know each other so well

that I'm fine with whatever we do.

It's up to you.

No matter how much it is,
I'm fine with it.

15,000 kyats for three days.

Chanting scriptures.

But money is worth less and less.

You can't even get a
robe with 5,000 kyats.

When you became a monk here,

you gave us 10,000 kyats
each for chanting scriptures.

Just like that.

I had spent that money.

I had a heatstroke so
I spent it on a jab.

Of course you have to
spend on what you need.

Some squander all the money
after they won the lottery.

I don't know how you spend your money.

I spend my money on the lottery.

You only know about my earnings.

I spend 70,000 kyats on
the lottery every week.

Do you know that?

You had better not imply anything else.

I believe that you have to spend...

But you're implying something else!

I'm not! I spend too!

Don't make fun of me!

I didn't say anything.

I'm just telling the truth.

Monks spend all the money they earn.

You said you don't know
how I spend my money!

You can't talk like that.

I only say it's normal to spend.

I spend 70,000 kyats on
the lottery every week.

Ordinary people spend too.

They spend all the money
as soon as they get it.

Monks spend their money fast too.

Anything wrong with what I'm saying?

Nothing wrong with what you're saying.

But what did you imply just now?

You tried to mock me.

No, I didn't.

You thought I keep a woman?

What did you try to say?

What did you imply?

I say every monk has to spend.

Monks are just like ordinary people.

That's what you said afterwards. Sir...

Sir, it's not what you said before.

You said I won the lottery.

You didn't know how I spent the money.

I didn't imply anything.

Be careful with what you say.

I only say people spend all their money.

It's the same for the rich

as well as the poor.

You always talk about the others.
How about yourself?!

Have the worshippers come?

Not yet.

Did you call them?

No.

Go ask them to come.

Then you wait here.

Why did you tell him off?

Everyone is different.

The Butan Festival is coming up soon.

We'll have the chance
to chant scriptures.

I hear they pay the
monks 15,000 kyats each.

Or I won't go to the Butan Festival.

You can't do anything
with just 10,000 kyats.

It's really not enough.

Everyone compares.

Today they gave us only 5,000
for chanting scriptures.

It's up to them.

You get 300,000 kyats for
three days in the city.

At least 30,000 kyats a day.

It's so much more.

At the last gathering,

they prepared 100,000 kyats.

10,000 kyats for each monk.

10,000 each.

We three got 45,000 kyats between us.

Sometimes you get 10,000 kyats a day.

A religious gathering like that

is good.

The family is well off.

They run a furniture shop.

You get at least 15,000 kyats
for chanting scriptures.

They're quite well off.

I sold the rice I got for 80,000 kyats.

What rice?

The rice the villagers donated.

And two bags of beans.

For over 40,000 kyats.

Another 18,000 from the public donation.

Very good.

Many young men from the
village are working abroad.

Yeah.

So they donate more, right?

Yeah, they do.

Compared with the figures before?

Yeah, it's higher.

At least 300,000 or 400,000
a month when you work abroad.

You get even more in Singapore.

So they donate more.

What do you do for a living?

I run a business.

I run a business in Mandalay.

What business?

I sell building materials.

- Do you have a shop?
- Yes.

I see.

It's good to have a shop.

You're so cocky coz you're rich?

You're showing off!

You've got a wagon and a water buffalo!
So what?

Am I showing off?

Of course you are!

What are you quarrelling over?

She keeps shouting at me.

It's okay. Everyone takes a step back.

Yes, master.

You both take a step back.

Calm down and take a step back.

Take a step back so we'll
have peace in the village.

Yes, master.

You're burning rubbish?

Yes, master.

Keep a close eye on the fire.

Yes, master.

I'll borrow a scooter if you want

My darling,
where on earth are you going?

Are you going by scooter?

But we've got only Chinese
scooters in Myanmar

I'll get one for you

My darling...

I can't help it if you
want a Japanese scooter

My darling, please wait for me

Wait for one, two, three years

I'll work hard to make it happen

I'll borrow a scooter if you want

My darling,
where on earth are you going?

Are you going by scooter?

But we've got only Chinese
scooters in Myanmar

Subtitles ripped by gooz
karagarga, 2020