Old Partner (2008) - full transcript
An elderly farmer lives out his final days with his wife and a loyal ox in the Korean countryside.
Hurry UP!
Oh, it hurts...
Does it hurt a lot? My goodness...
Do you miss the dead ox?
What?
Feel sorry for the ox, Do you miss him?
I do feel sorry for him. Man or beast...
Why talk about him, he's dead and gone...
Eat
Don't give him so much!
Don't give him so much, I say! The ox...
Wow...See, how well it eats...
It's bad for him to eat so much.
I've heard it's good to feed cows.
Makkoli (rice wine) from a 12-ounce bottle.
You open his mouth and pour it in...
A while ago. Cattle market,
I heard that someone fed his ox
a bottle of makkoli wine
because it wouldn't eat cattle gruel.
But something was wrong and it died...
Ha! That ox died. So they had to bury it...
Don't give him so much, he'll die?
Hello.
I heard your ox fell down.
Yes, it fell down yesterday.
How is it now?
It won't feed and it has diarrhea.
Even when he's trudging along...
he'll scoot over when a car comes.
He knows beforehand when a car's coming.
Oh, is that so?
My goodness... It's quite old.
You know...
These horns,
We've had his horns
trimmed many times, he's old.
Is that so?
We've had his horns trimmed several times.
He's old.
Almost forty.
Yes, almost forty.
Then this ox has almost reached
the end of its life.
He rarely gets sick.
They can't live very long?
They can.
- Long life?
- Yes
For how many years?
One year.
What? How much more can he live?
One year, sir.
You mean the ox?
It can only live for one more year?
Oh, that's terrible.
If he can only live for a year. What will we do?
What'll we do next year?
The ox...
No, that's not true!
Where are work oxen?
Work oxen?
I wonder if there are work oxen?
- Where are work oxen? - What?
Where are work oxen?
There aren't any. There's no work ox right now...
That's one fine-looking cow.
Good-looking. Good!
Why did you buy another cow?
To make it work...
How about this one?
You're going to tame this ox and ride it?
I'll have to try taming him.
Why, you've gotten yourself a nice cow there.
Well, you never know till you've handled her.
- Is the cow pregnant? - She is.
She's been pregnant for 4 months or so?
Oh, why not just leave him alone?
This ox here?
No! It's got to get out into the yard!
My goodness...
This is your home from now on.
You'll have to work now that you're with us,
But eat up.
You've got to eat well since you're pregnant!
Look!
So just what do you plan to do
with that old ox now?
Well, just go on raising it... till he dies...
Goodness gracious...
I can't feed it! It's too hard on me...
Once you tame that young one...
we'll have to stop raising it...
Can you feed it?
I can't because I'm too old.
I can't feed it! It's too hard on me...
Are you taking the ox out again
even when it's sick?
Every day, when the day breaks, rain or shine,
he'll ride that ox to the fields and...
It's just that the ox is a beast, he can't talk.
If it were human,
just think how much it'd chew you
out refusing to go.
Poor thing.
Well... for 30 years,
I've ridden this cart, so...
If he were human, oh, my...
if he had been me,
I would've simply dropped dead.
Even if you beat me,
I would've simply dropped dead.
Even though this is a beast that can't talk,
To me, this ox here is better than
a human being.
Ow, it hurts!
It hurts here?
Ow, that hurts!
How can you go on farming...
when your leg hurts so much?
Huh?
Without this ox, my old man...
would be simply stuck.
He can't walk properly.
He can't use his left leg.
When he was 8,
the sinews shriveled up because of
bad acupuncture.
Even though this leg hurts,
he's crawled on all fours,
he's plowed our rice paddies
and fields with this ox,
and raised our 9 sons and daughters,
sent them all to school, raised them all...
My old man would've died, years ago...
without this ox. He would've been a goner.
We've managed to live because of this ox.
It's good and bad.
It's a girl.
The calf is a girl, the calf is...
You can get a lot of money only
when you have a boy calf...
It's OK! I can touch it.
What a big fuss over a girl.
Get up!
L said get up!
Is that good enough?
Oh, he's so exasperating!
All he has to do is to buy and give
some cattle feed,
but he just won't give it cattle feed.
Instead, he has to cut straw,
make cattle gruel, and feed it,
like this, every single day...
even though gruel is hard to feed.
Oh, it's such Back breaking labor.
“And he can barely carry
the cattle gruel he makes..."
Oh, my...
Goodness, he's going to get that ox for sure.
Oh, my, I'm afraid the ox will fall down...
Looks like it's going to drop dead.
He can't even handle it, and why does he keep...
Look!
Why don't we plant rice seedlings
with that machine, too, huh?
You can't even manage them,
why did you start it?
Look! Let's use the machine!
- Why won't you answer me? - Huh?
How exasperating!
What now?
- Why are you plucking dandelions?
- They have medicinal value.
To give some to the ox...
What! I did all the hard work,
and am hurting so much,
and here you are, giving them to the ox first.
He's impossible...
Oh, he's sharpening the sickle again,
sharpening the sickle again.
Whoa! Whoa!
Why are you stopping?
Oh, my...!
Other folks all spray insecticides,
but he won't spray insecticides even once.
You know, this is...
all because I met the wrong man.
That's why I suffer so much,
having to cut weeds on all fours like this.
Look!
Spray some insecticides!
Spray some insecticides, I say!
Why won't you answer me?
Huh?
Oh, my...
Trees at least shake when the wind blows.
That old man won't even utter a sound.
If you pass away,
I'll definitely quit all the work.
Woe is me...
What now?
I have to cut fodder again
if I'm to give some to the ox
Look, cut it in this field!
There's fodder everywhere here...
He can't even stand up
with the cut fodder on his back...
Woe is me...
Every day, he'll stop working and go off...
just like that, because he has to
cut fodder and feed the ox...
Even when the fields are covered
with grass and turn into forests,
all his life, he just won't spray insecticides...
Having an old man?
What's the use of having an old man...
Day in and day out, I have a thousand,
a million things to do.
I'm the one who has to do everything...
Just when are you going to spray insecticides?
Huh?
What are you saying?
What's the use of harping on insecticides?
If you spray them, you'll lose the ox...
and you won't be able to feed him.
But you still have to spray them.
If you don't spray insecticides...
What will we live on if bugs get all our crops...
You mean we should spray insecticides,
so the ox will die from them?
MY. my...
Then just get some cattle feed
and give it to the ox,
won't you?
No way!
Oh, then what are you going to do?
Gracious...
You not doing anything because it's difficult.
If you give cattle feed to the cow,
she'll get fat and not get pregnant easily!
That's what you gotta know!
My goodness...
Day in and day out, all he knows is that ox...
At least the ox is lucky
to have met such a hard worker.
I'm unlucky...
I'm the unlucky one, stuck with him
that's why I live so miserably.
For that ox, every day, he'll
cut fodder and make cattle gruel.
But, for me, he's never done anything!
Nice thing, my foot!
My old man won't buy
Medicine for me when I'm sick, you know...
Day in and day out, he'll just work me to death...
Come on, move it.
Woe is me... Life is miserable.
You've worked your old wife to death
so now, I have a bent back,
can't even straighten myself up...
All my teeth have fallen out,
but you won't even get me false teeth.
I get dizzy when I get up...
And even medicine won't help.
Guess my time's up.
What should I do... Huh?
Won't even answer me. Huh?
This is an announcement to everyone
in the neighborhood.
Starting at 1 PM,
we'll out the grass around the neighborhood.
So if you could bring tools to cut grass with,
we'd appreciate it.
Neighboring village
At any rate, to be frank,
he's gotten rich thanks to this ox.
Then this ox...
has at least played the role of a good son.
Even better than his son Yeongdo.
Don't say that!
He'll be up against us if he hears that.
If Yeongdo hears that, he'll hit us!
The ox met the right master,
and the master met the right ox,
those two are a match made in heaven...
They say this ox and I will die together...
- With the ox? - Uh-huh!
What'll you do if the ox dies first?
Will you give it a burial?
Of course, I will.
I'll be the chief mourner...
When this ox dies, I'll follow him...
After all, I'm alive thanks to this ox...
What a pity...
I don't see him. What on earth is he up to?
Is he cutting fodder again...?
The ox and I...
were born unlucky,
that's why we suffer so much.
Ugh, he's worked the ox to death
so both of us are bags of bones.
What will we do?
So skinny.
What suffering is this...
This ox...
You know, I toil because of the young cow.
The cow at home eats so much.
You have to cut and carry
several loads of cattle fodder
several times in the same day.
So I go back and forth like this every day.
So much trouble.
Come out!
Go to your mama!
Staying right next to an old fogey...
Come on, out with you!
When I tie this calf right next to its mama,
it'll come straight to the old ox's side.
The calf will stay by its mama cow
only when it's suckling,
but other times, it won't go next to its mama.
Oh, no, the halter's loose!
We have to get a hold of it!
No!
Come on, let's go!
I'm really worried.
The cow shed's old and falling apart,
and the calf will run out.
Once it's out, it will trample all over...
other folks' watermelon fields,
it will make a mess.
So, what are you going to do, huh?
4 days of rain,
45000 families lost power.
Among these families.
Many of them don't have restored power.
Oh, my head!
Why are you hurting so much?
Do you want to go to the hospital?
You aren't going?
Goodness gracious...
What trouble this is...
He's hard of hearing...
and, now, sick to boot.
What'll I do...?
After doggedly working like a workhorse,
we have no money saved up...
we don't even have funeral portraits
to use after we die
Oh, my, I'm so worried,
just so worried...
Are you hurting a lot?
I'm so worried about living alone
after you're dead and gone.
Huh?
Could I live by myself
after you're dead and gone?
The kids wouldn't take me in...
Which one would?
Even if they did, I wouldn't be able to
stay with them.
I couldn't live with the kids.
Better to die than to be walking on tiptoes...
around them all the time.
No to mad cows, that threaten national health!
Stop the Korea-US FTA!
Here come the mad cows
that threaten national health!
The Yanks are crazy,
let's protect our native breed!
Let's block out mad cows imported
without a national consensus!
Neurologist's Office
What seems to be the trouble?
His head hurts. It seems to be getting worse.
But I can't afford to stop working...
Work?
You know, sir . We should first
take a picture of your head.
And you have high blood pressure.
Because your blood pressure is high...
If you don't cut down on work and get some rest...
You can get palsy or have a stroke.
Even though the two are the same.
Your eyesight can grown dim.
You can also have problems with your kidneys.
If things get bad,
you might even have a heart attack,
and kiss this world good-bye.
So you really should Work less, sir!
Now, look this way.
Grandpa, turn your head a bit.
Let's see your big smile.
Smile!
1,2,3!
Let's see your big smile.
1,2,3!
Smile, Grandpa,
1,2,3!
You're hurting so much.
Stop working and just rest up.
What?
Stop working and just rest up.
But I still have to work,
even if I have to do it nice and easy,
bit by bit.
I won't be working once I'm dead,
but as long as I'm alive...
I have to keep moving.
Till the day I die...
Nowadays, he's unwell so his head hurts,
Well, what can I do?
He says he just has to work,
he just has to work even if
he drops dead in the middle of the field...
He was so poor in his youth.
Long time ago
he worked as a farmhand for 8 years.
He had to... Because he was a farmhand.
And he still has that habit from those days.
But he'll still go to the fields every day,
every single day...
So there's just no stopping him.
I can only leave him alone.
Well, what can I do?
Ow, it hurts...
Are you hurting?
Where is the calf?
Did it go somewhere?
Get her! Get her!
It's going that way, that a-way. Go after it!
Oh, we'll have to sell it, the damn calf!
How on earth can I feed it, how on earth...
Just sell it! Sell the calf!
You have to sell it!
What are you going to do when it's so unruly...?
2,7,8,9
Yes, is this the cow dealer?
I've got a calf to sell.
Yes.
How many months old is the calf?
3 months old.
3 months old?
But it's a lass, not a lad.
You know, with heifers,
because of brucellosis,
folks will raise more bulls from now on.
They really won't raise cows, not any more.
Heifers won't fetch a price unless
they're about this big.
This one's too small.
My goodness...
This calf isn't a very good calf.
When do cow buyers
ever say nice things about cows?
They all say only bad things.
Damn it, I'm not selling her!
Sell it!
2 million won (2,000 dollars), OK?
Will it do if I add 100,000 won to that?
I'm not selling her!
Just how much more do you want me to pay?
Every time, you keep saying you aren't selling.
Ugh, whether we get a lot or little,
what can you do when you can't even feed it?
How much money do you have to get for it?
I'm not selling her!
You know, with cows...
the government's opening up our market,
cattle prices won't go up any further.
How much is it?
2.10 million won.(about $ 2100)
I'm not selling her!
Sell it!
Sell it, please!
I'm not selling her!
Look, don't be so hard. Let's make a deal, OK?
I'm not selling her!
Just what are you going to do
with all that money?
Any other time,
I wouldn't have sold her
even at 2.50 million won.
It's just that I'm not feeling too well...
Oh, no, no!
With the news Re-import of...
of American beef
and the recent and dramatic rise
in the number of cows raised,
cattle prices at breeding centers are dropping.
Because many farm households
are already selling their cows
to minimize losses as much as possible,
there are even signs of a price slump.
Oh, no...
We have a lot of chili peppers this year,
the last batch of the season,
so we have to spray insecticides often.
But you won't spray insecticides
because they kill the ox.
So we have bad crops.
Just what are you going to do?
How are we going to feed ourselves!
Ugh...
Oh, my back!
Woe is me...
Some folks are born lucky,
so they meet old men
who are fresh and lusty like him,
spraying their rice paddies
with insecticides and all...
but my old man doesn't even know...
whether the chili peppers
are being eaten up by bugs,
doesn't even know how time passes,
doesn't give a damn...
just cutting fodder like that
every day to give to the ox.
I won't live in comfort...
or whatever unless that blasted ox,
quickly dies or ends everything once
and for all...
Wonder how long it will live.
If it lives instead of dying,
then I'll have to do all this hard work
every single day
and suffer like this,
going all over the place every single day.
All because of that blasted ox...!
Just when will I live in comfort...!
Is the ox more important?
Or are the chili peppers more important?
The ox is important. Such a trifle...
those chili peppers aren't worth anything.
But the ox is so old...
Ha, it isn't worth a nickel.
But if we sell all the chili peppers,
the last batch of the season,
we'll at least get our money's worth.
Get moving!
It's about to rain. Come on! Hurry up!
That blasted ox, the blasted thing.
It's so old, it can't even walk properly.
Oh, my...
Ha! About to fall down, just like that...
Pull the ox!
Why aren't you doing what I told you to do?
Hey, get Orr!
Oh, my...
Should have stayed still...
Ugh...
Doesn't even know how important his missus is...
My goodness... I'm just sick
and tired of that blasted ox!
If it hadn't been for that ox,
my life would've been better...
I'm just sick and tired...!
There ain't nobody in all of Korea like me,
nobody who's suffered the way I have...
My life would be better without that ox.
Hurry UP!
I think I'm going to cry.
What did I ever do to deserve...
an old man like him...!
At 16,
I came here to get married,
traveling 80 miles in a palanquin.
My black hair's turned all snowy,
and my face is all wrinkly now...
And now, getting old and dying like this,
never going anywhere all my life.
What luck! All because I married the wrong man...
Can't stop the rushing time, can you?
O youth, my youth,
where did you go?
Ugh, darn it, it's weary to live, too.
It's so sorrowful...
Oh, my head...!
Oh, my...
Just about to drop dead,
just about to drop dead, aren't you?
Look!
Sell the ox!
What! Sell the ox?
After all, I'm hurting so much
I can't even feed it.
Just what are you going to do?
Come on, don't be such trouble to me...
For goodness' sake, stop talking back at me!
Sell it!
I'm not selling him!
Not selling it?
You gotta sell it!
I can't even feed it because I'm sick...
Ugh, how bothersome!
This splitting headache will be the death of me...
I can't feed the ox.
Sell it!
Oh, this blasted ox!
He pounds on the ox like that,
thinking it's me.
Let's finish up quickly and go!
Mom! Grandma!
Oh, come here!
Hello.
Mom, this ox has been with us
since I was three years old.
So he is same age with me.
This ox has earned all the money
to educate us, hasn't he?
For 30-40 years.
All we are indebted to him
for what we are now. He did all his job...
to educate and marry us off.
Now he is too old and humble.
So I feel pity for him.
Ouch! I'm much more humble than him.
He took a rest well and ate well.
But I couldn't even eat well.
Once the old man leaves this world,
I won't have to feed the ox any more.
I'll then live in comfort, before dying myself.
But my old man won't even die.
So here I am, working to death all my life...
Tell your father to sell the ox!
I can't feed that ox!
Sell her! Tell him to sell her!
Father says he is sick and feel too much pain.
So we, 9 brothers and sisters
are anxious about him.
For him to stop working,
we have to get rid of the ox.
Sell her and get rid of her!
That's right. He won't stop working...
unless the ox is gone.
Pop keeps going to the field
because we have the ox.
It's about time you sold the ox, isn't it?
I mean the ox, the ox...
You should be selling it now, huh?
As long as we have the ox, he'll keep working
and keep getting sick, which makes us nervous,
and we can't focus on our own work,
I mean all of us...
So, this time, we're going to get rid of the ox...
We have to make him sell it.
Yes, let's sell the ox!
It's about time we sold the ox.
It'd be good if we could sell the ox!
Now, sell off the ox.
Mom, Dad, we'll give you money,
- so let's sell the ox, please! - Sell it,
and let him rest comfortably at home.
Even the kids tell you to stop farming,
but you just won't listen.
What do you mean to do now...?
Oh, my head...
Ow, how it hurts...
Can't even handle the ox...
What Will I do With him...!
He's so stubborn nothing ever works out...
I'm sorry you have so much trouble.
Mm-hmm, I have loads of it.
Your second son asked me to help you out...
because it's too much work for you two.
Doesn't this make you feel good?
It's so convenient to use a machine like this.
Oh, how clean and nice this is.
No!
It's better to do it with your hands!
That's better!
If you out rice with your hands and shake it,
you'll lose fewer grains.
But if you cut it with that machine,
you'll lose a lot more.
So you're saying
we should cut it with our hands?
Give me a straight answer, huh?
Send it to everyone everywhere.
This is the last time...
we're doing this.
You're so old you can't farm any more,
so we won't be able to give them any next year...
Well, they're my own kids
so I guess we should give them...
You know, there's nothing better than...
seeing water go in dried up rice paddies,
and seeing food go in your kids' mouths,
even if the two of us live on the leftovers...
Be careful.
I still have to cut fodder.
I hope this will get better...
You mustn't work any more,
because the wound on your toe is very bad!
Take a look at your bones.
Do you see the second toe here?
The joint at this end is out of place now.
It's been out of place for quite some time.
So, now...
it's no longer possible to set it right.
It happened way too long ago.
I kept telling him not to work,
to rest up...
but he got up and got hurt working...
Where on earth were you going?
Hey, why aren't you eating?
I gave you a double serving. Eat it!
Eat it! He says you aren't going there to die...
Come on, eat up, eat up, eat up and go!
You know, both of us have lived such hard lives
all because we met the wrong man...
Every day, in early morning
he goes to the fields,
dragging you there rain or shine...
Hey, uncle, how old is this ox?
-40
-40?
This ox here's old,
but he'll scoot over when a car comes.
An ox, and he'll budge.
So, sir! How much do you want to sell him for?
5 million won (5,000 dollars).
You won't ever sell it...
for 5 million won.
Even if you kill it,
it won't be worth even 600,000 won.
Some folks wouldn't take it even if
it were free. Heck, no one would take that!
How about selling it for 1.30 million won?
I'm not selling him,
unless you give me 5 million won!
Well, he won't sell it unless
you give him 5 million won...
A man's got to have a sense of conscience.
What! 600,000 Won? 600,000 Won...!
It'll fall any minute, fall any minute...
So will you buy it at 1.2 million won?
1.2 million won?
Well, there's no sense in bargaining...
unless the price is right...
Won Gyun!
Let's try selling it even for 1 million won!
I'm not selling him!
Some folks...
won't take it even if you give it away for free.
Well, if they don't want to buy him,
let them not buy him!
But you shouldn't try to sell one like this.
If you do, you'll be...
Hey, are you here to get in other folks' way?
Even if you kill this ox,
the meat will be too tough to eat.
That's why it's got to sell at a giveaway price.
You have to sell it at a giveaway price!
Just go home!
Folks can't sell other cows
because of your ox here.
You couldn't sell it?
You mean the ox?
Nasty chaps were bidding low,
so I came back without selling him...
Poor thing!
Yup, that's why he says the ox
is even better than a good son.
Listen to this, to this gentleman,
this ox is his karma...
Well, he's my karma
because he's given me so much...
There just isn't an ox like it!
- Nope, there isn't... - Right!
One time, on my way home
from the Bonghwa Market,
I fell asleep.
And what happened to the ox? Did it come home?
I don't know how, whether he dodged cars
or fell down and got stuck somewhere,
but when I opened my eyes and got up,
there we were, back home!
Aha! The ox came home on its own...
Uh-huh!
My, that's one curious ox...
Ugh, how wretched my lot in life is...!
How on earth will I feed that thing?
It's so tough.
The blasted ox!
You see, it's so tough,
you can't feed it. It'll frisk around.
Ow, it hurts...
Just sell it off if it doesn't listen to you.
If he doesn't listen to me, I'll just tame him.
After all, he does even more urgent things...
What on earth could be even more urgent?
My goodness,
he says the ox is his karma.
Maybe the ox will be gone once my old man dies.
While my old man's alive,
there's nothing I can do
since this is my lot in life.
Oh, woe is me, woe is me!
Darn, this blasted ox, can't even learn to work
and now kicked out, too. Serves you right!
It's not working.
Try hitting it!
The radio's all beat up, too.
So are you.
It's time to go, it's time to go now...
It won't work no matter what I do...
He just won't get up.
Oh, what trouble...
It won't work no matter
how much I try to get him to stand up.
Damn it!
The ox can't live long?
No, it won't live very long.
It's almost reached the end of its life.
The end of its life...
After all, it can't even stand up.
Brace yourselves.
May you go to heaven!
Why are you leaving ahead of us,
when you can die after living a bit longer?
You can leave with us
once we're gone from this world...
I bet there isn't an ox like this one
in all of Korea...
Even though it was sick, the ox did all this,
so we would have firewood...
enough to make fire with,
so that us old folks would be able to make fire,
it died after carrying so much firewood.
Oh, my, what will I do now
when you're hurting so much...?
I'm so worried, just so worried...
Once you die,
I won't be able to go on farming all alone.
I'll then follow you right away.
This film is dedicated to all oxen
and fathers of this land
who toiled to feed and clothe the children.
Oh, it hurts...
Does it hurt a lot? My goodness...
Do you miss the dead ox?
What?
Feel sorry for the ox, Do you miss him?
I do feel sorry for him. Man or beast...
Why talk about him, he's dead and gone...
Eat
Don't give him so much!
Don't give him so much, I say! The ox...
Wow...See, how well it eats...
It's bad for him to eat so much.
I've heard it's good to feed cows.
Makkoli (rice wine) from a 12-ounce bottle.
You open his mouth and pour it in...
A while ago. Cattle market,
I heard that someone fed his ox
a bottle of makkoli wine
because it wouldn't eat cattle gruel.
But something was wrong and it died...
Ha! That ox died. So they had to bury it...
Don't give him so much, he'll die?
Hello.
I heard your ox fell down.
Yes, it fell down yesterday.
How is it now?
It won't feed and it has diarrhea.
Even when he's trudging along...
he'll scoot over when a car comes.
He knows beforehand when a car's coming.
Oh, is that so?
My goodness... It's quite old.
You know...
These horns,
We've had his horns
trimmed many times, he's old.
Is that so?
We've had his horns trimmed several times.
He's old.
Almost forty.
Yes, almost forty.
Then this ox has almost reached
the end of its life.
He rarely gets sick.
They can't live very long?
They can.
- Long life?
- Yes
For how many years?
One year.
What? How much more can he live?
One year, sir.
You mean the ox?
It can only live for one more year?
Oh, that's terrible.
If he can only live for a year. What will we do?
What'll we do next year?
The ox...
No, that's not true!
Where are work oxen?
Work oxen?
I wonder if there are work oxen?
- Where are work oxen? - What?
Where are work oxen?
There aren't any. There's no work ox right now...
That's one fine-looking cow.
Good-looking. Good!
Why did you buy another cow?
To make it work...
How about this one?
You're going to tame this ox and ride it?
I'll have to try taming him.
Why, you've gotten yourself a nice cow there.
Well, you never know till you've handled her.
- Is the cow pregnant? - She is.
She's been pregnant for 4 months or so?
Oh, why not just leave him alone?
This ox here?
No! It's got to get out into the yard!
My goodness...
This is your home from now on.
You'll have to work now that you're with us,
But eat up.
You've got to eat well since you're pregnant!
Look!
So just what do you plan to do
with that old ox now?
Well, just go on raising it... till he dies...
Goodness gracious...
I can't feed it! It's too hard on me...
Once you tame that young one...
we'll have to stop raising it...
Can you feed it?
I can't because I'm too old.
I can't feed it! It's too hard on me...
Are you taking the ox out again
even when it's sick?
Every day, when the day breaks, rain or shine,
he'll ride that ox to the fields and...
It's just that the ox is a beast, he can't talk.
If it were human,
just think how much it'd chew you
out refusing to go.
Poor thing.
Well... for 30 years,
I've ridden this cart, so...
If he were human, oh, my...
if he had been me,
I would've simply dropped dead.
Even if you beat me,
I would've simply dropped dead.
Even though this is a beast that can't talk,
To me, this ox here is better than
a human being.
Ow, it hurts!
It hurts here?
Ow, that hurts!
How can you go on farming...
when your leg hurts so much?
Huh?
Without this ox, my old man...
would be simply stuck.
He can't walk properly.
He can't use his left leg.
When he was 8,
the sinews shriveled up because of
bad acupuncture.
Even though this leg hurts,
he's crawled on all fours,
he's plowed our rice paddies
and fields with this ox,
and raised our 9 sons and daughters,
sent them all to school, raised them all...
My old man would've died, years ago...
without this ox. He would've been a goner.
We've managed to live because of this ox.
It's good and bad.
It's a girl.
The calf is a girl, the calf is...
You can get a lot of money only
when you have a boy calf...
It's OK! I can touch it.
What a big fuss over a girl.
Get up!
L said get up!
Is that good enough?
Oh, he's so exasperating!
All he has to do is to buy and give
some cattle feed,
but he just won't give it cattle feed.
Instead, he has to cut straw,
make cattle gruel, and feed it,
like this, every single day...
even though gruel is hard to feed.
Oh, it's such Back breaking labor.
“And he can barely carry
the cattle gruel he makes..."
Oh, my...
Goodness, he's going to get that ox for sure.
Oh, my, I'm afraid the ox will fall down...
Looks like it's going to drop dead.
He can't even handle it, and why does he keep...
Look!
Why don't we plant rice seedlings
with that machine, too, huh?
You can't even manage them,
why did you start it?
Look! Let's use the machine!
- Why won't you answer me? - Huh?
How exasperating!
What now?
- Why are you plucking dandelions?
- They have medicinal value.
To give some to the ox...
What! I did all the hard work,
and am hurting so much,
and here you are, giving them to the ox first.
He's impossible...
Oh, he's sharpening the sickle again,
sharpening the sickle again.
Whoa! Whoa!
Why are you stopping?
Oh, my...!
Other folks all spray insecticides,
but he won't spray insecticides even once.
You know, this is...
all because I met the wrong man.
That's why I suffer so much,
having to cut weeds on all fours like this.
Look!
Spray some insecticides!
Spray some insecticides, I say!
Why won't you answer me?
Huh?
Oh, my...
Trees at least shake when the wind blows.
That old man won't even utter a sound.
If you pass away,
I'll definitely quit all the work.
Woe is me...
What now?
I have to cut fodder again
if I'm to give some to the ox
Look, cut it in this field!
There's fodder everywhere here...
He can't even stand up
with the cut fodder on his back...
Woe is me...
Every day, he'll stop working and go off...
just like that, because he has to
cut fodder and feed the ox...
Even when the fields are covered
with grass and turn into forests,
all his life, he just won't spray insecticides...
Having an old man?
What's the use of having an old man...
Day in and day out, I have a thousand,
a million things to do.
I'm the one who has to do everything...
Just when are you going to spray insecticides?
Huh?
What are you saying?
What's the use of harping on insecticides?
If you spray them, you'll lose the ox...
and you won't be able to feed him.
But you still have to spray them.
If you don't spray insecticides...
What will we live on if bugs get all our crops...
You mean we should spray insecticides,
so the ox will die from them?
MY. my...
Then just get some cattle feed
and give it to the ox,
won't you?
No way!
Oh, then what are you going to do?
Gracious...
You not doing anything because it's difficult.
If you give cattle feed to the cow,
she'll get fat and not get pregnant easily!
That's what you gotta know!
My goodness...
Day in and day out, all he knows is that ox...
At least the ox is lucky
to have met such a hard worker.
I'm unlucky...
I'm the unlucky one, stuck with him
that's why I live so miserably.
For that ox, every day, he'll
cut fodder and make cattle gruel.
But, for me, he's never done anything!
Nice thing, my foot!
My old man won't buy
Medicine for me when I'm sick, you know...
Day in and day out, he'll just work me to death...
Come on, move it.
Woe is me... Life is miserable.
You've worked your old wife to death
so now, I have a bent back,
can't even straighten myself up...
All my teeth have fallen out,
but you won't even get me false teeth.
I get dizzy when I get up...
And even medicine won't help.
Guess my time's up.
What should I do... Huh?
Won't even answer me. Huh?
This is an announcement to everyone
in the neighborhood.
Starting at 1 PM,
we'll out the grass around the neighborhood.
So if you could bring tools to cut grass with,
we'd appreciate it.
Neighboring village
At any rate, to be frank,
he's gotten rich thanks to this ox.
Then this ox...
has at least played the role of a good son.
Even better than his son Yeongdo.
Don't say that!
He'll be up against us if he hears that.
If Yeongdo hears that, he'll hit us!
The ox met the right master,
and the master met the right ox,
those two are a match made in heaven...
They say this ox and I will die together...
- With the ox? - Uh-huh!
What'll you do if the ox dies first?
Will you give it a burial?
Of course, I will.
I'll be the chief mourner...
When this ox dies, I'll follow him...
After all, I'm alive thanks to this ox...
What a pity...
I don't see him. What on earth is he up to?
Is he cutting fodder again...?
The ox and I...
were born unlucky,
that's why we suffer so much.
Ugh, he's worked the ox to death
so both of us are bags of bones.
What will we do?
So skinny.
What suffering is this...
This ox...
You know, I toil because of the young cow.
The cow at home eats so much.
You have to cut and carry
several loads of cattle fodder
several times in the same day.
So I go back and forth like this every day.
So much trouble.
Come out!
Go to your mama!
Staying right next to an old fogey...
Come on, out with you!
When I tie this calf right next to its mama,
it'll come straight to the old ox's side.
The calf will stay by its mama cow
only when it's suckling,
but other times, it won't go next to its mama.
Oh, no, the halter's loose!
We have to get a hold of it!
No!
Come on, let's go!
I'm really worried.
The cow shed's old and falling apart,
and the calf will run out.
Once it's out, it will trample all over...
other folks' watermelon fields,
it will make a mess.
So, what are you going to do, huh?
4 days of rain,
45000 families lost power.
Among these families.
Many of them don't have restored power.
Oh, my head!
Why are you hurting so much?
Do you want to go to the hospital?
You aren't going?
Goodness gracious...
What trouble this is...
He's hard of hearing...
and, now, sick to boot.
What'll I do...?
After doggedly working like a workhorse,
we have no money saved up...
we don't even have funeral portraits
to use after we die
Oh, my, I'm so worried,
just so worried...
Are you hurting a lot?
I'm so worried about living alone
after you're dead and gone.
Huh?
Could I live by myself
after you're dead and gone?
The kids wouldn't take me in...
Which one would?
Even if they did, I wouldn't be able to
stay with them.
I couldn't live with the kids.
Better to die than to be walking on tiptoes...
around them all the time.
No to mad cows, that threaten national health!
Stop the Korea-US FTA!
Here come the mad cows
that threaten national health!
The Yanks are crazy,
let's protect our native breed!
Let's block out mad cows imported
without a national consensus!
Neurologist's Office
What seems to be the trouble?
His head hurts. It seems to be getting worse.
But I can't afford to stop working...
Work?
You know, sir . We should first
take a picture of your head.
And you have high blood pressure.
Because your blood pressure is high...
If you don't cut down on work and get some rest...
You can get palsy or have a stroke.
Even though the two are the same.
Your eyesight can grown dim.
You can also have problems with your kidneys.
If things get bad,
you might even have a heart attack,
and kiss this world good-bye.
So you really should Work less, sir!
Now, look this way.
Grandpa, turn your head a bit.
Let's see your big smile.
Smile!
1,2,3!
Let's see your big smile.
1,2,3!
Smile, Grandpa,
1,2,3!
You're hurting so much.
Stop working and just rest up.
What?
Stop working and just rest up.
But I still have to work,
even if I have to do it nice and easy,
bit by bit.
I won't be working once I'm dead,
but as long as I'm alive...
I have to keep moving.
Till the day I die...
Nowadays, he's unwell so his head hurts,
Well, what can I do?
He says he just has to work,
he just has to work even if
he drops dead in the middle of the field...
He was so poor in his youth.
Long time ago
he worked as a farmhand for 8 years.
He had to... Because he was a farmhand.
And he still has that habit from those days.
But he'll still go to the fields every day,
every single day...
So there's just no stopping him.
I can only leave him alone.
Well, what can I do?
Ow, it hurts...
Are you hurting?
Where is the calf?
Did it go somewhere?
Get her! Get her!
It's going that way, that a-way. Go after it!
Oh, we'll have to sell it, the damn calf!
How on earth can I feed it, how on earth...
Just sell it! Sell the calf!
You have to sell it!
What are you going to do when it's so unruly...?
2,7,8,9
Yes, is this the cow dealer?
I've got a calf to sell.
Yes.
How many months old is the calf?
3 months old.
3 months old?
But it's a lass, not a lad.
You know, with heifers,
because of brucellosis,
folks will raise more bulls from now on.
They really won't raise cows, not any more.
Heifers won't fetch a price unless
they're about this big.
This one's too small.
My goodness...
This calf isn't a very good calf.
When do cow buyers
ever say nice things about cows?
They all say only bad things.
Damn it, I'm not selling her!
Sell it!
2 million won (2,000 dollars), OK?
Will it do if I add 100,000 won to that?
I'm not selling her!
Just how much more do you want me to pay?
Every time, you keep saying you aren't selling.
Ugh, whether we get a lot or little,
what can you do when you can't even feed it?
How much money do you have to get for it?
I'm not selling her!
You know, with cows...
the government's opening up our market,
cattle prices won't go up any further.
How much is it?
2.10 million won.(about $ 2100)
I'm not selling her!
Sell it!
Sell it, please!
I'm not selling her!
Look, don't be so hard. Let's make a deal, OK?
I'm not selling her!
Just what are you going to do
with all that money?
Any other time,
I wouldn't have sold her
even at 2.50 million won.
It's just that I'm not feeling too well...
Oh, no, no!
With the news Re-import of...
of American beef
and the recent and dramatic rise
in the number of cows raised,
cattle prices at breeding centers are dropping.
Because many farm households
are already selling their cows
to minimize losses as much as possible,
there are even signs of a price slump.
Oh, no...
We have a lot of chili peppers this year,
the last batch of the season,
so we have to spray insecticides often.
But you won't spray insecticides
because they kill the ox.
So we have bad crops.
Just what are you going to do?
How are we going to feed ourselves!
Ugh...
Oh, my back!
Woe is me...
Some folks are born lucky,
so they meet old men
who are fresh and lusty like him,
spraying their rice paddies
with insecticides and all...
but my old man doesn't even know...
whether the chili peppers
are being eaten up by bugs,
doesn't even know how time passes,
doesn't give a damn...
just cutting fodder like that
every day to give to the ox.
I won't live in comfort...
or whatever unless that blasted ox,
quickly dies or ends everything once
and for all...
Wonder how long it will live.
If it lives instead of dying,
then I'll have to do all this hard work
every single day
and suffer like this,
going all over the place every single day.
All because of that blasted ox...!
Just when will I live in comfort...!
Is the ox more important?
Or are the chili peppers more important?
The ox is important. Such a trifle...
those chili peppers aren't worth anything.
But the ox is so old...
Ha, it isn't worth a nickel.
But if we sell all the chili peppers,
the last batch of the season,
we'll at least get our money's worth.
Get moving!
It's about to rain. Come on! Hurry up!
That blasted ox, the blasted thing.
It's so old, it can't even walk properly.
Oh, my...
Ha! About to fall down, just like that...
Pull the ox!
Why aren't you doing what I told you to do?
Hey, get Orr!
Oh, my...
Should have stayed still...
Ugh...
Doesn't even know how important his missus is...
My goodness... I'm just sick
and tired of that blasted ox!
If it hadn't been for that ox,
my life would've been better...
I'm just sick and tired...!
There ain't nobody in all of Korea like me,
nobody who's suffered the way I have...
My life would be better without that ox.
Hurry UP!
I think I'm going to cry.
What did I ever do to deserve...
an old man like him...!
At 16,
I came here to get married,
traveling 80 miles in a palanquin.
My black hair's turned all snowy,
and my face is all wrinkly now...
And now, getting old and dying like this,
never going anywhere all my life.
What luck! All because I married the wrong man...
Can't stop the rushing time, can you?
O youth, my youth,
where did you go?
Ugh, darn it, it's weary to live, too.
It's so sorrowful...
Oh, my head...!
Oh, my...
Just about to drop dead,
just about to drop dead, aren't you?
Look!
Sell the ox!
What! Sell the ox?
After all, I'm hurting so much
I can't even feed it.
Just what are you going to do?
Come on, don't be such trouble to me...
For goodness' sake, stop talking back at me!
Sell it!
I'm not selling him!
Not selling it?
You gotta sell it!
I can't even feed it because I'm sick...
Ugh, how bothersome!
This splitting headache will be the death of me...
I can't feed the ox.
Sell it!
Oh, this blasted ox!
He pounds on the ox like that,
thinking it's me.
Let's finish up quickly and go!
Mom! Grandma!
Oh, come here!
Hello.
Mom, this ox has been with us
since I was three years old.
So he is same age with me.
This ox has earned all the money
to educate us, hasn't he?
For 30-40 years.
All we are indebted to him
for what we are now. He did all his job...
to educate and marry us off.
Now he is too old and humble.
So I feel pity for him.
Ouch! I'm much more humble than him.
He took a rest well and ate well.
But I couldn't even eat well.
Once the old man leaves this world,
I won't have to feed the ox any more.
I'll then live in comfort, before dying myself.
But my old man won't even die.
So here I am, working to death all my life...
Tell your father to sell the ox!
I can't feed that ox!
Sell her! Tell him to sell her!
Father says he is sick and feel too much pain.
So we, 9 brothers and sisters
are anxious about him.
For him to stop working,
we have to get rid of the ox.
Sell her and get rid of her!
That's right. He won't stop working...
unless the ox is gone.
Pop keeps going to the field
because we have the ox.
It's about time you sold the ox, isn't it?
I mean the ox, the ox...
You should be selling it now, huh?
As long as we have the ox, he'll keep working
and keep getting sick, which makes us nervous,
and we can't focus on our own work,
I mean all of us...
So, this time, we're going to get rid of the ox...
We have to make him sell it.
Yes, let's sell the ox!
It's about time we sold the ox.
It'd be good if we could sell the ox!
Now, sell off the ox.
Mom, Dad, we'll give you money,
- so let's sell the ox, please! - Sell it,
and let him rest comfortably at home.
Even the kids tell you to stop farming,
but you just won't listen.
What do you mean to do now...?
Oh, my head...
Ow, how it hurts...
Can't even handle the ox...
What Will I do With him...!
He's so stubborn nothing ever works out...
I'm sorry you have so much trouble.
Mm-hmm, I have loads of it.
Your second son asked me to help you out...
because it's too much work for you two.
Doesn't this make you feel good?
It's so convenient to use a machine like this.
Oh, how clean and nice this is.
No!
It's better to do it with your hands!
That's better!
If you out rice with your hands and shake it,
you'll lose fewer grains.
But if you cut it with that machine,
you'll lose a lot more.
So you're saying
we should cut it with our hands?
Give me a straight answer, huh?
Send it to everyone everywhere.
This is the last time...
we're doing this.
You're so old you can't farm any more,
so we won't be able to give them any next year...
Well, they're my own kids
so I guess we should give them...
You know, there's nothing better than...
seeing water go in dried up rice paddies,
and seeing food go in your kids' mouths,
even if the two of us live on the leftovers...
Be careful.
I still have to cut fodder.
I hope this will get better...
You mustn't work any more,
because the wound on your toe is very bad!
Take a look at your bones.
Do you see the second toe here?
The joint at this end is out of place now.
It's been out of place for quite some time.
So, now...
it's no longer possible to set it right.
It happened way too long ago.
I kept telling him not to work,
to rest up...
but he got up and got hurt working...
Where on earth were you going?
Hey, why aren't you eating?
I gave you a double serving. Eat it!
Eat it! He says you aren't going there to die...
Come on, eat up, eat up, eat up and go!
You know, both of us have lived such hard lives
all because we met the wrong man...
Every day, in early morning
he goes to the fields,
dragging you there rain or shine...
Hey, uncle, how old is this ox?
-40
-40?
This ox here's old,
but he'll scoot over when a car comes.
An ox, and he'll budge.
So, sir! How much do you want to sell him for?
5 million won (5,000 dollars).
You won't ever sell it...
for 5 million won.
Even if you kill it,
it won't be worth even 600,000 won.
Some folks wouldn't take it even if
it were free. Heck, no one would take that!
How about selling it for 1.30 million won?
I'm not selling him,
unless you give me 5 million won!
Well, he won't sell it unless
you give him 5 million won...
A man's got to have a sense of conscience.
What! 600,000 Won? 600,000 Won...!
It'll fall any minute, fall any minute...
So will you buy it at 1.2 million won?
1.2 million won?
Well, there's no sense in bargaining...
unless the price is right...
Won Gyun!
Let's try selling it even for 1 million won!
I'm not selling him!
Some folks...
won't take it even if you give it away for free.
Well, if they don't want to buy him,
let them not buy him!
But you shouldn't try to sell one like this.
If you do, you'll be...
Hey, are you here to get in other folks' way?
Even if you kill this ox,
the meat will be too tough to eat.
That's why it's got to sell at a giveaway price.
You have to sell it at a giveaway price!
Just go home!
Folks can't sell other cows
because of your ox here.
You couldn't sell it?
You mean the ox?
Nasty chaps were bidding low,
so I came back without selling him...
Poor thing!
Yup, that's why he says the ox
is even better than a good son.
Listen to this, to this gentleman,
this ox is his karma...
Well, he's my karma
because he's given me so much...
There just isn't an ox like it!
- Nope, there isn't... - Right!
One time, on my way home
from the Bonghwa Market,
I fell asleep.
And what happened to the ox? Did it come home?
I don't know how, whether he dodged cars
or fell down and got stuck somewhere,
but when I opened my eyes and got up,
there we were, back home!
Aha! The ox came home on its own...
Uh-huh!
My, that's one curious ox...
Ugh, how wretched my lot in life is...!
How on earth will I feed that thing?
It's so tough.
The blasted ox!
You see, it's so tough,
you can't feed it. It'll frisk around.
Ow, it hurts...
Just sell it off if it doesn't listen to you.
If he doesn't listen to me, I'll just tame him.
After all, he does even more urgent things...
What on earth could be even more urgent?
My goodness,
he says the ox is his karma.
Maybe the ox will be gone once my old man dies.
While my old man's alive,
there's nothing I can do
since this is my lot in life.
Oh, woe is me, woe is me!
Darn, this blasted ox, can't even learn to work
and now kicked out, too. Serves you right!
It's not working.
Try hitting it!
The radio's all beat up, too.
So are you.
It's time to go, it's time to go now...
It won't work no matter what I do...
He just won't get up.
Oh, what trouble...
It won't work no matter
how much I try to get him to stand up.
Damn it!
The ox can't live long?
No, it won't live very long.
It's almost reached the end of its life.
The end of its life...
After all, it can't even stand up.
Brace yourselves.
May you go to heaven!
Why are you leaving ahead of us,
when you can die after living a bit longer?
You can leave with us
once we're gone from this world...
I bet there isn't an ox like this one
in all of Korea...
Even though it was sick, the ox did all this,
so we would have firewood...
enough to make fire with,
so that us old folks would be able to make fire,
it died after carrying so much firewood.
Oh, my, what will I do now
when you're hurting so much...?
I'm so worried, just so worried...
Once you die,
I won't be able to go on farming all alone.
I'll then follow you right away.
This film is dedicated to all oxen
and fathers of this land
who toiled to feed and clothe the children.