"A "KAZAKFILM" ŠAKEN AJMANOV PRODUCTION" "THE "ALEM" CINEMATOGRAPHIC GROUP" "ALEKSANDR PAN" "VALENTINA TE" "KASYM AKIBAEV" "LJUBOV GERMANOVA" "OLEG Ll" "JUOZAS BUDRAJTIS" "ZINAIDA EM" "IN" "MEST'" " REVENGE" "PROLOGUE" "Why does it always go in that direction?" "That is where the sea is, Sire." "The place that it comes from." "If even a creature such as the lowly tortoise has a purpose," "then what be the aim of man?" "To what end must he exert his utmost endeavour?" "On this earth, us wretched men have only one calling:" "to loyally serve His Majesty." "Stop!" "Perhaps the heir to the throne is training for battle?" "Who is that child fighting with the prince?" "I will send him away at once, Majesty." "No." "There's no need, let them fight." "We shall stay and watch." "Minister of the Army!" "Who is the bravest warrior in the kingdom?" "Chon Guk, Your Majesty." "The Head of the Palace Guards." "Bring him here now!" "Here I am, Your Majesty." "I intend to make a royal proclamation:" "the Head of the Guards is relieved of his duties." "I appoint him as the heir apparent's tutor." "The tutor must ensure that by the age of 20 years the prince has become the strongest warrior in the kingdom." "To this end, he may do whatever is deemed necessary." "Hence, he is not accountable for the prince's life." "However, if in that given time" "my will has not been fulfilled, the heir apparent's tutor will be put to death." "Chancellor!" "Enter this proclamation into the royal register." "The deceased Chon Guk certainly fulfilled his duty, it must be said." "The devil only knows if others could endure the cruelties I went through." "It's a miracle I didn't starve or freeze to death: now I'm invincible!" "You are my most beloved friend," "I love listening to your verse, my dear poet." "My skill as a warrior will always be at your disposal." "Majesty, the executioners are here as you requested." "Let them begin!" "Why is that man to be executed?" "As a loyal soldier, he duelled with the king, but withheld his force." "Sire, why don't you grant him your clemency?" "When he knocked down Your Majesty, he didn't lay his hand on you." "He behaved as a subject, loyal to his lord, would." "They say you could have killed me." "If you wish to pit yourself against me again, so be it." "No, Sire." "I prefer to die like this." "Beat him to death!" "That is his will." "Let's not bother ourselves with such nonsense again." "The king's best friend shall recite some poetry." "We will listen with pleasure." "Poems are not born from the din of an execution." "I will send them away." "Go away from here!" "Music!" "What is it?" "Does my poet need something else?" "Only an act of justice, Your Majesty." "Injustice is not fertile soil for poetry." "I have seen for some time that my dearest friend is unhappy." "What troubles our exalted poet?" "Sire, allow me to leave the palace." "Why?" "My inspiration is being dried up by your strength." "Let it be free, before it disappears." "In the name of our friendship, which has brought me great joy." "I beg you." "Let it be so." "You may go." "You are free to leave whenever you please." "But from this moment you will never see me again." "I want to take refuge in places that have no memory, to return to a state of being without knowledge, like before entering this world." "I will soon reach at my aim," "I will happily go, without turning back." "My soul regrets nothing." "My verses serve no use in this world." "In vain, they have seen the light." "Completely in vain." "And so us poets busy ourselves amongst men, with our unattainable dreams." "200 years before Gutenberg, books were printed in Korea." "The first professional poets appeared in this land." "TALE 1" " JAN" "1915 In a small Korean village..." "Open up!" "Hey!" "Open up!" "Open up!" "Take this." "Master Jan, you must find another place." "We're not going to feed you any more." "I went to the city." "I had to buy some clothes." "That's none of our business." "It's cold." "Let me in for the night." " I'll go somewhere else tomorrow." " You'll leave this very day." "Wait!" "Call Caj." "I want to talk to the master of the house." "It's him that doesn't want you here." "Now go." "Quick, go into the house." "Mu." " Mu." " Mu." " Mu." " Mu." "Mu." "Silence!" "Keep quiet!" "Repeat after me. "Meh"." "Meh." "Meh." " Meh." " Meh." "Meh." "Silence!" "I'm fed up teaching you lot." "You're a bunch of useless dunces." "Ma." "Ma." " Ma." " Ma." "Silence!" "Keep quiet." "Read and repeat." "You, Caj's daughter." "Useless, just like the others." "An only child, it figures!" "What have you studied..." "Your father forbade me from punishing you." "But that..." "They've killed my daughter." "My little girl is dead." "My little girl!" "They killed my daughter." "Hey!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "That day they saw Jan on board of a junk heading towards the Chinese coast." "TALE 2" " CAJ" "A horrendous crime." "After a murder like this, we will never be at peace on this earth." "We must have revenge." "Or the sky will turn on us, like vile beasts, not even worthy of existing." "Will you rent my land for 10 years, Mr Gu?" "I'll ask you for half of the harvest." "In 10 years you will earn three times as much." "Yes, I will do as you ask." "But on one condition:" "I will rent the land for 11 years, not 10." "And I will give you half of the sum in bonds, which you can cash in China." "You intend to go there, don't you?" "I headed for China to look for Jan." "China is a vast land, it's not easy to find someone there." "For many years I travelled from town to town, until I heard that Jan might be in the silver mines." "And so I followed his trail." "For too long, I chased him all over China in a hurry to have my vengeance." "I'm sorry, have you any shoes to give me?" "Mine fell apart on the road, I have come a long way." "That woman appeared from nowhere, preventing me from concentrating." "I needed to be thinking clearly when I gained my vengeance." "I will wash your feet and bandage your wounds." "Thank you." "Wear these." "They're mine, they will be useful." "Thank you." "Sir, you won't be able to do what you have in mind." "I have become weak." "Nevertheless, I must kill him." "Man must not commit murder." "Please sir, come with me." "Come with me, I will save your life." "You have won, but your meddling will have been in vain." "Why have you come back if you haven't taken revenge?" "Take a concubine." "We will find you a peasant girl, or a young widow, who can give you a son." "Are you listening?" "Are you listening to me?" "Soon enough, Caj took a young concubine." "A mute girl, the daughter of a poor widow." "TALE 3" " NEMAJA" "It's not yet dark, but she's getting sleepy." "My Nemaja goes to bed early and rises before everyone else, and when she sleeps it's impossible to awaken her." "There are a lot more hedgehogs now." "They make a noise like a hare," "or a duckling." "Who would have thought?" "Don't get angry with her." "She's simple." "Like a child, she doesn't understand." "But she works without sparing herself." "And she will surely give you a son." "Sungu, have you composed new verses?" "Yes, sir." "Answer me this:" "if you had never come across a white lily and you suddenly saw one," "does it mean that the lily did not exist before that moment?" "No, it existed." "And if you composed a wonderful poem, which no one before you had ever thought of," "does it mean that it did not previously exist?" "Answer me this:" "do poems live their own independent lives, like flowers or butterflies, like waterfalls and trees?" "Or in order for a new poem to be born, is the endeavour of an extraordinary person required?" "It's like that, sir." "Well then, look after yourself, my boy." "As because of you, the world is fated to receive unique poems." "And your name will earn great honour." "Sungu, is your mother missing you already?" "As soon as she brings me here she starts to miss me." "Maybe she feels cold and wants to come in to warm herself?" "No, sir." "The cold doesn't bother her." "She just misses me, I know well that's what it is." "Look." "Go and call your son." "My son, you have come to this world for only one reason: revenge." "Until our justice is served, you won't have a wife or children, or feel joy or sorrow." "You must avenge us." "Otherwise, you will not have fulfilled your destiny." "Promise me before I die, that you will do this?" "Yes, father." "One year passed from the time of Caj's death." "The revenge had waited for a quarter of a century." "Hey, little monk!" "Tell me something:" "is this still the eminent Caj's house?" "Yes, this is Caj's house." "Then go and call someone from his family." "You can talk with me." "I am his son." "His son?" "How can that be?" "Caj has a son?" "Yes, I am his second wife's child." "My mother's name is Nemaja." "I see." "Jan!" "It's you!" "What are you shouting for, old woman?" "Go call your husband." "Go!" "I've come of my own free will." "It's been 25 years." "I've prayed all my life." "And you're still alive!" "Why?" "I heard that your husband had died!" "Sungu, look at him well." "Remember his face." "You must take our revenge on him." "Kill him with a sickle." "You must cut him down, as he cut down my daughter." "Many years earlier when she was still a young girl, a wandering monk arrived at her door." "TALE 4" " THE MONK" "There's no one here, they're at sea." "The fish have arrived." "Can I spend the night on the cart in the yard?" "Certainly." "If you want, you can come with me." "I will lead you to my master's mountain." "He will cure you." "What about my family?" "They are destined to lose you anyway." "You are soon going to die." "One can't stop the passage of time." "But if you come with me, you will live." "However, you must know that life won't be yours to do as you please." "You will have to serve others." "Furthermore, you will have to choose the worst kind of man, and marry him." "He's small, but he will grow." "He will become strong, as I become older and weaker." "They won't be able to take revenge on you." "You can live in peace." " How do you know?" " I know." "How would you know?" "Idiot, you're empty-headed!" "You think you know everything." "You cure people but don't ask for any money, you're useless." "If you could at least give me a son!" " We won't have any children." " And you know this too!" "We won't bring any children to this world, so no one will die." "I will atone for your sins." "I know everything about this world." "I know every bird, every river, every mountain." "What stupidity!" "You're a millstone around my neck." " I was sent to you." " Who sent you?" "Who?" "Those who live in isolation, and rule from afar." "Those who until now have prevented man from perishing." "Another 10 years passed..." "In this world where each is given a painful death," "I act on God's behalf." "I am like a guardian of men, seated on the threshold of another world, which they enter soon after death." "But I am alone on this road, and I have never met God." "Did you recognise me?" "Yes, venerable Master." "Sungu, do you still write poetry like before?" "No, I have forgotten how." "I don't know how to any more." "Man is like a flute on which one plays a melody." "Some verses you composed as a child say that." "There is no truth to be found hidden in the word "I"." "There is, venerable Master." "I am here, we are both here." "Two passing illusions, two shadows, cherished by no one's memory." "Yet here we are, venerable Master, soaked like two wet rags in the rain." "But we're not two wet rags, my son, rather two indistinct beings, who roam uncertain paths, halfway between the Yin and the Yang." "Which path is given to those who die as children?" "To the leaves that fall as soon as summer begins?" "To the mice that accidentally drown in a pail?" "For them, there wasn't any path to follow." "They went out along their way one morning, when suddenly sleep caught them unawares, and as they slept" "the waters that lap against the kingdom of earthly life pushed them back to the start of the eternal cycle." "A different path has been reserved for you and I, that of the poet," "and that of the wandering monk." "If a child's head is cut off, what good are the laws of Heaven?" "Only revenge remains." "It is the only law." "Sungu found a job in Sakhalin, and left Korea with his mother at the beginning of August 1945." "TALE 5" " ELZA THE ROMANIAN" "Lëška, enough working!" "I'm finished now." "Vysokij Nemojl Where are you going to?" "Take the oar..." "Hey, Vysokij Nemoj!" "Take the oar and move the boat further away along the bank." "A CHORUS OF COMMANDERS" "What does it mean?" "Nemoj caught it across the river." "With a net, I think." "In Korea they give a goose when you get married." "When you get engaged, or for the wedding?" "You take it, so you can get married." " Are you going to the inn tonight?" " Yes, and you?" "No." "But you go, Lëška." "Ljuba will be waiting for you." "She wasn't there last night." "I went to her place, she had been sitting in the same place for hours." "Crying." "All she said was, "Hi, Lëška."" "You should marry her." "I wouldn't be against the idea." " Hey, you." " Who?" "Me?" "Hey, tell me something." "Do you work at the sawmill?" " Elza!" " Coming, one second." "Listen, can you get me some wood?" "Do me a favour and bring me some planks from the sawmill." "Can you?" "Today?" "Whenever you like." "I'm building a house." "I have to plaster it, but it's impossible to find planks." "I could plaster it, and put up the slates was well." " And whitewash it." " Sure." "It's a deal, the job is yours." "In exchange, I'll let you eat for free in the canteen." "No, there's no need." "Don't you want to?" "So what do you want?" "Nothing." "I'll come tomorrow after work." "Elza!" "Yes, coming." "Where did you learn that?" "You know how to do everything." "I'm a worker." "Like me." "Let's go and celebrate the new house." "It doesn't matter if you're not Russian." "Neither am I." "If only you knew... the things that I've been through." "I have been to so many places!" "I'm Romanian, you know?" "I have no one here." "I'm alone in the world." "My brother lived in Gomel." "He played in an orchestra." "He became an alcoholic." "I have been to China." "Korea." "Canada." "Then I decided to stay here." "Enough traveling." "I don't plan on moving from here." "I'm tired of roaming the world." "I'm not that young any more." "I'd like to have children." "Otherwise, what meaning will my life have?" "He fell ill of the same disease that his father had died from..." "TALE 6" " THE REVENGE" "Mum!" "Mum!" "Mum." "Will you sing me a song?" "Please mum, sing." " Not here." " Why not?" "Please sing." "Don't blame me, my friend" "If I love him so much" "Believe me, it pains me" "To live without him" "And I don't know..." "Mother, forgive me." "I know living here was dreadful for you." "Maybe you knew you would die here." "Plead with my father's soul on my behalf, so he won't be angry with me." "Tell him I haven't forgotten my duty." "Not at all." "The man I must take revenge on lives near here." "I am going to him now." "Make your way to the door please." "We're stopping for one minute." "Look, empty seats." "Let's sit there." "Don't push." "Let's go by the window." "Look." "Father." "You won't find him without me." "I'm here to help you." "Do you know where Master Jan lives?" "Yes, in that house." "You're already here." "You look like my sister." "Yes, it's me." "How is it possible?" "Go inside, he lives here." "I have seen this handsome young man someplace before." "I am Caj Sungu!" "Where is the murderer?" "Where is Jan?" " Caj Sungu!" " Do not fear, there's no reason." "Apple..." "Grass..." "The apple fell in the grass..." "Who put me here?" "I must be really sick, mother." "That's me lying there, still in my swaddling clothes." "I'm hungry and I start to cry." "But mother cannot hear me." "I cry in vain." "Did you understand what I wrote?" "Can't you read?" "I wrote that the snow falls from the sky and settles on the earth." "So who does it belong to, the earth or the sky?" "Nice, isn't it?" "Do you like it?" "Thank you for giving me my son." "Henceforth, he shall also be your son." "Caj Sungu, I waited for you for a long time." "I knew that you would fall ill, and that I alone would have been able to cure you." "I would not have been able to raise you up, Caj Sungu, but your rejection of death helped me." "If a sick person submits to death, drops his head in front of death, it becomes impossible to put a hand behind his neck and raise him from the pillow." "But it was never going to be difficult for me to raise you up." "When you arrived, with that sickle in your hand," "I thought:" ""The avenger has come," ""the one Jan waited for all his life, with fear."" "But Jan is already dead." "He died one year ago." "He disappeared as if he had never existed." "How did he die?" "He drank to overcome his fear." "Last autumn, when the gales from the sea arrived, so too did his end." "You little brats, let me be!" "TALE 7" " THE HOUSE" "Let it be that I am your son." "THE IRON HAS KILLED THE OLD WOMAN" "What does it mean?" "And so it came to pass that the revenge was carried out." "Tell me, sister Cen, why does Heaven give children to man?" "To give him great joy, I suppose." "You are mistaken." "It is to further entangle us in the net of destiny." "No, in order to let love triumph on earth." "Love, I had forgotten about that." "Like us, love took off its shoes and fled to the mountains." "Here is where our love is, sister." "Do you know what I feared most in all my life?" "What?" "The sea." "Just that, the sea." "More than anything, I feared drowning in the sea." "It's not for nothing they called me the "Bride of the Sea"." "What are you doing, sister?" "I'm tired of everything." "I want to leave this place." "Where will you go?" "Anywhere, by steamship." "I don't fear anything any more." "You can come too, if you want." "What would I do by myself?" "I'm coming too." "Look, the birds are fleeing from the fire." "But they haven't been burnt." "It's only the red of the dawn sky."