SONG OF THE BANDITS
IN 1905, THE KOREAN EMPIRE SIGNED A FORCED TREATY WITH JAPAN.
KOREANS FORMED RIGHTEOUS ARMIES.
JAPAN'S MILITIA ANNIHILATION CAMPAIGN DROVE SOLDIERS TO MANCHURIA AND YEONHAEJU.
From now on, you must all honor, obey, and follow
the rule of the Japanese Empire!
Put your faith in the Government-General of Joseon
and the Oriental Development Company.
-In the name of freedom and equality… -Extra, extra, extra! Extra, extra!
…you are required to report and declare your land
in order that you may enjoy your given rights
as the owners of your properties!
To the side!
-Please, off the road! -You will all prosper and be rich!
Don't run!
Put your faith in the Government-General of Joseon
and the Oriental Development Company.
In the name of freedom and equality…
Uh, Yoon, sir!
It's here.
I believe that the person
you're looking for is here.
TAEPYEONG-DONG, 18-JEONG, 30-RI MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE, NORTH GANDO
Lieutenant Lee. Major Miura is waiting for you.
Get ready.
I've been commanded to ensure that you'll be there.
It's an important occasion for you, Lieutenant.
Ah.
And you'll be required to dress in your military uniform.
The person I wanna introduce to you today,
as undoubtedly many of you are already aware,
used to be indentured to me.
Had it not been for the great Empire of Japan,
it is certain he would have remained a nameless slave forever
and not have become my confidant, fellow soldier,
and not the kind of man I'd be proud to call a friend.
He's a hero who annihilated the Russian artillery unit
at the Battle of Sapyeong,
suppressed the rebels in Jeolla, and made certain mobs wouldn't rise again.
He is a true patriot.
It's my absolute honor to present to you this amazing man.
Lieutenant Lee Yoon.
Where is he?
Where?
Thank you.
Don't plan events like that?
I went through so much trouble to put that event together,
and you're getting plastered instead of showing up?
It's been a whole six years.
Did you know? Did you think how long I was waiting?
I never wanted to go back to the army.
Hang on. Is that all you have to say?
I leave tonight.
There's someone I have to meet.
I'm not sure I'll return.
You're meeting with who, then?
And where, that you might not come back?
Am I a joke to you?
I set you free. I thought the two of us were friends.
Am I wrong?
You need to think carefully. Not long ago, I was your master.
Hell, without me, you would still only be fucking chattel.
Hey. Remember? I was the one who burned your papers.
You know, I made you into a soldier, a hero.
It was all thanks to me that those bastards know you. I did that!
The youngest Joseon major in the Japanese Armed Forces,
Miura Shohei.
Do you really believe you did that alone?
I've paid you back.
So let me go, please.
What? I should let you go?
Wait, is this…
is this still about that?
The incident in Gurye?
Look, we couldn't disobey our orders.
How many times have I told you there was nothing I could do?
God damn.
If I'd just shot you back then, then all this shit…
Why are you so loud?
I can't hear myself think!
No. You can't go. You'd better stand up.
You got a gun?
Okay, hold it. Hold it and stand up, huh?
You can actually lose your head this time.
We can shoot it out here, then we'll see who gets to walk away.
Huh?
What?
Scared I'll draw first, like last time?
Your place is at my side.
Just remain here if you're scared, you shit!
Things are very different from back then.
Back then, I had no reason to live.
Not anymore though.
So do we really need to do this here?
To start with, you jackass, you seriously think…
If you'd killed me then, we wouldn't have gotten here.
It's overdue by now.
However, I'm sincerely grateful to you for freeing me, Master.
Wait, Yoon. Don't you go.
Hey! Lee Yoon!
You stop! Major, stop!
Get off me! Let go of me!
Lee Yoon! Hey, Lee Yoon!
GYEONGSEONG
WONSAN
CHEONGJIN
HOERYEONG, MYEONGJEONG
Yoon!
My, you really got tall, huh!
You look amazing.
Money's treating you well.
For us slaves, the easy way to get respect is through money, wouldn't you say?
So are you respected?
'Course I am.
But some call me a bitch. I was a little too harsh, I think.
Fuck, the slave girl is in charge. Anyway, you must be tired. Get in.
So how did you get here so fast, huh?
Don't tell me you were…
You've been out there waiting for my letter, right?
Seon-bok, thank you. He must've been hard to locate.
Don't thank me. You're like my little brother.
That said, did our old master let you come without a fuss?
He made it hard.
-I may have put a handgun in his face. -I wish that you'd actually ended it.
He'd always punish me over nothing.
He would beat a girl over not warming up his fancy bedroom.
That little bastard had no manners at all.
Thanks to that, I've still got back pain.
Even with all this money these days, my body still remembers poverty.
Ah shit.
Those bastards got themselves caught again, huh?
Fuck.
Why bother fighting for independence
if you're just gonna die a useless death like that? Damn.
The Japanese did that?
Ah, who can say? Bandit thugs, or the Japanese. Either are likely.
I don't get why bandits would kill soldiers.
It makes them money. Independence soldiers aren't men.
They're just money here.
Careful you don't mistake Gando for Gyeongseong.
No one likes it, but Gyeongseong is Japanese property now.
You know what's great? Men are drooling about control here,
and yet, here in Manchuria, nobody's in charge.
There is no clear master.
Chinese land, Japanese money, and Joseon people.
Who do you think is gonna rule this place?
Whoa!
What?
There's a sandstorm, miss.
Okay.
Yoon. Here you go.
Take one with you at all times. The sandstorms here are no joke.
It's died down now. Come and see.
Is that the village?
Mmm. That's Myeongjeong. The best city in North Gando.
To die for, right?
MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE
We'll have two noodles here.
Have a seat. The noodles here are excellent.
There are hardly any Joseon shops here.
Running a shop costs money,
and I'm the only person here from Joseon who has any of that.
You made all of it from that?
God, no. That hardly makes money at all.
I'm peddling firearms.
A lot of battles break out nearby, you know.
Listen, it's like so.
Say the Japanese Army gets beaten, okay?
The independents push the guns to sale right away to get cash, yeah?
So I get them cheap and sell the weapons to the Chinese warlords at a premium.
And if times get tough, bandits will always buy from me too.
I sell anywhere they buy.
Ah! Here. Here, thanks.
Enjoy.
Time to eat. Here.
By the way,
how will you work while you're here?
Finding that man is one thing,
but you must've planned how you would live here.
I didn't come here to live.
What do you mean, "didn't come here to live"?
You mean to die here instead, then?
Come on. Come on, let's go.
Don't! No! Please! Don't hurt us!
What's this now?
Let's get 'em!
Ah, not again.
Not while I'm eating my lunch over here. Hey, get up.
Nothing good comes of getting involved with them. Best to avoid them.
Bye. What are you doing? Get up.
Yoon!
He's mine.
Oh my God.
Yeah, boss!
Yoon!
That jackass.
Oh shit! I was fucking scared to death, damn. Hey!
What, were you paralyzed or something? What were you thinking?
You just--
Who is that man?
Jang Ki-Ryong. He's a bandit. He's a bandit.
The ones who're dead there are Nodeoksan's crew. These gangs!
Both fight the other nonstop
to get domination of the market in Myeongjeong and Gando.
-It's so scary. -How do the police handle it?
Oh, those idiots are just--
Oh, oh, look. Look over there. They're here.
See him? The man up there?
He… he's Superintendent Ōoka from the consulate.
He's in charge of the main street here. He's an ass.
-An awful son of a bitch. He's terrible. -Hey, clean this up.
They're just moving the bodies? Not going after the murderer?
They're not going after the murderer because the murderer is Jang Ki-Ryong.
Of all the bandits in North Gando,
Jang Ki-Ryong takes out the greatest number of insurgents.
Oh shit.
You're saying he gets away with all this by bringing down independence fighters?
Even here, it's the people of Joseon who die.
Still, it's not bad at present, you understand?
We'll be dealing with a bloodbath before much longer.
Rumor is Japan's sending its occupying army here to us any day now.
Then, they must plan to take over and run Manchuria.
Oh goodness.
Mounted bandits, the police,
the Japanese and their out-of-control army.
What will ensue for the Joseon, for the soldiers here?
Oh shit.
So, Yoon, I--
You had better not
go around the independents or Joseon people, you hear? Huh?
There's no country at our backs to protect us.
We must be on our guard constantly. Got that?
Ay, ay. Ugh!
Burn it.
Let's go.
Let's go!
Yoon, hey.
What are you doing?
I wasn't going to get to sleep anyway, so you should get your rest.
Ah, some buffoons were shooting all damn night. I was awake.
They're always shooting, those crazy bastards. All the time.
It's not easy to sleep with a battle going on.
It's you selling the weapons though. So be glad they're shooting.
You need sleep in order to survive, no matter how nice the money.
I'll have to fit it into their contracts.
After seven o'clock, you need to behave.
In any case, they can't be bandits if they follow the rules.
-All set. I owe you one. -Uh-uh.
You don't owe me anything. Just try to come back and see me, okay?
Hang on, Yoon.
About that thing you said yesterday…
You meant what when you said it exactly?
It wasn't important. It's just something I said.
I know you're not here to make money. Hey! Huh?
You left your old life but didn't come here to live?
It's not what I think, right?
Who is this person you're running off to meet?
Choi Choong-soo, who is he, for God's sake?
TAEPYEONG-DONG
Whoa, whoa.
Who are you?
Did Nodeoksan send you?
You have my apologies.
I didn't know you were my countryman.
Anyhow, it's a great solace that you weren't actually attacked, you know.
Now then, why come to Taepyeong-dong at this hour?
I had to come here in order to…
to tell you something important about the past.
Actually--
Eon-nyeoni is what she's called.
She came to us very recently. Just five days ago.
Before that, she lived as a peasant her whole life.
Then she was displaced and had to journey all this way, thanks to the ODC.
Japanese and mounted bandits after that, and they…
they murdered that poor woman's whole family.
In this day and age, everyone has some dark story to tell, it's true,
but whenever I look at her, my heart aches a bit.
Anyway, what were you saying?
That you had to be honest about the--
Choong-soo! Choong-soo, sir!
-Choong-soo! -Is that my husband?
You have to come quickly, sir.
My hearing hasn't totally departed. Must you yell like that?
I can't. Kang Du-man, that fool, he means to part ways with us.
-I could just tear that-- -What about that makes sense?
Might as well just eat dung. Did he tell you why?
How can you sit and ask why?
He's worried he'll get killed at the hands of Nodeoksan!
What you need to say,
could we delay it a short while?
Yes, I will wait.
Mm.
Eon-nyeoni can be your guide until then. I will be back later.
-All right. -Eat up.
The pastor left for Yeonhaeju three, almost four years ago,
so the church is empty now.
You can stay here.
And even if you hear something outside, don't go out to see.
The mounted bandits might kill you if you do.
Why does Nodeoksan have his eye on this place?
Breaking the law is what outlaws do, isn't it?
What other reason could there be?
I mean, if you think of it honestly,
Joseon people make the best targets for these gangs.
There are no consequences for killing us.
I heard you got here five days ago.
Who were you in Joseon?
Didn't you hear Choong-Soo? I farmed.
I can't tell if you were even listening to him.
You two were looking at me as you talked too.
Only you don't have the hands of a farmer. You have the hands of a gunman.
Just by looking, you can tell that from my hands, huh?
What are you, a seer?
-Who are you? -What do you mean by that?
Why'd you really come to this village,
keeping your history and true name a secret?
Oh, what are you going on about now?
What do you mean, I keep secrets?
Who am I, then?
An insurgent?
So I guess you're not one, then.
One more chance.
Who are you?
Should I say? You won't be glad that I told you.
That right?
Should we get on with it, then?
Who are you? And why are you here?
I'm here to kill you.
When people die, that's how I get paid.
And just who is paying you now?
I can't tell you that, or my business will decline.
I was hired in Gyeongseong. Best I can do.
How did you know where I was going?
North Gando, Myeongjeong town, building number 30, about there.
You ever so kindly laid out a note.
You almost left without a trace.
What happened there? That was sloppy, huh?
Mauser C96. That's a nice gun you've got.
Nambu, Type 14.
Lousy gun you've got there.
Nambu Type 14s are pretty prone to misfires.
You know that, right?
You fire, and there's about a 30% chance you kill yourself.
That's still a 70% chance we die together.
It's your choice, then. Do you wanna take that bet?
Your life at 30%?
You'll pull the trigger, huh?
This will complicate things though.
Nothing complex about it.
The simple solution is to put your gun down now.
Come on. This bitch gets paid to kill whoever she's hired to kill.
That's who she is.
How could I not meet the client's request? You trying to make my career dry out?
I need to die at someone else's hands.
What someone else?
Back there, you saw.
Choong-Soo is the one who's gonna kill you?
What on earth did you do to that old man to make him want you dead?
Something a person should never do to another.
That's what I did.
And that is why I can't allow you to be the one who kills me, you see.
I heard you used to be with the Japanese.
Pretty sure I get the gist.
I know what you did to that man after all, don't I?
All right.
We'll do it your way.
Don't get me wrong. It's not as though I'm moved.
It's just that I think Choong-Soo has the better right to kill you.
That's why I'm listening to you.
Choong-Soo has treated me really well ever since I came here.
I'll report to my client that I killed you, so that's that.
But if you ever happen to run into me again in the future,
then I really will have to kill you.
I could shoot you just like this.
Like a coward.
Oh, yeah.
My client told me to make sure to tell you this before you die.
"A dog
dies when it leaves its home."
Die well!
Hope you're born in a better place in the next life.
Don't try to stop me!
Come on, Du-man, huh?
If you leave, too, how will we go on?
I just-- I-- Let go! Let go! I'm leaving!
Stay!
What are you doing? Come on! Hurry up!
Why are you back here? It's raining. Go inside.
I was going to wait, then I changed my mind.
It's best we talk now.
Gurye, six years ago.
Gurye is the reason that I came here.
I must say, this is quite unexpected.
What is it you need to say in what took place in Gurye back then?
You already know, I'm sure,
that in order to suppress freedom fighters,
the Japanese ordered and deployed the Militia Round-up Campaign.
Countless soldiers of the Righteous Army were killed.
Any who made it, they--
Manchuria is where I was told they could be located.
Just as you came here.
And how do you know?
How did you learn all these things, then?
Because I was there at the time, sir.
I was their puppet.
A Japanese unit leader.
I tracked suspected militia members.
I'd learn your names and movement patterns in great detail
and bring your locations back to the Japanese.
One day, I was ordered,
"Find Choi Choong-Soo, the invincible general,
apprehend him, and show us the way to his hideout."
Once I accomplished this,
I was to see you imprisoned at Gwangju.
The location of your village was reported to senior authorities…
because of me, sir.
Everything that happened in Gurye six years ago,
it was all because of my actions.
Nobody move!
Everybody, stay where you are!
Why are you acting like this, huh?
I told you already, Choi Choong-soo already must have gone!
So what is this?
We've been given new orders.
Now that we've found the invincible general's base,
we burn it down.
These people are innocent.
Most don't own a weapon. Some are women and children!
These innocents
may turn into the next soldiers of the Righteous Army.
Surely you understand nobody is born into it, right?
All us humans start out innocent until we start sinning.
Gwang-il, stop. It's not right.
Arguing like this, this is hopeless.
Put your gun away.
Gwang-il, don't do this.
Fine, all right. You bow out, I'm permitting it.
-Okay! -Yes, sir!
-Iguchi. -What are you doing?
For all my life,
as long as I remember, I have obeyed orders.
My whole life, my role has been a lowly man's.
I thought, who am I to question the wisdom of my betters
as a man born and raised in ignorance?
But because of me,
so many were murdered. Our countrymen.
Your family
also died on that day.
That's what it took…
…for me to finally realize…
Kill the infant girl too.
…that I'd been wrong.
I am not here looking to get sympathy.
Lee Yoon, holy shit!
Nobody move!
Sir, just give us the order to open fire at that Joseon barbarian!
Shut up and lower your gun!
I won't obey!
You might be soft on other Joseons, but I'm Japanese.
Hey.
You mouth off to me again, soldier, or make another sound,
you're dead, understand?
You're hearing this, aren't you?
If you take this further, I can't cover for you.
Hand it over now, okay?
Put the gun down, and we can talk--
What did I just say?
It was all because of me, sir.
You want me to forgive you because you're repentant?
Why are you doing this, huh?
You'd like to hear me say it's in the past?
These aren't any sins that I can ever repent for.
And that wasn't my purpose in coming to meet you.
Let me guess.
You think justice is through your death.
You want to be killed, and that's why you've spoken so coldly?
You imagine if you were to speak emotionally,
I'd let this go instead?
This is one twisted world we live in.
Both you…
and I.
But you're the one who caused the murders of my wife and family.
So I cannot make peace or console you as I might have.
I'm sorry.
You can disappear or all be killed!
You hear me?
Let's kill all these bastards! Come on!
And don't you dare let a single one get away!
Just hold still, damn it!
Hey, you can't run from us!
Kill the stupid bastards!
Get 'em!
Just where do you think you're going, bitch? Huh?
Kill 'em all, boys! Get 'em!
-Look at this one here! -Ye-bun!
Ye-bun, no!
No, no, my love!
No, no, no.
No, no.
I told you, our Ye-bun has disappeared!
Aren't you going to do anything?
Our Ye-bun has been taken away!
Choong-soo, there isn't time to do this, okay?
It's not too late. Nodeoksan's still near, but we have to go.
Please! Choong-soo!
Say something, Choong-soo! Say something, please!
Oh, my dear, no!
Nam-chun, come quickly!
Oh, no. My love!
My love.
My love!
-Why? Why? -Someone do something!
Oh, my love!
You're really planning to not respond to this?
I'm not able to do anything.
All the fight we had, we gave.
There are murdered families.
The last time innocents were killed,
I led a battle for retribution.
And then more innocents were killed.
But you already knew that.
Quit standing there imagining that I'll kill you.
You get to see
how you like scraping by, huh?
Every day, having things stolen from you.
Enduring this kind of pain always.
Always running away, just making it.
You should have to live like this too.
MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE
I fold.
Ah! Whoo!
Hurry up, hurry up!
Again, again!
Oh gosh, Yoon!
I'm looking for where you keep your guns.
SEON-BOK HOTEL
Will he be all right, ma'am? This friend of yours?
No matter how I picture it,
taking on Nodeoksan's gang and going alone, it's just--
In Sapyeong, ten years ago,
Yoon took out a whole complement of Russian men on his own, you see.
That's when he got the nickname Gamjaesaja, the "Guardian Grim Reaper."
He's the reaper who watches. The reaper who guides.
In passing, the meaning sounds nice,
but who does the Grim Reaper guard, exactly?
Ones who are meant to die, of course.
Just like tonight, a thunderstorm was raging that day.
Yoon snuck around to the back of the artillery unit alone.
When the thunder struck…
…he shot.
And when the thunder struck again,
…so did he.
And again…
…and again.
The entire unit was ground into dust, and that's how.
Are you beginning to understand?
Against Yoon, the size of your gang doesn't make a difference.
You need to play smart.
If your plan is simply to outnumber him,
then one by one…
What was that?
Your gun! Get it!
One by one, leaving no trace…
Now, fire!
Shoot him!
Silently and unforeseen until no one is left.
So don't waste your time worrying about Yoon.
Worry about how to get rid of the bodies.
Get him!
In all probability,
today will mark the end of Nodeoksan's banditry
and his entire sorry syndicate.
He's back there!
We're going.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses…
What? Who is that?
Oh! Ye-bun!
How can this--
Oh my. Oh my! Goodness, Ye-bun!
Oh my!
Father!
Hey. Oh.
Did you want to die so badly that you'd attack that hideout
and Nodeoksan without any reinforcements?
That's not completely the reason.
I was just reminded of the past.
I saw the exact same faces here that I saw in Gurye so much time ago.
You explained it to me earlier.
It's those who have been stolen from. Those who've had to run away.
Those who live in pain every day. I saw their faces.
Ye-bun.
That's the reason I fought there.
I once made those faces,
and I wanted to wash them clean.
What occurred,
does it still haunt you and torment you that awfully, even now?
I truly apologize.
All the blame is mine.
What can I call you, by the way? I never asked you that.
Lee Yoon, I'm called.
With the breakdown in our country,
you made a plan to become the king?
Lee Yoon.
King Gyeongjong's name, see.
He didn't do anything much that was remarkable as ruler.
He was incompetent, sickly, swept up in politics, and purged subjects.
Yet, for all those flaws, he did one thing correctly.
To the end, he protected his rival, the Crown Prince, his half-brother.
In the heat of bitter politics, he defended his brother.
His family remained safe until the end.
And what of you?
Is your namesake something you plan to honor?
Will you see your countrymen here as your family,
let them all depend on your protection and possibly die for them?
You never know.
It might be one of these people who uplift Joseon
as did King Yeongjo or King Jeongjo the Great.
You've already decided to die anyway.
And if you made it meaningful instead,
is that not a greater way to repent for your past, Yoon?
A way to amend transgressions?
We'll be dealing with a bloodbath before long.
Rumor is Japan's sending its occupying army here to us any day now.
Then they must plan to take over and run Manchuria.
Goodness.
Mounted bandits, the police.
The Japanese and their out-of-control army.
What will ensue for the Joseon here?
I'm not sure the time is right for me.
What do you mean by that?
What obstacles are there?
I have nothing to my name right now.
No power. I own no land. Have no money.
To survive in a place like this…
it'll take people with us here. That's all we've potentially got.
Who of sound mind would consider coming here to us?
Those who have been treated with malice and cruelty,
who have been driven out from their houses and homelands.
That kind of person will come to join us.
Those who want back what was stolen from them
and can no longer bear to run away…
…who mean to repay all their enemies in kind.
People with nothing left to lose,
with nothing to depend on, and no reason to keep going.
Those men. We'll need people like that.
And then, once you're done assembling your gang of outcasts,
what do you intend, then?
Then we resist.
This is our way of defending Joseon.
I know we can't raise an army,
so we'll fight as bandits.