This film has been reconstituted based on a true story of poet YUN Dong Ju. Some of scenes may differ from historical facts.
MEGABOX PLUS M Presents
A LUZY SONIDOS production
Directed by LEE Joon Ik
KANG Ha Neul PARK Jung Min
DONG JU: THE PORTRAIT OF A POET
1943 JAPAN
Born in Myungdong Village, Jilin Province.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Literature student at Doshisha University.
Hiranuma Doju.
The accused was educated in Korean nationalism. Since he was a child,
he has read ideological literature avidly.
Had Korean national consciousness in his heart
and organized gatherings of Korean students in Kyoto
with Song Mong Gyu.
Were you also involved in his independence movement activities?
What?
I don't understand.
Plotting an armed uprising using the draft...
was that your idea?
Or was it Song's?
An idea like that alone can be treason in times of war.
I don't understand what you're talking about.
It's treason, but you only get 2 years?
How long have you known Mong Gyu?
Answer me.
Our village has been less oppressed by Japan because of its faith.
If we change the mission school to a people's school...
who can we look to for protection?
The Communist Party?
We can't give our school
to the Communist Party just like that, don't you think?
What's wrong with communism?
What's wrong is the Japs are trying to interfere with churches, too.
Brother-in-law, are you saying we should just change the school?
The church can't protect us now!
The Japs are not even afraid of America.
Hey, Dong Ju.
Is faith so important?
People of the world need to live without class or discrimination.
You sound like a Communist.
What's equality anyway?
Isn't it to annihilate everything that's ours?
Father and I...
Maybe we can't fully rely on faith like that.
They want to take our school to annihilate our spirit.
It was thanks to faith-based education that our village has held out so far.
Then you just keep holding out.
Whom have we relied on so far?
To abandon faith-based education is to abandon faith!
Listen!
Whose land is this you're standing on?
Why is it we are living in Gando?
Because back in our country, the Japanese are in power!
And we couldn't stand seeing that.
After the Battle of Qingshanli
And the independence army left, how many people have died?
At the guns and knives of the Japanese soldiers...
and the pickaxes of the Chinese landowners?
How long?
How long must we be persecuted?
What on earth is he...
If you want faith, it's enough to worship at church.
Mong Gyu!
But for the school, I think we should follow
the global trend that unites everyone equally.
Why the sudden speech in front of everyone?
You know the world is changing!
The world may change but faith doesn't.
You fool.
Hey, Dong Ju!
I have something to show you.
What?
- Ask me politely. - What is it?
Say please.
Come on!
Such a stubborn bastard!
Here it is.
A poetry book by Master Jeong Ji Yong!
Where did you get it?
Asked the Myungdong School teacher to get it for me.
I know you worship the poet.
I really wanted to have this!
Are you that happy? You little prick...
Mong Gyu!
Where are you?
You scared me.
The whole village is talking about you.
They must be.
I provoked them with the speech.
It's not that.
You won the spring literary contest!
You bastard!
- Are you kidding me? - I mean it!
Is it true?
- You're not lying? - No!
How could this happen?
Dong Ju! Can you believe it?
I didn't know he was writing.
I've seen him reading a lot, but never saw him writing.
Take this soup to grandpa.
This is such an honor!
Top writers from all over Korea have a hard time getting picked.
And our Mong Gyu made it into the Dong-A Daily!
It is indeed extraordinary.
Take the soup.
- Look, Mong Gyu! - Yes, father?
How did you do it? I'm so proud. Author Song!
Don't call me that. I didn't write it to be an author.
You're lying.
I guess if you set out to be an author...
Would you have written a masterpiece?
Since everyone's here now
Read it out one more time.
Let her.
Title: "Drunken Spoon"
Our family had no choice but to starve.
We gave everything in pawn.
Nothing more left to give.
"Honey, go out and try to find some work."
Stop it.
What's all this at the table?
- This is the 'drunken spoon.' - Please, stop.
Leave him.
A Dong-A Daily winner from the Song family.
That's something to boast about.
Elder brother, that's enough from you, too.
You object to Dong Ju writing!
If he were good enough to win that contest...
Why would I object?
Let us pray.
Dear almighty God...
Thank you for the precious food you give us...
and for your grace in giving us this joyful news.
Guess God gives us easily
what we don't long for.
So for you...
winning the contest was that easy?
Oh, come on.
Don't bother yourself about it.
It was a short contest so it just got through.
But it will be easily forgotten. You know what I mean.
Don't bother about it. Sleep tight.
What did you say to Dong Ju?
Not much, why?
Be careful not to upset him.
Don't worry, mother. I know all about it.
Good night, mother.
- Good night. - Sleep well.
Gosh, father!
Author Song, are you reading?
No, I'm not. Please sleep.
I will do everything I can to support you.
So study as much as you want.
Yes, good night, sir.
Hey, wait!
After I came back from studying abroad,
I thought the world would be my oyster.
You probably know...
I was quite handsome in my youth, too.
Families everywhere wanted me as their son-in-law.
Then
your aunt got me
to marry into this family.
It's a problem if you're handsome
and study well.
And now even my son is successful.
Are you sleeping?
Be on the watch for writing that could harm your spirit.
Be careful what you study.
Are you sleeping?
That's Baek Seok's book of poems.
I borrowed it from the minister
forgot to show it to you.
Copy it quick and give it back.
What's the point in just writing poems?
You have to publish.
How can I do that when I can't win a contest?
So you're just going to leave them like that?
Listen to me, Dong Ju.
I've thought about it a while.
How about making a literary magazine
and publish your poems?
Let's make our own magazine. Like "Samcholli."
A magazine?
Now you're looking at me.
You write poems...
and I write essays.
What do you think?
"New Myungdong"?
Mong Gyu and I are making a student magazine.
The headmaster gave us the name "New Myungdong."
Listen, Dong Ju.
If you go to medical school and become a doctor...
think of all the people you could save.
Isn't that much better than writing a line or two?
As a writer, at best you'd just become a newspaper reporter.
Father.
Even a liberal arts major from a good college...
can get good employment.
But you want to study liberal arts to become a writer!
You can write poems aplenty after you become a doctor.
True studies must do good for yourself and for others.
Studies that can't be used anywhere...
What's the point?
Dong Ju, are you here?
Dong Ju.
Uncle.
The reverend wants to see Dong Ju right away.
The French Revolution of liberty and equality
and the proletarian revolution in Russia...
both shocked the world.
Isn't that writing inappropriate for a literary magazine?
What's the use of literature if it can't change the world?
Is writing some sort of power?
- Ik Hwan, try writing a poem. - Me?
Sure, anyone can write poetry.
"Bolshevism" by Yi Kwang Su.
This is an economic revolution
following the religious and political revolutions.
Every revolution has its errors
but we should not miss the great current of
of the people of the world becoming one.
Song Mong Gyu?
Yes.
Even kids are infected by communism.
No wonder the school is becoming a people's school.
Want to be a revolutionary?
Which school do you want to go to?
I plan to study agriculture
at Soongshil College in Pyongyang.
Why?
I was moved by "The Soil" by Yi Kwang Su.
I want to build the utopia in farming areas like that.
Yi betrayed the Korean people.
His ideas change according to circumstances
so his ideals can't last long.
Song Mong Gyu.
What are the requisites to establish a nation?
Territory...
Citizens...
and sovereignty.
Correct.
A nation must have sovereignty.
But we are people without sovereignty.
What's the use of singing about ideals
when we don't have sovereignty?
Worth giving some thought.
Tell me if there's a way, sir.
Class is over. Mong Gyu, stay behind.
Want me to tell you how to get sovereignty?
Yes, sir.
I'm asking if you have the will to act.
I wonder why the teacher asked Mong Gyu to stay.
Don't know.
Do you know his story?
Tell me.
He's an elite, graduated from Tokyo Imperial University.
There's a reason why he came to teach at our school.
They say the New People's Association sent him.
New People's Association?
They say Master Kim Koo selected and sent him especially.
What did you talk about with the teacher?
Did you roll it with your chin?
Yun Dong Ju, you'll keep writing poetry, right?
And Ik Hwan, you'll go to theological college?
Why are you saying that?
Me, I'm going to China.
China?
Bakunin and Kropotkin!
Unite the people of the world!
Study hard until I come back. Understand?
Hail to Bakunin and Kropotkin!
WHITE SHADOWS
At the street corner in the weighing dusk
when I open my ears which have withered all day long,
to the sound of the footsteps taking the dusk.
Was I wise enough to hear
the sound of the footsteps?
The sound of footsteps...
Whose footsteps do you mean?
You aren't meant to read poetry,
analyzing every word one by one.
Reading Jeong Ji Yong and Yi Kwang Su
weren't you dreaming of a Bolshevik revolution?
Do you know who Song Mong Gyu met in China?
I don't know.
He met a Kim Koo faction and received military training.
Of course, you'd say you didn't know about this.
But factional disputes are second nature to you Koreans.
So he was disappointed in the provisional government
and ended up meeting
Lee Woong.
Do you know who he is?
He looks like he's working for the independence movement, but...
in fact, he's just a mercenary.
He was selling off Kim Koo and Chiang Kai Shek's secret plans
for a lot of money.
That's about when we put Song Mong Gyu under surveillance.
I don't believe it!
What don't you believe?
That Lee Woong was a double agent?
Or that Song Mong Gyu killed him?
Mong Gyu...
could never kill anyone.
And I've never heard
anything like this before.
He just didn't tell you. That makes sense.
Dong Ju.
Dong Ju, are you sleeping?
It's me, open up.
Are you here from China?
Chiang Kai Shek is busy fighting the communist army.
Stupid morons.
When the Japanese army is tearing up Manchuria!
I thought you joined the Communist Party.
Don't you know what the Communists have been up to?
They set fire to houses in our hometown.
Killed innocent schoolteachers with bamboo spears.
Ideologies where you stab your own people to death?
I want no part of it.
The Japanese will start drafting Korean students, too.
What are you going to do?
Killing one or two Japanese soldiers won't make a difference.
But graduating a military school...
You'd likely end up a human shield in Chiang's army.
Mong Gyu, how about you go with me...
to Seoul?
What?
Even father would like it if I went to Yonhi College.
North Gando is rife with independence fighters.
You bastards were born and raised there.
No surprise you were full of seditious ideas.
Are you...
interrogating me...
or fabricating a case?
Have you read his writings?
Sure.
Do you think someone who writes like that could be an assassin?
Your poems are enough to make us suspect your ideologies.
Lighting a lamp to drive out the darkness a bit.
The last me awaits the morning to come forth like an era.
You write such poetry so easily.
Your attitude towards the world is clearly readable.
Am I wrong?
An old doctor does not know the illness of the young.
He says nothing is wrong with me.
This unsupportable ordeal,
this unbearable fatigue.
I should not get angry.
Why do you insist on liberal arts when studying is so expensive?
For that much money, you should become a doctor.
That's enough now.
No point bringing it up again when it's all been decided.
Buckwheat pancakes for when you get hungry.
- Hurry up! - Coming!
Thank you. I'll eat it all myself.
Take care.
Dong Ju!
Put your Yonhi College hat on.
The whole village knows even if I don't wear it.
Go ahead, he wants to see you wearing it.
Put it on quick!
Take care!
"The New Way"
Crossing the stream to the forest,
crossing a pass to the village.
This is my way
that I walked yesterday
and I will walk today.
My new way.
You bastard, did you bring nothing but books?
What's wrong with books?
Our poet Yun will place first in class!
First at Yonhi.
Here.
You must be the new students from North Gando.
- How do you do? - Take it easy.
Don't be so formal. We're the same age.
My name is Kang Cheo Jung
from Wonsan, Hamgyung-do. I'm in the next room.
- I'm Song Mong Gyu. - Mong Gyu.
- My name's Yun Dong Ju. - Dong Ju.
Are you sure we're the same age?
Do I look old? I turned 23 this year.
Look, Cheo Jung.
Let's make a magazine like this.
- A magazine? - Yes.
A literary magazine.
Dong Ju.
Hey, Yun Dong Ju!
- What? - Are you sleeping?
Read this.
It's written by a student at Ehwa Women's College.
It's considerably good.
Isn't it?
Her name is Lee Yeo Jin from Okcheon.
Says she hasn't written much prose before, but...
Ah, right. She's from the same town
as master Jeong Ji Yong and she knows him quite well.
Master Jeong Ji Yong?
I wish I could meet him just once.
Hey, I wish I could meet this girl just once.
But if she writes this well...
she's probably not so pretty.
What do looks have to do with the writing?
Hey, God is fair.
He's given her this much talent. Can't have given her looks, too.
I've seen some brilliant girls at medical school,
and I realized God was fair with them.
With this level of writing talent, her face must be a total mess.
I don't ever want to meet her.
Gosh! You scared me!
Who are you?
- This is Lee Yeo Jin. - I am Gang Cheo Jung.
Lee Yeo Jin.
Guess I don't have to introduce myself. You seem to know me well.
I'm Lee Yeo Jin, the total mess.
You're such a moron. Come here, Yeo Jin.
Read this, would you?
Who wrote this?
That's written by our dear poet Yun.
Did you write this?
Yes.
Isn't it great?
He's got lots more better ones, too.
FUKUOKA PRISON
Is he Korean?
Yes, sir.
Three injections a week.
How about infection?
Not yet, sir.
What are you staring at?
Do the math, quick!
"A Night Counting Stars"
The sky where the season is passing
is full of autumn.
I am to be able to count
all the stars in the autumn
without any worries.
The reason why I cannot count
all the stars engraved in my heart one by one,
is that the morning is coming too fast,
that I have tomorrow's night.
And that my youth has yet to come to an end.
As for poetry...
there's none worth publishing aside from Dong Ju's.
Prose is better for spreading your ideas.
Take out as much poetry as possible.
Literature makes people
weak sentimentalists.
- It's late. You don't have to go? - It's okay.
- I want to read some more. - Anything worth looking at?
This one has good writing but...
it's like something Yi Kwang Su would write.
Throw away anything imitating traitors like Yi Kwang Su
or Choe Nam Seon.
You used to read nothing but Yi's work.
Come on.
That was when I was young.
You still are.
Making rash judgments, blinded by convention and ideology.
I am doing this to overthrow convention and ideology.
Are you upset because I said to take out the poems?
I have my own reasons and goals for doing this literary magazine.
It's not I disregard poetry.
Poetry is also good enough to express your ideas.
When it uncovers the truth living in people's hearts
literature gains power...
and that power gathered together can change the world.
How do you gather that power?
That's just hiding in literature for lack of courage to change the world.
People who only use literature as a means would see it that way!
So how did you change the world
using literature and selling art?
Who has ever changed the world that way?
Patriotism, nationalism, communism...
Are those ideas worth selling off all our values for?
Is that your way of overthrowing convention?
Isn't that indeed...
a rotten convention trying to hide in the trends of an era?
Hey, this is getting brutal.
You are both right.
But, we really didn't get any good poetry this time.
I get your point, Dong Ju.
Yeo Jin, you should go. It's late.
Yes, I should get going.
Could you walk me home?
Why should I?
Get some fresh air.
You haven't been out all day.
I have something to ask you, too.
Go ahead.
You're majoring in literature, right?
Yes, I am.
English literature.
Who's your favorite poet?
Well, I like them all.
Francis Jammes,
Rainer Maria Rilke,
I call the names of these poets.
They are too far away,
like the stars in the sky.
It's just that Mong Gyu loves the world
as much as you love poetry.
What?
I'm saying he isn't disparaging poetry
carried away by ideology.
I see.
Memories to a star.
Love to a star.
Loneliness to a star.
Longing to a star.
Poetry to a star...
I am going to visit master Jeong Ji Yong.
Do you want to come along?
I'm not a published author.
And I heard he cut all contact with literary people.
- He still sees students. - Does he?
I have read
other poems that you wrote.
How?
Mong Gyu showed them to me.
He took them without my permission to print.
They really aren't good enough to show others
They were good like your others.
But after I read them,
I somehow felt a little lonely.
I wonder why.
I should go to Mong Gyu.
Dong Ju!
You want to meet Mr. Jeong, right?
Let's go see him together.
You're back.
Why did you show them to her?
What?
Ah! What did she say? She likes them, right?
I don't know.
Why don't you ever...
I told you I wasn't going to show those to anyone.
You bastard.
I told you those poems would work with girls.
What did she say?
After reading them...
- She felt lonely. - It worked!
Make yourself at home.
You, too.
So...
You are a poet.
Pardon?
I've read your poems. They're good. You're a poet.
Have a drink.
But you should stop writing poetry.
Changing our names to Japanese ones...
They want you to write Japanese poetry under a Japanese name.
They are going crazy.
- So, you go to Yonhi College? - Yes, sir.
Heard Yun Chi Ho will be appointed dean soon.
A stepping stone before putting in a Japanese dean.
They won't be able to teach in Korean anymore either.
What are you going to do?
You're a poet, aren't you?
I'm thinking about it a lot.
Whether I should stay in Korea.
Thinking of going to the provisional government?
You'd be better off going to Japan.
They have good teachers, too.
I enjoyed my time in Kyoto.
I'm not sure...
if I should study abroad at the cost of taking a Japanese name.
Going to such lengths to study abroad
makes me feel sort of ashamed.
Of course you feel ashamed.
I feel ashamed not to be able to say anything.
I feel ashamed to just be drinking all the time.
And ashamed to recommend to you to go study in Japan.
But...
you know how difficult it'd be to live unashamed.
Listen, poet Yun.
Knowing shame is not something to be ashamed of.
It's those that know no shame
that should be more ashamed.
Finish changing to Japanese names by August.
Coming to school is going to get tough.
Yi Kwang Su even wrote a statement of encouragement.
What are you going to do?
I don't know.
I'm going back home to think.
It's vacation time.
APPLICATION FOR NAME CHANGE
I... won't wait for Mong Gyu.
See you after vacation.
Hey! They can see you.
Take care of Yeo Jin.
She's from a good family and has a lot of sensible elders around.
Like master Jeong Ji Yong.
She could help you a lot.
Why are you always like this?
The world needs me.
How can I just read books?
Are you...
thinking of going to Chungking?
Curious about a lot, aren't you?
You don't need to know.
Why don't you ask me to come with you?
Dong Ju.
You need to stay here.
Don't worry.
Did you know that Song went to Chungking
after leaving Yonhi College?
No.
On orders from the provisional government
Song actively raised military funds.
He almost exposed the provisional government's Beijing organization.
Why do you think he did that?
I don't know.
You don't know?
Didn't you visit him at the Ung-gi police station
when he was arrested by the Jinan police?
It's on the record.
Dong Ju.
It's good to see you!
I knew you'd be home for summer vacation.
What happened to your face?
The provisional government is in trouble.
Funds have been cut off.
So I did something...
a bit dangerous. But, it's fine.
Is Yeo Jin doing alright?
Sure.
She's a nice girl. Take good care of her.
Get out quick and take care of her yourself.
We need her family's help.
Some families in Okcheon could provide us with military funds.
She could be a big help on that.
So be nice to her.
Is that...
the only way you think of her?
Don't be so naïve.
Do you think she's just an innocent, ignorant child?
I don't know.
I can't use a person's feelings...
Got it, got it.
I won't talk about her.
How's school?
We have a new dean.
Teaching in Korean is forbidden.
My goodness.
Good times are over now.
Dong Ju.
From now on...
go with me wherever I go, won't you?
Mong Gyu, let me pour you a drink.
A man has to go through a lot to do big things.
You're right, sir.
What?
Mong Gyu, come here.
Help yourself.
- Don't worry about it. - Take heart, Mong Gyu!
What is this?
Don't drink too much. Have some tofu.
No use giving him that, the little bastard.
You bastard, that's not enough.
- Eat it all up. - Yes, sir.
You little...
I sent you off to study.
And what did you do?
That's enough.
He's back. That's what matters.
Dong Ju.
Let's go to Japan.
Where in Japan?
I'm under surveillance now anyway.
So there's nothing I can do.
I might as well study hard.
And if we're going to have to take Japanese names
and study in Japanese in Korea...
Wouldn't it be better to go study in Japan?
Let's go to Kyoto Imperial University.
You've always wanted to go to Kyoto, too.
What about the exam?
We just need to prepare for a few months.
We can prepare at Yonhi until graduation.
The parents will like it, too.
We want to succeed through studies. They'll like it.
Mong Gyu.
You aren't planning something else, are you?
No more dangerous plans, please.
I studied literature when I was young.
There's no use in studying it.
No, sir.
Even the Japanese can't look down on a Kyoto Imperial Univ. Graduate.
And I will be treated well no matter what I do.
I'll work hard.
Are college studies so hard?
No reason studying should be hard.
It's hard for me.
What will you be when you grow up then?
I'll be a person.
You have to study to be a person.
That's right. You have to learn.
Soon, you won't be able to sing or write
in Korean any more.
Keep these books in Korean safe.
"Portrait of Little Brother"
The face of my little brother makes a sad painting,
as he has the cold moon reflected on his red forehead.
I stop walking,
hold his little hands and ask him.
What will you be when you grow up?
I will be a person.
His answer is
a truly green answer.
"The Wind Blows"
From where does the wind start
and to where is it blown?
As the wind blows,
there is no reason for my suffering.
For Asia to survive among the Western powers...
All of Asia must become one.
I'm proud to see you have grown into workers who will stand
on the front lines of the empire.
I especially praise the students with excellent grades
for their hard work during their days here.
Diploma of honors for Song Mong Gyu.
Awarded by Yun Chi Ho, dean of Yonhi College.
GREATER EAST ASIA CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE
You call this an award?
Who needs this?
I decided myself to study abroad.
When did you decide to go to Kyoto?
After Mr. Jeong recommended it to me.
Then when did you meet him?
In October 1939.
Why didn't you change your name to Japanese then?
You changed it the same day as Song Mong Gyu after he returned.
Hiranuma Doju
Even if we remain here...
we have to live with Japanese names.
Look on the bright side.
"Confessions"
My face remaining
in a rust-blue copper mirror.
Why does it look so disgraced,
which dynasty does this relic belong to?
Let me reduce my confession into one line.
For twenty four years and one month
what induced me to live?
Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow
or some joyful day,
I am again to
write another line of my confession.
Somura Mugei.
Here.
Hiranuma Doju.
Here.
Discuss the influence the Renaissance and the Reformation
had on modern Western culture.
Describe the progress of the French Revolution year by year.
Describe Max Weber's notion of 'The Ideal Type.'
Somura Mugei
Congratulations!
You're so great.
You should try another school.
I've never thought of trying other ones.
Try Rikkyo University.
I was thinking of going there if I didn't get in here.
It's a Christian school so...
it'd be much easier to study there than at the imperial schools.
Dong Ju.
Trust me.
It's a letter!
A letter!
It says Mong Gyu got in the Western history dept.
At Kyoto Imperial University.
And Dong Ju...
also got in.
Wait.
But not Kyoto Imperial...
He got in the English literature dept.
At Rikkyo University in Tokyo.
What? Then he failed to get into Kyoto University?
Guess so.
That school is very hard to get into.
It says it's a mission school
and a good one.
Well, wherever he goes...
as long as he can study as he wants.
While I was in Kyoto,
I went to the Kamokawa River almost every day.
It didn't move me
as much as it did in Master Jeong Ji Yong's works.
But whenever I had an idea for my poetry
I would find myself walking
along the Kamokawa River.
Oh, here comes our poet Yun.
Come in.
- Did you get your ticket? - Yes.
Let me introduce...
Yun Jeong Il and Jung Joon Won.
I'll take a cigarette.
They go to Doshisha University.
We're in a Korean students' club.
This is Yun Dong Ju. Poet Yun.
My oldest friend and cousin on my mother's side.
Just got into Rikkyo University.
Seems like it's tougher to stay in Tokyo.
Why?
The military harasses students at private colleges in Tokyo.
Seems many transferred out.
Only a matter of time before Korean students get drafted.
Students at imperial universities will be alright.
Maybe I should transfer to one before I get drafted.
You stupid son of a gun. Watch what you say.
And why should we avoid the draft?
You're saying we should get dragged in?
How else can we find out what makes the Japanese army strong?
What time is your train?
8 a.m.
Go get some rest.
I have to talk with these guys. Go on ahead.
Okay. I'll see you later.
You listen to me.
I have a reason and a purpose for coming to Japan.
If Korean youths could have and handle arms...
don't you see how much power that would give us?
Even if you see someone you know, don't let on.
Don't even turn around!
I heard they're injecting us with seawater.
They're injecting us, trying to create a substitute for blood.
The war will be over soon so just hang on quietly.
No!
Stay still, you stupid Korean. Or I'll kill you!
Why didn't you tell me?
Tell you what?
That Mong Gyu...
is here.
You said you spent your whole lives together
but you never actually knew where he was.
Systematically use...
the mobilization order for Koreans in the Japanese empire.
Win over Japanese to use in time of need.
Select Korean students at imperial universities
who can get deep into the military as officers.
You recognize Song Mong Gyu's handwriting, right?
Signed by Song Mong Gyu.
Wasn't it Song who influenced you to go to Rikkyo University?
Rikkyo Univ. Has a great teacher called Professor Takamatsu.
He studied theology at Cambridge and Harvard.
He was a genius at languages since he was a child.
Hiranuma Doju.
Yes.
Your essay on Wordsworth
was it all your own thinking?
Yes, sir.
He's a man of noble character so all the students respect him.
Even though he is not well off himself,
he helps out many poor students.
She's the daughter of my friend who was an English literature professor
at Tohoku Imperial University.
Both her parents passed away in an accident.
Hello. I'm Hukada Kumi.
In "The Excursion"...
what do you think Wordsworth was aiming for?
I think he wanted to remind us
of human feelings that are not active in our hearts
or are devalued.
Wordsworth himself said similar things about this poem.
In the end, what moves the world...
is the gathered power of individuals' deep internal changes.
Japanese militarism with the illusion of "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity,"
how can it gather different cultures and people
who have lasted thousands of years?
They've started a war that can never be won.
These are materials I put together when studying in England.
I'll lend them to you.
How can you lend me such precious materials?
Because they are precious.
How about...
writing poems yourself?
A lot of the assignments you turned in were literary.
Actually...
I write poems.
Do you?
So you're a poet.
I haven't published a book of poetry yet
so I can't call myself that.
Is it that you couldn't publish
because your poems are in Korean?
Casting a fragile shadow on the platform,
I smoked a cigarette.
Without any news
the train carried me afar.
Spring has now gone...
In the quiet rented room on the outskirts of Tokyo
I long for a part of me lingering in the old streets
just like I do for hope and love.
It's really beautiful.
My translation probably isn't good enough to understand.
No, it's great.
I can't publish them anyway.
If that's the problem...
my father once published
a poetry collection of his students' work in England.
Those who couldn't publish in Japan had their poems published in English.
Wouldn't it be dangerous to translate Korean poetry?
Some of my father's students are in Kyoto.
I think they can help.
Never mind. These poems are not worth the trouble.
I want to read more of your poems.
It's not that dangerous.
What is it?
Your fearlessness...
It reminds me of a friend of mine.
That friend must like your poems, too.
Once translated into Japanese, the English won't take long.
Even today,
the train meaninglessly passed several times...
Even today
I shall linger
on a hill near the station waiting for someone.
Oh...
let the youth remain there forever.
Professor Takamatsu...
is one of the foremost under surveillance for opposing militarism.
You knew that, didn't you?
I got to know him after I entered Rikkyo University.
He is a great man.
It's ones like Takamatsu
with their learning steeped in cheap sentiment...
who interfere with the liberation of Asia!
They're pushing us into a corner in the war that we can surely win.
Defeatists!
Cheap sentimentalists!
Are you going to go along with
ideas like their trash?
Even though we have great teachers, we can't be at ease.
After the war started...
the situation even in this school is getting worse.
What are you doing? We're in the middle of a class!
Hiranuma Doju?
Yes.
Teaching filthy Western literature...
you call that a class?
Did you...
refuse military drill class?
Yes.
Yes?
Have you thought of...
what could that result in when you're drafted?
Who is the greater? The heavenly sovereign?
Or Jesus Christ? Is individualism greater?
Or totalitarianism?
You aren't steeped in Japanese thinking
so you refuse the drill?
It's just...
I'm not used to military culture.
It's because you don't understand the Japanese spirit.
Isn't that so?
Then...
I'll teach you how to be the kind of man Japan needs.
But don't worry.
As yet, I can still manage college life.
The Great Japanese Empire has announced
a draft system for Koreans from Showa year 19.
The Army and the Navy for the liberation of Asia
will tie together all of Asia's strength,
so this is a significant declaration.
It is the only way to resist Western powers.
How about going back to your hometown for a while?
The draft order has been announced everywhere.
Tokyo will get more and more dangerous.
Is there anywhere that's safe now?
How about Kyoto?
It'll be safer than Tokyo.
In Kyoto,
my father's students at Doshisha University
will be able to help.
Warmongers are running berserk.
Our Heavenly Father...
Although we are tried by hardships,
we pray that our daily lives can go on peacefully
and we thank you God for this precious sustenance
in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Amen.
Just because the US drops bombs and the Soviets enter the war.
Do you think we'll get scared?
Intellectuals like Takamatsu...
Professor Takamatsu...
is a teacher respected by his students.
Respect?
It's so easy to get respect touching individuals' weak minds
during wartime when individuals' sacrifice is required.
Why do you think I go to all this trouble talking to you?
In the war for Asian liberation
the individual's sacrifice is natural.
What in the world do you mean by Asian liberation?
Hundreds of thousands are dying.
What kind of liberation is that?
Do you know how many tens of thousands disappeared
in Poland's Auschwitz?
Because the weak like you who interrupt human development
don't understand the meaning of war.
Asia! Asia will be
degraded to a second-class nation to Western powers!
Why did you go to Kyoto?
Did Takamatsu send you?
Moreover how many soldiers can we train and where
even if we can, would it compare to even 1% of Japan's fighting power?
Hey, Dong Ju.
What brings you here so suddenly?
I've transferred to Doshisha University.
We're going to get going, Mong Gyu.
Long time no see.
Have a seat.
Why so suddenly?
Staying in Tokyo is tough.
What in the...
There's nowhere to run now.
Are you just going to get dragged away?
Let's rally the Korean students.
Let me join what you're doing.
Sorry, let me smoke a cigarette.
Hey, Dong Ju.
You keep writing poems.
I'll take up the gun.
Why?
You said writing poems is running away to literature.
Why are you making me run away?
I can be with you.
The leader of the Korean students' incident
in Kyoto...
was you!
You came to Kyoto to incite Song Mong Gyu, didn't you?
Of the Korean students in the Kyoto area...
and mainly those from imperial universities...
looks like there will be more than 100 to take the officer's exam.
How will we know which unit you'll be sent to?
That's why we need students from medical school.
Why?
In the training camps' medical corps
you can find out where the officers will be stationed.
Is anyone expecting a call?
Hiranuma-san, a call for you.
Thank you.
Hello.
Doju-san? It's Kumi.
Oh, yes.
The Japanese translation is done.
I'll go to Kyoto and wrap up the English translation.
Including the Korean students from imperial universities...
If only half of them taking legal and medical officer exams pass
it means we'd have more than 30 to 40 officers.
And if only some are stationed in training camp medical corps...
it would be a great help to us.
We've sent a letter to the publisher in England.
We can send the manuscript as soon as the translation is done.
If you let me know the address of publisher...
I can send the translation.
I'll call you when I get to Kyoto.
Where are you going?
There's a meeting.
- Wait. I'll be ready shortly. - Never mind.
You don't have to attend this one.
Stay here.
Outside the window, the night rain whispers.
This six-mat room is someone else's country.
Even knowing
the sad fate of a poet,
shall I try writing
a line of poetry?
What we need to awaken Korea...
is a revolution.
Revolution is the only way to kick out Japan.
And for this revolution...
Every conscientious individual needs to become a bomb
to overthrow irrational systems
and keep humans from oppressing other humans
and nations from exploiting other nations.
We must throw ourselves into it.
People say life is hard to live.
So for poetry
to be written so easily
is a shameful thing.
This six-mat room is someone else's country.
Outside the window, the night rain whispers.
Lighting a lamp
to drive out the darkness a bit.
The last me awaits the morning
to come forth like an era.
As you are just a shadow of Song Mong Gyu...
If you blame everything on him it wouldn't be strange.
Don't you feel ashamed?
I to myself
extend a small hand
taken with tears and solace
in a very first handshake.
The draft order for Koreans was announced.
All of us here...
will be taken as human shield for the Japanese army.
Anyone here who wants to die like a dog?
Hello?
I...
have arrived in Kyoto.
I'm about to meet my father's students.
They said the English translation is done.
January 20, 1943.
The Australian army recaptured New Guinea.
May 30.
The US navy beat out the Japanese fleet
and occupied Attu Island.
December 11, 1942.
British troops defeated the Japanese in Burma.
And US submarines
took the Aleutian Islands from the Japanese.
They all...
love your poetry.
Independence army headquarters
has sent news about Japanese army deserters.
Korean students who have since joined the independence army.
More than 100 deserters
have joined our independence army.
You are in danger just carrying
manuscripts in Korean.
I did this because I wanted to.
There are more than 2 million of our compatriots in Manchuria.
Out of them 300,000
will be deployed as soldiers in our army.
Also in the USSR and Central Asia
more than 300,000 trained soldiers
are ready to transfer to the independence army.
Right now Tokyo...
is taking US bombings like a blind fool.
The Japanese navy
lost four key aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway.
And now...
the USSR is about to
declare war against Japan.
I'm to receive the translation tomorrow morning.
There's a cafe in front of Doshisha University's West Gate.
Let's meet there.
There's nothing to fear. We are not alone.
Alright.
When a nation and its people persecute and oppress another
the only thing left for that nation and its people is defeat.
We are witnessing that right now.
Lights off!
Somura!
I am...
silently building a tower
in the sky of honor and vanity.
Without realizing it will collapse
one story and another.
I build it high.
My infinite daydream.
That is...
the sea in my heart.
Dong Ju.
What happened to you?
Come with me.
Where?
To our hometown.
Everyone was taken.
Hurry up. We need to catch the dawn train.
I can't right now.
Let's go together tomorrow.
What?
Is there a reason you have to go tomorrow?
I'd like for us to go together right away.
Dong Ju.
Let's go, Dong Ju.
You go ahead.
I'll see you at Shimonoseki.
Alright.
I'll be waiting. At the port.
Hurry along.
"Self-portrait"
There is a man.
For some reason
I find him distasteful and turn away.
But turning away,
I find him pitiful.
Again, I find him distasteful and turn away.
But turning away,
I miss the man.
In the well, the moon shines bright,
clouds float by,
the sky unfolds
a blue wind blows,
and like a memory,
there stands a man.
- Long time no see. - Hello.
I brought everything.
The English translation, too.
And I wrote down the address of the British publisher.
Thank you.
Your poems are beautiful.
Wish I could understand them in Korean.
I have to...
leave in a hurry.
Are you going far away?
Thank you.
Even if...
I can't get it published...
I will never forget what you've done for me.
What's the title of...
the collection of poems?
Who are you?
Hiranuma Doju?
Let's go talk at the police station.
Sign on the items that apply to you.
All of them apply to you
so you better sign each and every one.
Why are you doing this?
What?
You grabbed and brought me all the way here.
What's the point of this formality?
Civilized countries call this
legal procedure.
You can force me to sign pointing a gun at me.
Or you can cut my finger
and sign with my thumbprint.
Even with people like you,
we bring charges through a legal procedure.
That is the difference
between a civilized country and non-civilized one.
Aren't you doing this
because you think
you're going to lose the war?
Know why you all insist on these superficial justifications?
Because of an inferiority complex.
You don't have the guts to reveal your underhanded ambitions.
So you lean on justification and process.
You're saying we go through this formality
because we're afraid to kill you?
We follow international law
because Japan is a civilized country.
International law?
Is there anyone in here that got a proper trial before coming
according to international law?
Trying to hide that sense of inferiority
you imitate Western legal systems
and call that civilization?
You're afraid of death but stop employing your sophistry.
Look at the papers and sign where applicable.
Why do you need justification for our deaths?
I don't need justification.
I'm telling you to sign because these are the facts.
Really?
Shall I make them facts for you?
If you are not afraid of death, sign with dignity.
I'll be happy to do so.
Rallied Korean students in Japan
and carried out ideological education.
I am ashamed I wasn't able to do so properly.
I should have done it better.
Secretly distributed Korean literature and books.
I regret I wasn't able to do this.
Taking advantage of the draft
formed a rebel army of Koreans
and ordered military plans to be used.
I wish this could have been true.
I regret that I couldn't do this.
I am tormented that I couldn't do this!
Tormented, so I will sign it.
I...
will not sign.
Hearing...
what you said
makes me so ashamed, I can't sign.
To have been born into such a world
and to have wished to write poetry
and wanted to become a poet.
I'm so ashamed of that.
I couldn't lead
and I only followed like a shadow.
I'm so ashamed of that.
So I can't sign.
Fukuoka prison?
What is it?
It says our kids are in prison right now.
They were supposed to be studying nicely in school.
Why?
Mong Gyu.
What happened to your face?
Tell me.
Where's Dong Ju?
Why isn't he coming out?
Dong Ju...
is dead, sir.
And I...
won't be able to live long either.
My Lord.
When people die after these injections,
they take the corpses to the university lab.
Please take my body home before then,
so that I won't leave any part of me behind in this land.
I beg of you.
You have to hang on!
I'm sorry, father.
Mong Gyu, you have to hang on. Hear me?
Till the day I die, to suffer not
a blot of shame on looking up at heaven...
I was tormented
even by the wind rustling the leaves.
In the spirit of singing of the stars,
I shall love all that is dying.
And...
I shall walk the path given to me.
Tonight again,
the wind whisks by the stars.
Is this the title?
How is it read?
Sky...
Wind...
Stars...
and Poetry.
Six months after the poet Yun Dong Ju died in Fukuoka prison
Japan lost the war and Korea became independent.
In Fukuoka prison
more than 1,800 died getting unidentified injections.