1
Production
Kazakhfilm Studios
Alem Film Group
Alexander Pan
Valentina Tyo
Kasym Zhakibaev
Lyubov Germanova
Oleg Li
REVENGE
(THE RED FLUTE)
Prologue
Why does she always
run in the same direction?
The sea is on that side, Sire.
That's where she was born.
If even a being
as small as the turtle
has goals,
then what about man?
To what ends should he employ
his supreme efforts?
Down here, the humble
have only one purpose:
faithfully serve their King.
Stop!
The heir to the throne
may have involved himself in a fight.
Who is this child
who quarrels with the prince?
I'll dismiss him, Your Majesty.
No.
That would be without use.
If they quarrel, we'll observe them.
You should be ashamed.
Minister for the army!
Who is the bravest
warrior of the kingdom?
Khon Guk, Your Majesty.
The head of the palace guard.
Let him come here!
I am here, Your Majesty.
I intend to make a proclamation:
the captain of the guard
is relieved of his duties.
I appointed him tutor
of the heir to the throne.
The tutor...
shall ensure that in 20 years
the prince will
the best warrior in the kingdom.
To that end, he may do
everything he judges necessary.
He is therefore not accountable
for the life of the prince.
But if at the end of this period...
my wish is not fulfilled,
the tutor of the heir to the throne
will be executed.
Chancellor!
Distribute this proclamation
among the royal provisions.
The late Khon Guk has done his duty,
I will recognize him for his services.
But devil knows how many other
have supported him in
the cruel trials
he made me overcome.
I often escaped death by a miracle,
and I am now invincible.
You are my dearest friend.
I love listening to you,
my dear poet.
My skillful warrior
will always be at your service.
Sire, the executioners are here
as you wanted.
Let them begin!
Why do we execute this man?
As a faithful soldier,
he fought a duel with the King
while curbing his enthusiasm.
Why don't you grant him
your mercy?
He had Your Majesty down on the ground
but has not wounded you in any way.
He acted as a faithful servant
who loves his lord.
They say
you could have killed me.
If you still want to measure yourself to me,
I concede.
No, Sire, I rather prefer to die.
Beat him to death!
It is his will.
Forget about such trifles.
Let the dearest friend of the King
recite his verses!
We shall hear them with joy.
Poetry should not be born
out of an execution.
I will forsake it then.
Go then!
Away with you!
Music.
What's wrong with you?
Does you still wish to be my poet?
An act of justice, Your Majesty.
Injustice is not a field
fertile for poetry.
I see since some time that
the dear friend of the King is not happy.
What thoughts disturb
our prodigious poet?
Sire, please accept me
to move out from the palace.
What? Why?
My inspiration has dried up
by your strength.
Grant her her freedom
or she will die.
In the name of our friendship,
which was a source of joy for me.
I beg you for it.
Fine. You may leave.
You're free to go away
this very moment.
But from now on,
you shall not see me ever again.
I want to find refuge
in places without memory
become a being
without an understanding of things
like one has before
coming to the world.
Soon I will realize my plan.
I'll get happy
without looking back.
And without any regret in my soul.
My verses are useless to the world.
They have seen the light of day in vain.
In vain.
This is how we, poets,
pain ourselves among men,
with our unattainable dreams.
200 years before Gutenberg
there were already printed books in Korea.
This land gave birth to
the first professional poets.
Book 1 - Yan
In a small village in Korea.
Open up!
Hey, you! Open up!
Open the door!
Wait.
Master Yan,
look for another refuge.
We no longer
can afford to feed you.
I went into town to buy clothes.
That is not our concern.
It's cold outside.
At least let me in for this night.
- I'll find another home tomorrow.
- Find it now.
Wait!
Call Tsai! I want to talk
with the master of the house!
He is the one chasing you away.
Go away.
Go inside, quickly.
Silence! Be silent!
Repeat after me: "Mie".
Silence!
I'm tired of your fooling around.
You're just asses,
good-for-nothings.
Silence! Be silent.
Read and repeat.
You, daughter of Tsai,
you're an ass like the others.
Only daughter, think!
You haven't learned anything...
Your father forbade me to punish you.
You're talking...
He killed my daughter!
My little daughter is dead!
My little girl!
He killed my daughter!
Stop!
Stop!
Stop!
Stop it!
From that day Yan lived
aboard a jonk
on sail towards the Chinese coasts.
Book 2 - Tsai
An atrocious crime.
After such an incident,
we will never find back
peace on this earth.
We must revenge ourselves.
If we don't, heaven will turn away from us,
as if we were vile beasts
unworthy to exist.
Take my land in rent
for 10 years, Mr. Gu.
I'll ask you the equivalent
of half a crop.
In ten years,
you will earn three times more.
Well, I'll take it,
but on one condition:
I will take your land
11 years instead of 10,
and give you
half the sum in bills
that you can cash in China.
Isn't that where you are going?
I went to China
searching for Yan.
But China is a vast land.
It is not easy to find someone there.
I crossed it from town to town
for many years,
when I finally learned that Yan
could be found in the silver mines.
I threw myself on his trail.
I had hunted for so long
for a swift consumption
of my vengeance.
I had waited a decade
for this moment.
Out,
this is not a place for ladies.
Excuse me, do you
have shoes for me?
Mine have worn away on the road.
I come from afar.
This woman
came out of nowhere
prevented me
from concentrating.
I had to keep my mind clear
to accomplish my revenge.
I'll wash your feet
and heal your wounds.
Thank you, brother.
Here! Take.
These are mine,
they will be useful.
Thank you.
You will not be able to achieve
your plan, sir.
I am weak...
but I must kill him.
Man should not commit homicide.
Follow me, sir, please.
If you come with me,
you'll live.
You have won.
But you're intervened in vain.
You did not grant us our revenge.
Why have you come back?
Take a concubine.
We find a poor girl
or a young widow
that will give you a son.
Are you listening?
Are you listening?
Tsai soon took a concubine,
a silent young woman
daughter of an impoverished widow.
Book 3 - Nemaya
She falls asleep
before nightfall.
My Nemaya goes to bed early
and rises before anyone else.
When she sleeps,
it is impossible to wake her up.
Hedgehogs proliferate.
They cry out
similar to hares...
or ducklings.
Who would have thought?
Do not be angry with her.
She is retarded.
She does not understand everything,
she had a mind like a child.
But she works hard...
and will surely
give you a son.
Sun Gu,
you wrote new verses?
Yes, master.
Answer.
If you've never seen
white lily
and suddenly see one,
can we say that the lily
did not exist before that day?
No, it existed.
And if you have perceived
a wonderful poem,
that no one before you
had imagined,
can we say that
it did not exist before?
Answer me...
Do poems live
free and independent
like flowers or butterflies
or waterfalls and trees?
Or are they born anew,
invented by
a special person?
It is like that, sir.
Then take care of yourself, kid.
Through you, the world is destined
to receive verses like no other.
And your name
will know fame.
Sun Gu, does your mother
long for you already?
She just left me
but she already misses me.
She may be cold
and wants to get warm.
No, master.
My mother does not fear the cold.
She suffers from my absence,
I know that well enough.
Look.
Bring in your son.
My son,
you came to the world
for a single purpose: Vengeance.
When justice will not be done,
you will not know neither female,
nor children
neither joy nor pain.
You must take revenge.
Otherwise you will not accomplish
your destiny.
Swear, before I die,
you will.
I will, father.
A year passed
after the death of Tsai.
The vengeance was now postponed
a quarter of a century.
Hey, monk!
Tell me.
Is this house is still the one of
The Honourable Tsai?
Yes, it is the home of Tsai.
Then please get me
a member of his family.
Talk to me,
I'm his son.
His son?
How is this possible?
Tsai had a son?
Yes, I am the son
from his second wife.
My mother's name Nemaya.
I see.
Yan! It's you!
Why you scream, old woman?
Go get your husband,
I came voluntarily.
It has been 25 years.
I prayed all my life...
And you're alive! Why?
I learned
your husband was dead! Hey, yes!
Look good, Sun Gu.
Do not forget his face.
It is from him that
you must take revenge.
Kill him like a dog.
You'll have to torture him,
as he has done with my daughter.
Many years ago,
when she was a child,
a wandering monk
knocked at her door.
Book 4 - Monk
There is no person, they are at sea.
The fish arrived.
Can I spend the night
on the cart in the yard?
All right.
You can follow me
if you want.
I can take you into the mountains
to see my master.
He will heal you.
And my family?
They will lose you anyway.
You will die soon.
You cannot stop time.
But if you come with me,
you'll live.
However,
know that that life
will not be easy to you.
You will have to serve others.
In addition,
you must choose
the worst of men
and marry him.
Such is the desire of my master.
You hear me?
He has a son. A son!
It is small but he will grow.
and become strong,
and I
will be growing old and weak.
They will not be able to take revenge on you.
You can live in peace.
- What do you know?
- I know.
You know nothing, you idiot!
You have a bird brain.
You think you know everything.
You take care of people for free.
You're a useless creature.
If at least you gave me a son!
- We shall not have children.
- You know that too?
We will not put anyone in the world,
so that nobody will die.
I will atone for your sins.
I know everything there is in the world.
I know every bird
every river, every mountain.
Nonsense!
You're just a drag.
- I was sent to you.
- Who sent you? Who?
Those who live alone
and rule from afar.
Those who have until the very day
prevented men from perishing.
10 years passed again...
In this world where everyone
has a toilsome death,
I act in God's name.
I'm a guardian for men
sitting on the threshold of another world,
they walk to their death.
But I'm alone on this path
and I've never met God.
Have you recognized me?
Yes, my venerable master.
Sun Gu, do you still write verses
as you used to do?
No, I've forgotten about it.
I don't know how to do it anymore.
Man is like a flute
on which one plays a melody.
Some poems that you have written
as a child one still speaks of.
There is nothing real
in the word "I".
This exists, my venerable master.
I'm here with you.
Two fleeting illusions,
two shadows
which no one will remember.
And yet here we are,
our heads dripping with rain.
We are not
two heads dripping in the rain, my child
but two indistinctive beings,
wandering on misty paths
midway between Yin and Yang.
What path is given
to those who die as children?
To leaves falling
the first days of summer?
To mice drowning
accidentally in a bucket?
They had no path to go.
They went out at dawn
and oblivion surprised them.
While they slept,
the waters around
the realm of earthly life
have expelled them
at the beginning of the eternal cycle.
But a different fate
awaits us.
Awaits you, as a poet,
awaits me,
as a wandering monk.
If one has cut
the head of a child,
to what apply
the laws of Heaven then?
Only vengeance remains then.
It is the only law.
Sun Gu found a job in Sakhalin.
He left Korea with his mother
at the beginning of August 1945.
Book 5 - Romanian Elza
Lyoshka, we've worked enough.
Yes, I'm finished.
Where are you going?
Vysoki Nemoi!
Take away paddle.
Hey, Vysoki Nemoi!
Take away paddle
and pull the boat ashore!
"Chorus of the commanders"
What does that mean?
Nemoi caught it
at the other side of the river.
With a net, I think.
At home,
we bring goose to a wedding.
For the engagement
or the wedding ceremony?
Take it, so you'll get married.
- You go to the pub tonight?
- Yes, and you?
I do not.
But you go ahead, Lyosha.
Lyuba awaits you.
She was not there last night.
I went home.
She sat there for hours.
She cried.
She just said, "Oh, Lyosha."
You should marry her.
I have nothing against it.
- Hey, you.
- Who?
Me?
Hey, tell me.
You work at the sawmill?
- Elza!
- I'll come in a minute.
Look, can you get me
some boards?
Be nice, get me
some planks from the sawmill.
Can you?
Today?
Whenever you want.
I am building a house.
I have got the plaster,
but I can't find boards anywhere.
I can do the plastering and
I also know how to mount the slates.
- And paint the walls.
- Okay.
That's great,
I'll hire you.
And in exchange, you can
eat food for free in the canteen.
No, no need.
You do not want?
What do you want?
Nothing. I will come tomorrow
after work.
Elza!
Yes, I'm coming.
But where did you learn that?
You can do anything.
I'm a worker.
Like me.
We will celebrate the new house.
It does not matter
that you aren't a Russian.
I'm not either.
If you knew...
I saw all the colors.
I went to lots of places.
I am Romanian, you know?
I have nobody here.
I am alone in the world.
My brother lived in Gomel.
He played in an orchestra,
but he began to drink.
I went to China,
Korea,
Canada.
Then I decided
to settle here.
The traveling is over.
I want to stay here.
I don't want
to be a vagabond anymore.
I'm not that young anymore.
I want to have children.
Otherwise, why live?
He fell ill with the same disease
from which his father died.
Book 6 - Revenge
Mom! Mom!
Mom.
Mom, you sing me a song?
Please, sing.
- We can't do that here.
- Why not? Come on, sing.
Do not blame me, my dear
that I love him so much.
Oh, believe me,
it pains me
to live without him.
And I do not know...
Mother, forgive me.
I know you're terribly
suffered to live here.
You may perhaps know
you will die.
Intervening for me
with the soul of my father.
Let the father isn't worried.
Tell him that I have not forgotten
my duty. Far from it.
The man I'll bring my vengeance to
lives near here.
I'm going to him.
Descend, please.
We stop only for a brief moment.
Look, there are seats free there.
Let's go and sit over there.
Do not push me.
Go sit at the window.
Look.
Father.
You will not find it without me.
I'm here to help you.
Do you know
where master Yan lives?
Yes, in this house.
You have arrived.
You could be my sister.
Yes, I am.
How is this possible?
Enter! He lives here.
I've seen this handsome young man
somewhere before.
I am Tsai Sun Gu!
Where is the assassin? I want to see Yan.
- Tsai Sun Gu!
- Do not be afraid.
Apple... grass...
The apple fell in the grass, grandmother...
Who brought me here?
I must be really sick, Mama.
Here I am lying
in my diapers.
I start crying,
I'm hungry.
Mother can not hear me.
I cry in vain.
Do you understand
what I wrote?
Can't you read?
I wrote that
"snow falls from the sky
and landed on the floor."
"Who owns it therefore
on earth or in heaven?"
Isn't it beautiful?
Do you like it?
Thank you
for giving me my son.
It is also your son,
from now on.
Tsai Sun Gu,
I waited a long time.
I knew you'd fall ill
and I alone
could heal you.
I could never raise you, Tsai Sun Gu,
but your denial of death
came to my aid.
If a patient gives in to death,
he bows his head to it
and it is impossible
put a hand behind his neck
to lift him from the bed.
But I had no difficulty
to lift you up.
When you arrived,
with your weapon in your hand,
I thought: "This is the avenger
Yan has expected
his whole life in fear for."
But Yan is already dead...
He died a year ago.
He disappeared
as if he had never existed.
How did he die?
He drank to deceive his fear.
Last fall,
when the winds of the sea
had risen, his end came.
That's brats!
Go away!
Book 7 - House
Let me be your son.
"Iron killed the old woman."
What does that mean?
Thus the revenge was fulfilled.
"Tell me, my sister."
"Why does the Sky
gives children to man?"
"To fill him with joy
I guess."
"You're wrong."
"It's so we twist
in advance the threads of fate."
"No, it's to make sure
love triumph on earth."
"Love. I forgot."
"Love took off her shoes,
like you and me
and flee to the hills."
"That is where our love, my sister."
"You know what I have feared most
in my life?"
"What?"
"The Sea."
"The Sea, yes."
"I trembled at the idea
of drowning in the Sea."
"That is why they call me
"The Bride of the Sea."
"What are you doing, sister?"
"I'm tired of everything.
I want out of here."
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere on a steamboat."
"I'm not afraid of anything
now."
"Come with me if you want."
"- I'll do anything alone.
- I'm with you."
"Look at the birds fleeing the fire."
"But they do not burn."
"These are the flames
dawn."