Pachinko (2022) s01e01 Episode Script

1 [FOOTSTEPS TRUDGING.]
[FOOTSTEPS CONTINUE.]
[WIND BLOWING, LEAVES RUSTLING.]
My mother was not a fortunate woman.
And bringing me into the world was a great burden for her to bear.
When I was still very young, she passed.
Grieving, my father took to drink.
Which is why myself and my three older sisters wound up begging in the village.
The matchmaker came to my father one day and told him of a family with a boarding house in Dongsam.
Their son had a cleft lip and was unmarried, of course.
I was offered up gladly.
That was about three years ago, a little more.
I've tried my very best to do right by their family and my husband.
I've given birth to three sons.
None lived to see his first birthday.
If it were only me, I could weather the shock.
But my husband He is the kindest of men.
[BREATHES SHAKILY.]
I am with child, but I think there is some curse on my blood.
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE.]
[ELEVATOR DINGS.]
[PHONES RINGING.]
there's no easy way to say this.
You're not getting the bump.
Not this year.
I know we gave you all the signs otherwise, - but the 43rd floor believes - [PAGER BEEPING.]
it's better for you if you have one more year under your belt.
I want to know why.
He told you why.
They don't think you're ready.
Keep busting ahead, doing what you're doing, and I helped close the Teestone merger.
Handled Brixley's buyout.
Number one on my leaderboard for two It's not your year, okay? [SPOUSE.]
Please call on my ancestors to lift this curse so we can have a family.
[SIGHS.]
Mmm.
[DRUM BEATING SLOWLY.]
[EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Colt C-Colton Hotels.
Priority client, itching to go public.
But their valuation needs an adrenaline shot.
They need that hotel.
That's in Tokyo.
Where one landowner, one, holds the entire deal hostage.
[DRUM BEATING FASTER.]
[EMPLOYEE.]
She's Korean, the landowner.
Doesn't mean anything to you, I know.
But I'm telling you I can close that deal.
[MANAGER 2.]
What do you know? A 300-plus room hotel at a 150 to 200 million build cost.
[BREATHES SHAKILY.]
Back of the napkin calculations say 10-15 million payday for us.
And this landowner, her being Korean, you think that'll give you an in? Wait, I'm confused here.
I thought you were Japanese.
No, I just grew up there.
- [MANAGER 2.]
You sure about this? - Yes, I'm sure.
And once I close this deal, I want to be transferred back right away.
I want that VP title and the raise backdated to today's date.
And I want my year-end bonus to reflect just how much Colton Hotels means to this firm.
[DRUM STOPS.]
And I would like all this in writing.
[SPOUSE BREATHES SHAKILY.]
True, a child is coming.
She will thrive, I assure you.
And through her, a family will endure.
[SCREAMS.]
[SIGHS.]
[MIDWIFE.]
Come now! Hurry! [CRYING.]
[MIDWIFE.]
Listen to her cry.
She's a handful all right.
Thank you so much.
[MIDWIFE.]
Take good care of her.
[CHUCKLES.]
[FATHER.]
This one will put up a fight.
We must name her now.
[FATHER.]
Sunja! [EXCLAIMS.]
[FATHER.]
Sunja! [SIGHS.]
Mmm.
[CHUCKLES.]
Oh.
["LET'S LIVE FOR TODAY" PLAYS.]
[SONG CONTINUES.]
[SONG SPEEDS UP.]
[SONG CONTINUES, REGULAR SPEED.]
[SONG FADES, ENDS.]
["ROAD TO NOWHERE" PLAYS.]
[CLATTERING.]
[MACHINES WHIRRING, CLATTERING.]
[SCOFFS.]
Dad! [GRUNTS.]
[IN JAPANESE.]
Good.
You put on weight.
Too much pizza.
I need to watch myself.
How's Tokyo? The new place, is it nice? It's a hotel room.
It's fine for a few weeks.
[CHUCKLES.]
Is he here? Is that Solomon? Mr.
Goto! I should've known you'd be here.
Your dad owns this place now, but I still have to make sure he's managing the place.
Keep telling yourself that, but the real reason you come here is to flirt with the young girls.
- [GRUNTS.]
- I see right through you.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [GOTO LAUGHS.]
Ah, Hirota! This is my son, Solomon.
[HIROTA GRUNTS.]
You finally came home.
He's been promoted to vice president by his American bank.
[HIROTA.]
Not bad for the son of a pachinko man.
Is it true you went to Yale? If my father says so, it must be true.
[CHUCKLES.]
[INTERVIEWER.]
Mr.
Yoshii, how do you respond to the allegations? I understand there are those in the financial world who do not trust us because of what my grandfather was involved in [INTERVIEWER CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
Who's his grandfather? A man who is dead and gone.
Nothing to do with us.
- [MACHINE BALLS CLATTER.]
- Jackpot! [GIGGLES, GASPS.]
Look at that! Clean money, dirty money Makes no difference.
Money's money.
[BOAT HORN BLOWS.]
[PEOPLE IN MARKET CHATTERING.]
Ooh.
[LAUGHS.]
[WHISTLE BLOWS.]
- [CHATTERING FADES.]
- [FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
Sunja.
Sunja, head down.
[CHATTERING RESUMES.]
[EEL VENDOR.]
Hey, you're late today.
I saved this one for you.
[GRUNTS.]
[SUNJA.]
That one.
Sunja! Ha-ha! Ho-ho! There she is! [SUNJA.]
It doesn't look very happy.
That's because even the lowliest creatures on this earth struggle to remain alive.
Not the chestnut merchant.
She complains all the time that death keeps thumbing his nose at her.
That's because her husband is all sweetness and light outside, but when he gets home, he starts beating on his wife and his children.
But still, she has the will to live.
Let's go.
- Hey there! - [VENDOR.]
Oh.
Isn't this one fine? I bet you can't show me a better catch, not today.
It's huge.
What can I do with it? Your fish cakes are the best in the market, Mr.
Kim.
You always sell out of them before noon.
But with this big guy right here, you can make enough fish cakes to last for weeks.
In that case, I'll give you 30 for it, OK? Oh, sorry.
No.
- It's worth around three times that.
- [MR.
KIM.]
Is that so? What does this brat know about prices? I know something.
I know the man in the daegu jorim stand, right down this aisle, gave him double for a puny cod.
- And so let's go see him now.
- Mmm.
Wait a minute, why would you go all the way to the other side? Eighty.
That's final.
Take it or leave it.
And it's a fair price.
That price is OK.
[LAUGHS.]
- [GRUNTS.]
- Good.
Many thanks.
Here! Your share.
Oh I'm not allowed to take it.
Why not? You earned it.
Didn't your parents teach you to listen to your elders? - [GIGGLES.]
- [LAUGHS.]
Sunja Well, well! You'll need to keep an eye on this one.
She won't be satisfied with just running a boarding house! - [WHISTLE BLOWS.]
- [VENDOR.]
I did no such thing! We have two signed statements to the contrary.
Well, they're all lies.
I'm not involved in any of that We'll talk at the station.
Come with us.
[VENDOR.]
No! I'm begging you [GRUNTS.]
Beg at the station.
[FISHERMAN SIGHS.]
When they said they'd ease up on the harassment, is this what they meant? Sunja.
Should we go now? [FISHERMAN.]
OK.
See you back at the house.
[CHUCKLES.]
Papa.
The man we saw in the market earlier did he do something bad? I don't know.
Truth is, nowadays it's hard for us to judge between guilt or innocence.
What will happen to him now? Will he be allowed to go home or not? Sunja.
I once made a vow to you.
When you were barely a week old your mother and I would stay up every night.
All our days and nights, we watched over you.
That's when I made you this solemn vow that as long as you drew breath, there's nothing I wouldn't do to ward off all the ugliness in this world and keep it far away from you.
Mmm.
You should know I will honor that vow.
[CHUCKLES.]
[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS.]
[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS.]
[SOLOMON.]
Grandma! [CHUCKLES.]
[CLICKS TONGUE, INHALES.]
[PLAYING SIMPLE TUNE.]
Ugh! My ear! No matter how much you practiced, it never did you any good.
Then why did you never allow me to quit? You know what I paid for that piano? Sure I do! You reminded me of that every day.
[SCOFFS.]
Well, you needed reminding.
Now stop acting like a lazy American and come here and give me a hand.
[SOLOMON.]
All right.
So you go taking money from that man when he can barely get by with his catch? Let it go.
And as for you! Your indulgence isn't helping your daughter.
All this talk about sending her to school What good would that do? Easy times, hard times It's all the same when you're a woman.
She must learn to feed herself.
In the cove, the water is calm today.
The woman will help me with my lessons if I go.
So can I go? Have you been listening or not? Mmm.
Next time, I'll tell Mr.
Song that I can't listen because I'm a girl.
Never mind that And because he's not much of a fisherman, he can't be giving me money.
[SIGHS.]
Fine, on your way.
[GRUNTS.]
Listen.
It's good that you love her, but you dote on her too much.
[SIGHS.]
The only thing that can come of it is that you're going to spoil her.
Our daughter won't be spoiled if she has a bit of candy.
It wasn't your money to give! It was another's kindness.
She needs to know there's such a thing as kindness in this world.
She'll grow up stronger for it, all right? [SIGHS.]
Sunja! [SUNJA.]
Watch me! [PANTING.]
Sunja! [BREATHES HEAVILY.]
Sunja! [SUNJA.]
Daddy! Look! I did it! [BOARDERS SINGING.]
Float atop The boundless expanse [CHEERS.]
Befriend the lone seagull We shall fight ahead! [CHEERS.]
- Enoya yanoya! - [CHEERS.]
Eyano yano uhgi-ee uhcha! Let us go to sea [CHUCKLES.]
[BOARDER 1 GRUNTS.]
How lucky you are! Your daughter can go fishing for abalone and your wife is an incredible cook.
[LAUGHS.]
You're saying it was just luck? No! This guy earned everything he's got.
[CHUCKLES.]
That's right! [MR.
SONG.]
Here, have a drink.
Nothing for me.
I'm not much of a drinker.
- Hey, come on, just one! [CHUCKLES.]
- [OTHERS CHATTERING.]
Our victories are small.
Let's enjoy them while we can.
Cheers.
[CHUCKLES.]
But just wait.
Very soon, they're gonna figure out how to take the rest of this from us.
Nonsense! Can't take the ocean from us, can they? Mmm.
Don't talk like a stupid idiot.
Huh? What are you saying? We just let them take our land.
Didn't we? They snatched our rice, our potatoes, our fish.
They ordered our woman to stop wearing white.
[SIGHS.]
Those fuckers They make us eat like them, talk the way they do but they'll only see us as outsiders.
And why should that change? It's our own damn fault.
We lost this country.
Yeah Yeah, that's enough.
Hey, listen to this.
If each one of us killed just one of those Japanese bastards it might not temper our anger, but it might give us sweet dreams at night.
Pick up a rock in this hand and then just crack one of their heads with it! Bang! His blood would spill, spill onto this hand in the cold air, keeping me nice and warm.
[CHUCKLES.]
Just to know there's one less cockroach roaming our land.
Oh, what joy it'd be! The joy I could taste! - [LAUGHS.]
- [BOARDER 2.]
Stop this talk now.
[MR.
SONG SIGHS.]
It's too much My heart breaks with all this hate.
The worst part of all this [PATTING CHEST.]
The curse will be passed on to our children too.
How can this ever end? [MR.
SONG SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
[GRUNTS.]
Oh.
What is it? Why didn't you stop him? How could I have? If anyone says something No, they won't.
They've slept under our roof for a long time now.
- It only takes one to - Hey, shh.
Calm down already.
We do no wrong.
Why would they arrest us? After all he just said, we go on feeding and housing him? Isn't that wrong? If the Japanese come for us, who will take care of Sunja? It'll work out in the end, you'll see.
- We can't let it - You don't know that There, there Well, sir, is your belly full? Ma'am, you do feed us so well.
You are too kind to us, really.
Our pleasure.
[CHUCKLES.]
Sunja, what? Last night you said stupid things.
And now they're all scared.
They're all Who exactly is all? Everybody is scared.
But no one says anything.
Now they all want you to leave.
But where would I go? I have nowhere to go.
It doesn't matter where.
Any place.
Just go.
Sunja.
I had too much to drink.
And those are the kind of words you say when you have no power.
But you understand that.
I don't want to use a rock on a Japanese man and crush his skull.
And I don't want my parents to be gone.
I don't want to be alone.
I would rather die.
Sunja, listen.
Forget all that.
Forget about all I said.
I, y'know I'm a man who no longer knows how to live in this world.
Understand? Good.
[SIGHS.]
[OFFICER 1.]
When was the last time you saw Song, the fisherman? [MOTHER.]
It's been a few days.
[OFFICER 1.]
Where do you think he might have gone? [SUNJA'S MOTHER.]
I am sorry.
I don't know his business.
[CONVERSATION CONTINUES, INDISTINCT.]
Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! [FATHER.]
We never noticed any signs of disloyalty in him before.
But he left all his things behind.
And he still owes us two months' rent.
That night What exactly happened? He had much too much to drink, you see.
And for you, that's an excuse? No No, no.
I assure you, Officer, we were all very shocked by the things he said.
And yet you didn't report it at the time.
If you see or hear such traitorous activities, it's your duty to report them.
- Sir, I - [SHOUTS.]
How dare you interrupt me! We give our progress, our innovations, our education to these idiots only to be lied to our faces.
[OFFICER 1.]
Calm down.
Let's just end this with a warning.
[OFFICER 2.]
Maybe we've gotten too soft on them.
[OFFICER 1.]
We had no choice.
Push them too hard and they'll explode.
There will be no second chances.
If you have news of this man, you'll let us know.
Hmm? Madam, I hear your cooking is praiseworthy.
I'll have to come back just to see if it's as good as they say.
Oh Of course, anytime you like.
Let's go.
Did somebody tell him to run away? How else would he know? I didn't tell him anything.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
There's no way we can eat all of this.
You're making too much.
You must eat.
Look in the mirror! You're too thin.
All skin and bones.
Put the green onions in.
- [GASPS.]
- Oh dear.
Put some cold water on it.
[SIGHS.]
Clearly you don't cook for yourself.
Just like your father, a slave to your job.
I told him to sell the pachinko parlor.
Real estate is booming right now.
He should invest in stores or housing.
- So he hasn't told you? - Told me what? He's opening a second parlor this year.
Don't look so shocked.
He's been thinking about it.
You knew that.
And how will he finance it? How do you think? Go down to the bank and just get a loan.
He's proud of what he's built.
And he doesn't need your shame to knock him down the ladder.
What does shame have to do with this? You don't need to say it, I know it's there.
I know what it looks like, I have a lot of experience with it.
I know how to smell it and I can hear it.
Now go and fetch me an egg.
All right, tell me.
Be honest.
You're going back, right? You're not going to stay here? What do you mean by that? Some, like your dad, can fool themselves about how things have changed.
I know that's not the case.
You're safer in America.
What am I safe from exactly? [FRONT DOOR CLOSES.]
[VISITOR.]
Solomon? - Solomon! - Etsuko! - [SIGHS.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
I'm sorry but the restaurant was so busy.
I couldn't leave earlier.
We've been understaffed all week.
And your dad said he was too busy to come pick me up.
[SIGHS.]
But look at you.
You've gotten so handsome.
Oh, how unfair life is.
You're not supposed to get better-looking, Solomon, while I just get more wrinkles.
[SOLOMON.]
What are you saying, Etsuko? You've hardly aged.
[SQUEALS.]
See? This is it.
Why, those American girls must love you.
I know.
[GIGGLES.]
Hey! Pajeon! [SUNJA GRUNTS.]
Are you crazy? Don't throw out good food! Put it down here.
[SOLOMON SIGHS, CLEARS THROAT.]
[SIGHS.]
[CHUCKLES.]
"I am Rikidozan!" [SIGHS.]
[SNIFFS.]
[ETSUKO.]
Those were Hana's favorites, weren't they? - [SOLOMON.]
Yeah.
- [CHUCKLES.]
[CHUCKLES.]
Why do you still have them? Sentimental reasons, I suppose.
[ETSUKO CHUCKLES.]
Has Hana contacted you? Nope.
[SIGHS.]
But we hired a new detective who we've heard good things about.
It seems hopeful.
Her hand Is it now bigger than mine? Or are they the same size? [CHUCKLES.]
How can you be so certain that she's still alive? When you have children, you'll understand.
If something happens to her I would feel something.
You would too, because you loved her, didn't you? [LAUGHS.]
Your father can't stop smiling since you've come back.
I thought I was the only one who could make him smile like that! [CHUCKLES.]
And your mother she would be proud.
I know it.
[PIANO CHAIR DRAGS ON FLOOR.]
["ENOYA YANOYA" PLAYING SLOWLY ON PIANO.]
Papa, something's happening outside.
Sunja! [GASPS.]
[GASPS.]
[OFFICER.]
Hurry up.
Walk! [GRUNTS.]
- [BREATHES SHAKILY.]
- [OFFICER.]
Get over here.
[BREATHES SHAKILY.]
[SNIFFLES, SWALLOWS.]
- Enoya yanoya! - What are you doing? [MR.
SONG.]
Eyano yano uhgi-ee uhcha! Let us go to sea - Quiet! - [GRUNTS.]
- [CROWD GASPING.]
- [SOBS.]
Float atop - The boundless expanse - Enough! [GRUNTS, GASPS.]
[OFFICER.]
You bastard! [BLOWS LANDING.]
Befriend the lone seagull We shall fight ahead [GRUNTS.]
[GASPS.]
Befriend the lone seagull We shall fight ahead - [MR.
SONG GRUNTS.]
- [GASPS, SOBBING.]
[MR.
SONG.]
Enoya yanoya! Eyano yano uhgi-ee uhcha! Let us go to sea [SINGING FADES.]
[SOBBING FADES.]
[SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
[THUNDER RUMBLES.]
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE.]
[ELEVATOR DINGS.]
Good morning.
Thank you for coming, Mr.
Yoshii.
I saw him on television.
Yes, he is a distinguished client of the office.
Welcome, Mr.
Baek.
I'll escort you to your office.
[OFFICE WORKER 1.]
first, which we can handle locally.
Therefore, during the summer - Please, come this way.
- [OFFICER WORKER CONTINUES IN JAPANESE.]
[EXHALES SOFTLY, CHUCKLES.]
- Mr.
Andrews.
- Tom.
- I've heard a lot about you.
[CLICKS TONGUE.]
Be straight with me.
I gotta watch my back with you? Is that what this is? You don't have to worry about me.
I'm not here to stay.
All right.
Welcome.
[OFFICER WORKER 2.]
Excuse me! Can I have your attention? [TOM CLEARS THROAT.]
[OFFICE WORKERS MURMURING.]
[TOM.]
What's going on? Japan's Emperor, Hirohito, has died.
According to the official announcement, the Emperor died of cancer.
He was 87 years old [ANNOUNCER 2 SPEAKING IN SPANISH.]
[ANNOUNCER 3 SPEAKING IN GERMAN.]
[ANNOUNCER 4.]
Today, a nation mourns a great man [ANNOUNCER 1.]
He ruled during the Japanese occupation of Korea.
[ANNOUNCER 4.]
Once considered a god [ANNOUNCER 5.]
He ruled during the Japanese occupation of Korea [SUNJA'S FATHER RETCHING, WHEEZING.]
during which many families were separated and loved ones lost.
[COUGHS, RETCHING.]
[GASPING.]
[RETCHES, COUGHING.]
[GASPING.]
Sunja [WHEEZES.]
[FATHER BREATHING SHAKILY.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
Papa? Papa? [SNIFFLES.]
Papa.
[SOBS.]
[CRIES.]
[SUNJA'S FATHER.]
There was a time a time when I wondered why good fortune had decided to pass me by.
Why the everyday happiness enjoyed by others seemed so out of reach for me.
But then your mother came along.
And then you.
And I realized fortune had nothing to do with it.
I had to prove myself worthy of you, Sunja.
And I had to grow strong.
To chase away the shadows of this world.
Soon you will be strong enough yourself.
And you will have your own children.
And then you too will have to prove yourself worthy.
But Sunja, I know you can do it.
I believe in you.
[PEOPLE IN MARKET CHATTERING.]
Sir.
It is customary for new fish brokers in the district to pay their respects.
Yes, he is a fool, but he is still one of them.
Of course I'll pay my respects.
Every week in an envelope.
But if he prefers something else No, he wouldn't prefer that.
Since you are new to our ways here and not used to our customs You don't need to tell me how it goes.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY.]
[WHISTLE BLOWS.]
That girl over there, who is she? [OFFICIAL.]
Which one? That girl there.
[VENDOR.]
Sunja, Sunja! I saved you the biggest one, all for you! [CHUCKLES.]
[OFFICIAL.]
She's no one.
[VENDOR.]
Here, look at this beauty! [LAUGHS.]
Yes, I believe that her mother runs some sort of a boarding house.
In Yeongdo, I think.
A widow.