When Life Gives You Tangerines (폭싹 속았수다)

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES

Oh goodness.

It's all right. A poem can be simple.

You just write down the things you'd like to say.

That's all there is to it.

Ok-sim, make us food

Look at me, give me food

Hey, Mom

Food, food, food

Stop saying, "Ok-sim, make me food"

I must have spent my whole life Making food

Think about the things you've always wanted to say the most.

"Respect Your Elders" by Lee Byeong-seon.

Eyes fading, ears fading too

Sons and daughters

My back is killing me

Please come and visit me often

Someone hasn't written a single word yet.

Just write down what you want to say the most.

That's how you write a poem about life.

I didn't know back then

that I'd ever reach the age of 70.

I didn't know back then…

…that what I'd want to say the most at 70

is a word I said more than any other, every day.

Mom.

Mom.

Hey, Mom.

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Hey, Mom! Hey!

Come out quickly, Mom! Hurry up!

Why are you always the last one to come out?

Oh, come on!

Are abalones more important than your daughter?

Why did you go back down?

Are you doing it just to annoy me?

Mom! Come on!

There's green laver all over the ocean floor in the spring.

That greedy woman won't come out.

Hey, Ae-sun, leave your mother alone.

Instead, look at the color of Mr. Yang's cheeks!

It's just sunburn. I told you.

Oh, something's burning all right, young man. It's his little heart.

Only Ae-sun can't see it!

Can you imagine that?

A haenyeo's daughter marrying a fish merchant?

All of Jeju would be out of business!

You're so damn annoying!

She's going over. Look.

Did someone smack you or what?

Why are your cheeks always red?

She's turned him down again.

My mom should have just given birth to an abalone instead of me.

Mr. Yang.

There are two conches. Here.

Get us a fair price for them, all right?

Yes, ma'am.

Did you swim down the hall of the Dragon King for that seaweed?

It's not the sea that kills haenyeo. It's greed.

Greed is deadlier than the sea, and that's a fact.

By the way, how is Grandma from Hallim doing?

Her lungs won't ever recover.

She can only make a living from what we put in these bags,

so let's keep her alive, eh?

Is there only seaweed in this one?

Mom wants at least a few abalones.

There's a few there, see?

Abalones are tiny in the spring.

There's not much for them to eat.

You may as well give the whole thing away! Just take it all!

There she goes again, losing her shit.

Grandma from Hallim has three sons.

Why are we the ones to have to feed those hungry kids?

I don't risk my life for them, diving into that hellscape every day.

I do it for my own children.

I don't dive for abalones to feed someone else's family.

You think you're special, huh?

Who taught you everything you know?

Who do you owe for being able to feed your children?

My children depend on what I catch to feed them. Same as you.

We can't afford to be feeding a sick grandma too.

I'm not giving up my abalone.

Just the thought infuriates me. Make sure you count 'em.

What do you think made her sick in the first place?

We'd do the same for you if you were bedridden.

I will never be bedridden.

Haenyeo live and die together. None of us can do it alone.

Well, if you're all such saints, what do you need the Dragon King for?

I thought that new husband would satisfy you,

but you're just greedier than ever.

How can you pamper that lazy man

and think your abalones are too good for sanggun?

We were both poor as dirt when we came here together.

At least I remember who taught us to dive.

If you can't respect what Hallim Grandma did for us,

you're worth less than a snailfish.

If you're so much better than me, why is your husband's face paralyzed?

That was because he slept out in the cold!

His face is paralyzed because he barely eats.

Huh? You gonna tell me I'm wrong?

You don't get to talk to me that way.

You're no better than I am.

At least I don't have children with two different men!

- Easy now. - Gyeong-ja.

- Enough. - Here we go again.

She always starts a fight right before we go home.

Wha-- Hey, what?

What are you--

Damn it. You damn brat. What did you do that for? Shit!

Ugh! You spilled my conches everywhere! You damn menace!

Damn it!

Why the hell did I bring her with me when I came here?

- Oh, what a waste! They're ruined! - Happens when you poke a puffer fish.

When a woman is fighting to survive, you stay out of her way.

What a damn waste.

Why don't you try kicking that leech of a husband you keep at home

instead of taking it out on my catch?

You can't spare a second for your daughter.

I won a prize, but you only care about those snails.

What good does a poem do?

Does writing a poem bring home any abalones?

Can't you just read it, Mom?

It won second prize in school.

Go and show your grandmother.

The Oh family likes its scholars.

Show it to her and… and then say, "Please keep me in school."

Grandma hates me.

She says I remind her more of you every day.

That's why she can't stand the sight of me.

Go on to your own house for supper.

I told them I'd eat with you.

Go. Your stepdad's coming.

Who cares, Mom?

Can't I have dinner here?

I want a conch with the red seaweed you picked.

A daughter of the Oh family should eat at the Oh household.

Uncle won't even give me a yellow croaker.

What do you mean, he doesn't?

He says having a girl around who gets good grades and awards

is stealing all his son's luck.

He says it's my fault Oh Jong-gu is at the bottom of his class.

The yellow croaker isn't even the worst part.

It's how he treats me at the table.

It's not fair.

I'm so sad that I can hardly eat.

Every time I'm there,

I just get too choked up.

Please, Mom, can I just live here with you?

Can I?

Maybe someday?

- Never, ever? - What are you choked up for anyway?

Did you do something wrong?

How do you expect anyone to love you acting like that?

Go.

Go!

Learn how to defend yourself. Figure out some way to make them love you.

Well, what do you know? Sun-ae is here again.

Ae-sun, not Sun-ae!

Are you an idiot?

Ae-sun, right.

Staying for dinner?

No, I'm going home.

That little brat.

Daddy. Have some water.

Thanks.

She's always such a pain in the ass.

Cigarettes can kill you, Mom.

Haenyeo rely on their lungs. You must have a death wish.

Why don't you just let her live with us?

For one thing, she'd be much better off here.

Surely you see that.

You do nothing for your own family, so mind your own business.

We don't have the money or space to raise her.

This tiny hut we rent is too small as it is.

You blame a child for wanting to feel her mother's embrace?

Why do you care? You prefer her to a cow.

You want her to look after her half-siblings?

She'll always be family to you.

Look, the only reason we're living here is so you can be close to her.

She's over practically every day whenever she has the chance.

She can't wait to live here with you, but you insist on keeping her there.

You're just setting her up for heartache.

The Oh family has money. At least there, she'll get a proper education.

What's the point of letting a girl get an education? It'll just frustrate her.

Oh!

Don't haenyeo start learning how to dive when they're teenagers?

Would you say that about your own daughter?

Is that the kind of life you want for her?

You damn island women will pick a fight over anything.

I will never let her dive.

You're better off being born a cow than a haenyeo .

I slave away every day for nothing!

It's unbelievable what we're expected to endure.

What good would living here do her anyway?

She's too soft. She'll end up being your maid.

Guess I'll throw this out, then.

Reading it would just break your heart.