Chihwaseon (Strokes of Fire) Page #3

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You're an orphan.

Where will you go?

I have a distant uncle in my village.

I'll work on his farm.

Go, then!

That chest costs

as much as a house.

A famous craftsman

took six months to make it.

Come out!

I said come out, you b*tch!

Drink.

Drink, you slut!

Who was it?

Pyeong-san.

He told me to stop waiting for you

and move in with him.

I'm a young woman.

Should I live like a widow

while every passing girl, you...

Whore!

Why Pyeong-san, b*tch?

I'm through with you.

Let go of me, b*tch!

I know it's my fault.

I'm not pleading with you to stay

but you can't just walk out!

It's over!

What more do you want?

Do a painting for me, at least.

All right, I will.

What will you paint?

A Bird and Flower picture

will be ample for you.

Bird and Flower?

If we split up, I want something

that's worth money.

What kind of picture

is worth money?

Such a beautiful painting

for a floozy...

For a kisaeng,

she was faithful to him.

She must have suffered,

living with that madman.

If she was so faithful,

why did she sell it so fast?

It's magnificent.

His greatest work yet.

What's this screen

that everyone's talking about?

I'd like to see it, at least.

The screen isn't all. There's the

painting by him in Minister Min's house

and the one that Hwang

the millionaire bought.

If it's by him, it can't be bad.

He copied Guo Xi's trees,

Huang Gong-wang's rocks

and Lin Liang's flowers and birds.

There's no harm in borrowing

from the great masters.

Capturing the essence of classics

takes talent, too.

Does alcohol make you envious?

Master Hyesan sent for you.

Master Hyesan, here,

painted the late king twice

and his majesty's portrait

last year.

Dongchun.

Unhnong.

Ohwon, alias Jang Seung-ub.

I've heard of you.

I've seen your work.

To celebrate

the Governor's birthday,

our chosen theme shall be

"Pine and Crane" to wish him long life.

"Pine and Crane" it is.

No, a "Gakwan Jinjak".

I want Ohwon to begin it.

The Governor requests

a "Gakwan Jinjak".

- Ohwon.

- Yes, sir

You go first.

How dare I go

before Master Hyesan?

It's the Governor's order.

Father, what's a "Gakwan Jinjak"?

It means "Next to the Crown",

a wish for the highest rank,

just below the king.

Master Hyesan's turn is next.

A painting is made of arteries.

You took the heart.

How will the Master react?

The peony signifies

wealth and fame.

The peach, celestial fruit,

symbolizes long life.

The crab shell signifies

selection for State office.

The crab knows the art of retreat.

A man must know when to withdraw.

Is the Master in?

Isn't he well?

- Are you all right?

- Don't come up!

How dare you soil this threshold?

Master Hyesan has resigned

from the school.

Even on the Governor's order,

you should have refused three times.

You dared to paint

before the Master!

People who don't respect rank

are worse than animals.

You betrayed your fellows' trust.

You disgraced your Master.

Don't ever come back here.

He refuses to see you.

Go away.

Get up.

You don't need my forgiveness.

This merely proves that your talent

is more admired than mine.

The blue extracted from indigo is

more beautiful than the indigo itself.

But without the indigo, there

would be no blue. Likewise, you...

You must set the example for future

sons of our land. Be like the indigo.

Mae-hyang,

Master Ohwon sent for you.

After you disappeared, I searched

for you everywhere in vain.

I made this long journey

to see you again.

It was dangerous to stay in Seoul.

I roamed around before coming here.

Will you soon go back to Seoul?

I have many orders for paintings.

I'll stay at least a month.

Do you have a lover?

This place is notorious for

its idle nobles and corrupt officials.

When I look at your work,

I forget all worldly cares. It's strange...

Giving solace through painting and

taking solace in it is the artist's lot.

Why don't we live together?

We have nothing to lose.

If I'm caught, they'll kill me

and you want to live with me?

Are you at risk here?

An official seems to suspect me.

He's getting pushy.

It's time I went away.

The composition...

and structure are good.

The harmony of colors

is accomplished.

The likeness of the rendering...

Your skill is faultless.

Nonetheless, it's time

you created paintings of your own,

infused with your spirit and soul.

I know. I want to change.

I really want to change!

I often wake up at night,

haunted by it.

It churns my blood.

So often, having to paint to order,

- I feel...

- You drop your brush

and run away whenever you don't

like what you're painting.

How can you make

such a feeble excuse?

A picture that's painted for profit and

instant fame is nothing but vanity. Stillborn!

- Filthy dog!

- What's got into you?

He only asked why

you've stopped painting!

Leave me alone! Filthy shrew!

What are you idiots staring at?

You wretched fools!

Jang Seung-ub!

You'll break the tiles.

I'd climb roofs too

if talent grew there.

You came back!

Give me some wine

and grill him some beef.

The money you advanced

me is spent.

Stingy b*tch! Why talk about money?

Give me a drink.

- This isn't a charity!

- Stingy b*tch!

So why are you here?

Stay with me.

I'll stay for the winter

but I'll leave in the spring.

Sir, I know you'll be angry but...

I'd like a painting of yours.

Even a dud one.

I'll treasure it and think of you.

Since I gave up painting,

I don't even have a dud one.

Why?

I want to change.

Whatever the genre, your brush

makes a masterpiece of everything.

Why do you want to change?

People find in my pictures

what they expect.

I must get away from that.

If I don't, I'll always be

their prisoner.

- "No more paper on credit," he says.

- What?

Have some stewed pumpkin.

That man Cho is such a bandit!

I'll break his...

"Hawk in full vigor."

His brush never wavers.

It's quite outstanding.

He has renewed himself.

With such a painting, he could

buy himself a beautiful house.

You never signed your work before.

If a boy like you shows this around

who will ever believe I painted it?

Take it.

Take it, I said!

Somewhere in Choungchung Province,

a young man had

one of your hawk paintings.

The hawk's eye was so lifelike,

I wanted to buy it

but he said he wouldn't sell it

until the sea ran dry.

Could you paint that hawk for me?

Where did you meet this young man?

He had a small stand selling paper

at Boeun market.

"Hawk in full vigor..."

If it's the one

I remember, I suppose I could.

In those days my brush was guided,

not by me, but by a divine force.

The Master is here.

Come here and look.

That black stone.

Is it moving or not?

A humble stone must be alive

in a painter's eyes.

If a stone is alive, it's dynamic.

If it's dead, it's static.

You can't paint a dead stone.

Pan-soi. Come and look.

Look at it. The rare Mookchong stone,

as blue as ink.

As plump as one of our mountains.

That stone was a gift to you.

You ought to get working.

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