Chihwaseon (Strokes of Fire) Page #4

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Gifts are piling up,

waiting for your paintings.

You've done nothing for a month.

I'm tired of this!

Come here.

You're only a kid.

To paint, you need desire.

How can I paint

without an erection?

Ohwon, are you there?

You remember that scholar

who asked for a still life and then...

- wanted a Flower and Bird picture?

- What about him?

Now he says he doesn't want

that either. He wants a landscape.

Who is this chap?

Would it be Gwak Sung-min?

Am I right?

I've come to see Gwak Sung-min.

Tell him Ohwon is here.

A man like you an aristocrat and scholar!

How can you be such a coward?

If you want something, ask me!

Don't make me paint it

just so you can copy it!

I used this ruse in order to meet you.

Please forgive me.

Come in, please.

Hey, Ohwon. When it comes to

portraits, I am unrivaled

but your masterful brushwork

is beyond me.

I'm no match for you

at portraiture.

Listen, Ohwon.

In your Banana Leaf painting with

a few strokes, you captured the fullness

of the leaf and

the emptiness of the stalk.

How do you work?

Idiot! One little binge

and you cling to my ass.

If you want to paint,

first learn how to drink.

Get in there! Idiot!

Get in there! Hurry up!

- Pan-soi!

- Yes, sir.

Where's my Double Horse painting?

At the gallery.

Already?

I said I was going to rework it.

You didn't tell me.

Where's my Double Horse?

It's been mounted. Over there.

Chinese soldiers are weaklings.

Japanese soldiers are tough!

Are you there?

I'm asking it back to rework it.

You can't.

Lord Kim is impatient to see it.

I promised him

I'd deliver it in five days.

What a temper!

It did seem hastily done.

It wasn't bad.

The best quality,

imported from China.

It's a beautiful color.

For the same price,

how about this color?

I'll come back later.

Don't go away!

Aren't they pretty!

They're the new kisaengs

from Spring Branch lounge.

Make way! Make way!

Make way for

Minister Min's procession!

You! What impudence!

How dare you remain standing?

Who is it?

The famous painter,

Ohwon Jang Seung-ub.

Famed for your meager talent,

now you defy the law.

Master, this one-year-old

baby's urine...

is a very good cure

for bruises from beatings.

- Drink it yourself!

- Anybody in?

Look after yourself.

- Everything went well.

- Is that so?

How?

You can accomplish

anything you want.

The lounge mistress wants you to paint

her a twelve-panel Flower & Bird screen.

It's a good month's work.

Everyone congratulates me on this

wonderful screen. I sent for her.

Delighted to meet you.

My name is Hyang-lan.

They say you drink a lot.

Why won't you drink today?

Hyang-lan...

What's your real name?

My family name is Cho. My given

name is Hyo-in, "filial and generous".

Hyo-in, I once knew a woman

very much like you.

Her family name was Lee.

How old are you?

Eighteen.

Eighteen. Eighteen.

What do your parents do?

They're ordinary peasants

in the hills.

And you, what brought you here?

Don't ask unnecessary questions.

Let's go to bed.

I've had a long, tiresome night.

Ohwon! There you are.

This is Ohwon Jang Seung-ub,

the artist. Let me introduce you.

This is Kim Ok-kyun,

scourge of the Conservatives.

My hectic life leaves me no leisure

to appreciate your work.

When order is restored,

I'll commission a piece.

Let's go.

You gave away a screen which took you

three months to paint on rare silk and

you didn't even get to touch her hand?

What a waste of effort!

Now the screen's been sold

to a millionaire.

No one else will ever even see it.

A maranta stalk for a brush

and kimchi for paint.

How eccentric!

What rule says

a brush must be sable?

I've been unable to paint,

so I did it for fun.

You're at the peak of your powers.

Why keep striving to do even better?

I'm keeping this painting.

You're keeping what?

Give it back!

Master! Master!

Rescue him! I can't swim!

Master!

Did you really want to die?

They said you refused

to let go of the rock.

Seoul, 1882

You won't take long to recover.

I fear for our scheme's future.

I'll soon be well.

Have no fear for me.

So we meet again.

Lately, you've become

a fashionable topic of discussion.

Your paintings have become

the people's only comfort.

It's even said that the gauge of nobility

is to own one of your paintings.

Congratulations.

I didn't know of your illness

and change of abode. Forgive me.

Come indoors.

Welcome.

Some medicinal herbs.

They say there is nothing

that you cannot paint.

Portraits, still lifes,

landscapes, anything.

Blinded by popularity,

haven't you lost your vital energy?

An old sage once said

"With each day, deeper renewal."

I want to make progress every day.

I won't be entangled

in my own nets.

It's good that you're aware of it.

In our era,

painting espouses realism...

whereas your landscapes

portray a fantasy world,

an exaggerated version

of plain reality.

Rudimentary echoes

of true feelings.

Cannot you paint life on this earth

in all its pain and harshness?

The people have nothing

to console them.

If I can bring them comfort

by painting fantasies,

I will have been faithful

to my calling.

A painting is just a painting.

It doesn't feature

in your Party's manifesto.

Don't go out in this downpour!

- Wait till it stops.

- Listen to him.

Some pine nut porridge.

Looking at that painting

makes me feel relaxed.

Is it that I'm getting old?

When you have time,

come and color it.

Why not paint the roof yellow?

Is anybody in?

I've come for Master Ohwon.

A royal messenger is here. You are

summoned to the Royal Painting Office.

The Office.

The sixth rank entitles you

to an audience with the King.

It's a temporary rank for you,

but no painter from outside

the Office has held it before.

How much longer

will you be idle?

This is rice juice.

Without a drink and a woman,

I can't hold a brush.

Come, now. Don't forget that the King

forbids more than three cups a day.

Listen, Ohwon!

I'll rake those leaves.

You, please go indoors and paint!

Come on, Ohwon! General Yuan

Shi-kai's birthday is coming up.

What are you waiting for

to get started?

Who's General Yuan Shi-kai?

Don't you know

the mighty Chinese general?

He can hit a bird in flight

with a single arrow.

He is second-in-command

to the General-in-Chief!

I should paint for

a foreigner who invades us?

Where are you going?

I've run out of paint.

I won't be long.

You're not allowed out. We have

paints in the Palace. Use them.

You arrogant rogue!

There's a shop where I buy my paints.

If I deliver late,

will you take responsibility?

Let go of me!

Who's this I see? It's you!

I hear you've become a great painter

for the King! What brings you here?

I never thought

you'd rise so high!

- It's been twenty years.

- That's right.

You don't look a day older.

Don't you recognize her? She's our little

girl. You used to adore her. Cho-ryang.

Soon after her wedding, fate decreed

that her husband must die.

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