The Road Taken Page #5

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That's why I repeat things

and memorize them everyday

When I was young

people said I was smart

- I feel like I'll become a fool

- Don't think that way

But you're learning

new things, too

Have you forgotten

that life starts again at sixty?

Thank you

Did you get the money?

The money from

Cardinal Kim?

No, I got some from

Kim Dae-jung instead

Not that one

I heard it's from some

human rights group

I think it was

called Mingahyeop

Mingahyeop?

Mingahyeop...

Salute!

Inspection by the new officer!

Get out of here!

How dare you come back?

Leave here!

Why did you come?

You rotten bastard!

I wanted to talk about

old times so I called you

It's all in the past now

I never hated

Park Yoon-gi and Choi In-gyu

and I didn't know

they died like that

- Lee Young-woon was...

- You didn't know?

It's no use now to say

who was wrong or right

I know everything

I know you're meeting me

to prevent the hunger strike

I don't want to

bring up the past, either

I just want

your sincere apology

Back then I

lacked understanding

By the way

what's it like outside?

I'm not sure myself

since it's always changing

You and me

we're all in the same boat

I've worked very hard

But I can't tell my son

who's in college, about my job

I thought I was a patriot

but I don't know anymore

Sometimes

I recall what you said

That I was also imprisoned

in a lost fight

Buy me a drink outside

after I'm out

Yeah, dreams are wonderful

But it hurts

when you wake up

A person should do at least

one valuable thing in his life

That's my dream

Just like me

you haven't changed at all

I've forgiven them

You should do the same

My father and sister

died in the hands of the police

I couldn't find their bodies

since I was a 'commie'

You're my sister-in-law?

Yes, I am

Mr. Kim, it's your

first visit, isn't it?

It's the first since my uncle

visited me in 1954 or 1955

So no visits

for more than thirty years?

You should buy me a drink

You look just

like my husband

You even smile like him

He resents you very much

Know how much

he suffered all that time?

It would've been better

if you were in the North

Your mother is still alive

I didn't mention you to her

If I did

she'll die of shock

She always talks about you

She believes you're still alive

She won't die

until she sees you

Mother

Your mother is still alive

Mother

Miss your mother, right?

My mother?

What's that?

An application for release

If I get you one

just write that you'll convert

If you agree, then I'll

get you a form in three days

I know you don't trust people

So if I get you a release form

just write down

that you'll convert

So you mean that

you still like communism?

Want to hear

what a person's duty is?

You can throw away

big things like ideologies

but not small things

like your conscience

Aren't they the same thing?

- The USSR, East Germany...

- I have nothing more to say

Stop, you have to go

to the prosecution

- The prosecution? Why?

- You'll see

A total of 127 years

The world's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

longest terms

What a record

Mr. Kim Sun-myung

still don't want to convert?

Is the prosecution

on our backs now?

If no conversion policy exists

then unconverted prisoners

won't exist either

You call this

a developed nation?

Then what developed nation

has a National Security Law?

Do they make their youth

rot in prison for decades?

Or do they even add years

to sentences for security sake?

You've imprisoned us almost

forty years by that brutal law

With an absurd law like that

is it right imprisoning people

for forty years after a war?

Why did you call us here?

In two days, you'll be specially

pardoned for Independence Day

Kim Sun-myung

Ahn Hak-seop, Han Jang-ho

Even with this pardon

you won't be completely free

so as you leave this place

Be careful of

any illicit political acts

Whenever you leave home

you must report to your officer

For a man

whose home was a cell

the day he has longed for

has finally come

It's frightening

not to know one's future

but good things

may come out of it

Not knowing what lies ahead

could bring a person happiness

If a person has a road to follow

and if I could choose mine

could I choose to

follow that road again?

I'm afraid

Take care, Comrade Lee

Good-bye, Comrade Kim

Comrade Kim

how do you feel?

I feel like

I'm being transferred

Comrade Kim

time to get married now

Comrade Choi

see you at Baekdu Mountain

Take care of yourself

Comrade Nam

I'm sorry

I have to leave you

Good-bye, 3596

Good-bye

Kim Sun-myung, why were

you imprisoned for 45 years?

People think freedom

is outside of prison

but the freedom I chose

was inside the prison

You may not understand

but true freedom was in there

It was my conscience

that made me free

Kim Sun-myung

(71 years old, arrested in 1951)

(imprisoned for 45 years)

Here's your son

Mother

(Hong Eun Sook, 94 years old)

- Is that you Sun-myung?

- Mother!

Is that you, Sun-myung?

Why didn't you

listen to your mother?

You should've

listened to grown-ups

I'm ninety four now

I won't die this year

Kim Sun-myung was

imprisoned in October 1951

and was released on special pardon

on August 15, 1995

During his sentence

he was in a cell for 39 years

of which 21 years

was in a confined cell

His mother died two months

after his release

And his brothers

still refused to meet him

June 15, 2000, the North-South

summit was held in Pyongyang

On Sep. 2 of the same year

working as a dental technician

he was sent to the North

with 62 other

long-term prisoners

Thanks to the unconverted

long-term prisoners

for their contributions to this film

Kim Joong-ki

as Kim Sun-myung

Ahn Suk-hwan

as Officer Oh Tae-shik

Goh Dong-eub

as Comrade Choi Jong-man

Choi Il-hwa

as Comrade Ahn Hak-sub

Kim Jong-chul

as Master Lee Young-woon

Kim Sae-young

as Comrade Nam Young-man

Yoo Hyung-kwan

as Comrade Park Yoon-ki

Im Il-chan

as Goh Sang-ku

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