

In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.
Acting
Kitano abandons his cool persona for something genuinely monstrous.
Direction
Sai's unflinching gaze never lets you look away from cruelty.

Director
Yōichi Sai
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film centers Zainichi Koreans—ethnic Koreans in Japan facing systemic discrimination, a rarely depicted community in cinema.
Based on Yang Sok-il's semi-autobiographical novel; Sai spent years securing funding because distributors feared Kitano's against-type performance would alienate fans.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters