Green Fish (1997) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Mak-dong kills Kim Yang-kil to prove his loyalty to Bae Tae-gon. When the former boss returns from prison and begins humiliating Bae in front of his own men, the power balance of the gang is threatened. Bae takes Mak-dong to a deserted building to discuss their dreams, and in a moment of desperate loyalty mixed with fear, Mak-dong stabs Kim Yang-kil to death in the bathroom. This violent act marks his irreversible commitment to the gang, but ultimately leads to his own death when Bae eliminates him as a liability.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Bae-promotes Mak-dong to full member after he willingly breaks his fingers for the councilman job, showing Mak-dong's extreme willingness to prove loyalty through self-harm.

• mak-dong
• kim yang-kil
• killing
• loyalty
• bae tae-gon
• murder

Bae Tae-gon kills Mak-dong immediately after he murders Kim Yang-kil because Mak-dong has become too dangerous and unpredictable. By killing a rival boss, Mak-dong has shown he is capable of extreme violence and is now a liability who could turn against Bae the same way. Bae is a ruthless leader who eliminates anyone who poses a threat, and he uses Mak-dong's loyalty as a tool before discarding him. He drives Mak-dong to a deserted building and shoots him, allowing Mak-dong to die looking directly at the camera as Mi-ae screams.

• bae tae-gon
• mak-dong
• death
• killing
• betrayal

Mak-dong is pulled into the criminal world through his connection to Mi-ae and his desperate need for work and belonging. After defending Mi-ae from thugs and getting beaten, she asks Bae Tae-gon to help him, giving Mak-dong a job at a parking lot. The opportunity to earn money and feel part of something comes when Bae asks him to stage a fight with a councilman. Mak-dong proves his commitment by slamming his fingers in a door, and Bae promotes him to full member, allowing him to call him 'hyung'. The gang becomes a substitute family for someone who longs to reunite his actual family.

Foreshadowing: On the train, Mi-ae tells Mak-dong she will do whatever her 'big brother' (Bae) commands, and he responds with old-fashioned loyalty, hinting at his willingness to serve a master.

• mak-dong
• gang
• bae tae-gon
• join
• gateway

The phone booth scene is the emotional climax that reveals Mak-dong's core motivation. Immediately after killing Kim Yang-kil, he calls his mentally disabled 'big brother' and asks if they remember fishing at the river and how he once lost a day of fishing for a green fish. This call connects his violent act in the criminal world to his lost innocence and his dream of reuniting his fractured family. It underscores that despite becoming a killer, Mak-dong is still the naïve young man who longs for simpler times with his family. The green fish memory symbolizes the purity he has sacrificed.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Mak-dong shows Mi-ae a photo of the large green tree in front of his Ilsan home, revealing his attachment to his childhood home and family.

• phone booth
• mak-dong
• family
• green fish
• memory
• fishing

Mi-ae is forced by Bae Tae-gon to go to the prosecutor's hotel room as a sexual favor to secure his building permit. Bae uses her as a transactional piece in his business dealings, demonstrating the exploitation and power imbalance in their relationship. She goes willingly but with clear reluctance, understanding her position in Bae's world. Mak-dong witnesses the aftermath - a slap on her face - and drives her home, fueling his anger. Afterward, Mi-ae offers herself to Mak-dong, acknowledging the 'dirtiness' of her situation and showing how the gang world has corrupted her.

• mi-ae
• prosecutor
• hotel
• bae tae-gon
• exploitation
• abuse

When Mak-dong returns to Ilsan after military discharge, he finds the landscape unrecognizable - fields, acacia trees, and rice paddies have been replaced by gleaming high-rise apartments. This reflects the rapid urbanization and economic transformation of South Korea in the 1990s. The changes mirror Mak-dong's displacement: his mother now works as a house maid, most siblings have left home, and his dream of reuniting the family to run a business seems impossible. The physical transformation of his home represents the social changes that have fractured his family and forced him toward Seoul and eventually the criminal world.

• ilsan
• urbanization
• home
• family
• transformation
• high-rises

In the final scene, Bae Tae-gon and Mi-ae visit an old-style restaurant in Ilsan New Town, where a chicken is slaughtered in front of them. This echoes Mak-dong's own sacrifice - he gave up his future and his life for the dream of family unity, much like the chicken is killed for nourishment. The ritualistic slaughter serves as a dark mirror to Mak-dong's willingness to harm himself (breaking his fingers) and ultimately die for the gang. Mi-ae appears pregnant, suggesting another cycle of life and sacrifice is beginning. The scene is tinged with the hollow triumph of those who survive by letting others sacrifice themselves.

• chicken
• sacrifice
• ending
• restaurant
• ilsan new town
• symbolism

Mi-ae cries when she sees the large green tree outside the old restaurant because she finally realizes it is the same tree from the photograph Mak-dong showed her on the train. She is standing near Mak-dong's family home in Ilsan - the place he longed to return to and the symbol of his dream to reunite his family. The realization hits her that she and Bae are now living in the very space Mak-dong tried to preserve. The tree represents everything Mak-dong lost and everything he sacrificed for, making her tears a moment of mourning for him and for the life they could have had. The photo she kept throughout the film becomes a painful reminder of his pure, naïve love.

• mi-ae
• tree
• photo
• ilsan
• home
• mak-dong
• tears

Mak-dong intentionally injures his fingers by slamming them in a door to make his staged fight with the councilman look convincing. The councilman is blocking Bae Tae-gon's building permit, and Mak-dong is hired to create a believable altercation that can be used against the councilman. By visibly injuring himself, he proves his commitment and makes the ruse more authentic. Bae is impressed by this willingness to cause himself pain for the job, which leads to Mak-dong's promotion to full gang member and the privilege of calling Bae 'hyung'. This act establishes Mak-dong's pattern of sacrificing his body for acceptance and belonging.

• mak-dong
• fingers
• injury
• councilman
• fight
• bae tae-gon

The ending strongly suggests Mi-ae is pregnant. When Bae Tae-gon and Mi-ae visit the old restaurant in Ilsan New Town, Mi-ae's stomach is visibly rounded, and the camera lingers on this detail. If she is pregnant, the child would likely be Mak-dong's, given their intimate encounter after she returns from the prosecutor's hotel. This creates a tragic layer - Mak-dong's legacy lives on through this potential child while he is dead, and Bae, who killed Mak-dong, may become the father figure. The pregnancy adds another layer to the film's themes of sacrifice, legacy, and the cyclical nature of life in the criminal underworld.

• mi-ae
• pregnancy
• ending
• baby
• bae tae-gon
• child

The pink scarf that falls from Mi-ae onto Mak-dong's face is the inciting incident that sets his entire tragic trajectory in motion. As Mak-dong leans out the train window, Mi-ae leans out ahead of him, and her scarf slips free, briefly blinding him. When he enters her car to return the scarf, he gets dragged into a fight with thugs harassing her - his first violent entanglement with the criminal world. The scarf acts as a literal and figurative blindfold, symbolizing how Mak-dong is led blindly into a world of violence and sacrifice. The pink color also stands out against the film's otherwise muted, melancholic palette, marking this as a pivotal, almost fated moment.

• pink scarf
• mi-ae
• train
• beginning
• incident
• fate

Mak-dong's dream of having his dispersed family reunite and run a small business together is doomed from the start by economic reality. When he shares this dream with his older brother (the detective), the response is brutally practical - how could they survive with so many mouths to feed? His mother works as a maid, a sister works as a hostess, a younger brother delivers eggs, and only the mentally disabled brother remains home. The family has already scattered due to economic pressures, and the rapid urbanization of Ilsan has destroyed their old way of life. Instead of achieving his dream, Mak-dong finds a false family in the gang, but even that betrays him. His death ensures the original family dream never materializes.

• mak-dong
• family
• dream
• reunite
• business
• ilsan
• failure