[AK View] Eat Meat and Run! This Year’s Delightful Discovery

After watching an elderly person struggling to push a cart while collecting waste paper, I would often wonder, upon returning home, "What will they have for dinner?" and "With whom would they want to share their meal?" Although it is a scene we occasionally witness on the streets, it reflects a curiosity about the daily lives of impoverished seniors that our society has long ignored.

The independent film "People and Meat," which tells the story of elderly waste paper collectors banding together to eat meat and run, is quietly making waves. The New York Times and Forbes have both praised it as "one of the year's delightful discoveries," and it was recently officially invited to the Busan International Film Festival, where it received enthusiastic responses from critics. Buoyed by this acclaim, the film was released during the recent Chuseok holiday, and despite the harsh reality of being pushed out of theaters by commercial films, it has continued to quietly attract audiences through positive word of mouth and special screenings supported by well-known actors.

"Meat is food you can only eat if you have money, and it feels lonely to eat it alone." This is how the official introduction to the film begins. "People and Meat" tells the story of two elderly men living alone, Hyeongjun (Park Geunhyeong) and Usik (Jang Yong), who collect waste paper, and Hwajin (Ye Sujeong), who sells vegetables on the street to support her college-aged grandson. By chance, they meet and, in an act of rebellion, dine and dash, becoming the so-called "three runaway seniors."

Even after collecting waste paper all day, the money Usik earns amounts to only a few thousand won. He stares longingly at pork at the supermarket meat counter, but ultimately buys only a carton of milk and leaves. A friend, worn down by poverty, claims his illness is "malnutrition," stops eating, and ends his own life. In the end, their choice is to "eat meat and run."

Although it is a crime that cannot be justified, by eating meat together, they rediscover the precious values of "being alive" and "friendship" after a long time. Each time they run at full speed to escape from the restaurant staff after dining and dashing, their hearts strangely race. Even in their rebellion, there is a sense of ethics: they eat only one serving each out of consideration for small business owners, choose only busy restaurants, and avoid expensive specialty cuts. These are choices made to lessen their feelings of guilt.

However, their rebellion does not last long, and they are eventually caught and face heavy punishment in court. Their crime is "craving meat." Yet, rather than focusing on retribution for moral transgression, the film calls for reflection on public failure and societal indifference. It challenges the social view that they should not be a nuisance: "Because we're old, should we just stay out of everyone's way in some corner and quietly die?" And it asks: Is a life where one simply does not starve truly enough?

South Korea ranks first among OECD member countries in terms of elderly labor force participation, but it also has the highest rate of elderly poverty. As of 2023, the average monthly pension received by seniors aged 65 and over is about 600,000 won, which is only half of the minimum cost of living for a single-person household (about 1.25 million won). During the October National Assembly audit, Hyunjeong Kim, a member of the Democratic Party, revealed that as many as 160,000 super-aged, solitary veterans are at risk of dying alone due to "nutritional deficiency." She announced that she had sponsored the "Six Laws on Meal Support for Veterans," which would require the national and local governments to provide meal support, causing a significant social stir. There is an urgent need for social measures to address the poverty and loneliness of seniors who cannot even eat proper meals.

For people, appetite and eating meat symbolize vitality. Meat is food for friendship. The experience of sharing a meal can fill not only physical hunger but also loneliness and emotional emptiness. "People and Meat," which tells the story of elderly people at the end of their lives eating meat together, running, and feeling alive, may well become Korea's film of the year.