“So soon as the time for ploughing is proclaimed to men, then make haste, you and your slaves alike.” Works and Days opens with this quote from Hesiod’s epic poem and makes the poem’s title its own. The film indeed portrays various workers who head to their workplaces as soon as the sun rises—they make mannequins, sort recycled plastics, prepare side dishes, sweep salt fields, inspect cans, and repair radios. The protagonists of Works and Days are ordinary people like us. As we listen to their intimate voices sharing their anxieties, joys, loneliness, fears, and dreams, we become deeply immersed in their lives. What stands out most about Works and Days is its clear and concise perspective on labor. Free of sentimentality, this pure, unembellished gaze offers a rare and precious insight. (KANG Sowon)