The Housemaid
Encyclopedia
The Housemaid is a 1960
black-and-white Korean film
. It was directed by Kim Ki-young
and starred Lee Eun-shim, Ju Jeung-nyeo and Kim Jin Kyu. It has been described in Koreanfilm.org as a "consensus pick as one of the top three Korean films of all time". This was the first film in Kim's Housemaid trilogy followed by Woman of Fire
. The film was remade in 2010
by director Im Sang-soo
.
into the household.
A piano composer has just moved into a two-story house with his wife and two children. When his pregnant wife becomes exhausted from working at a sewing machine to support the family, the composer hires a housemaid to help with the work around the house. The new housemaid behaves strangely, catching rats with her hands, spying on the composer, seducing him and eventually becoming pregnant by him. The composer's wife convinces the housemaid to induce a miscarriage by falling down a flight of stairs.
After this incident, the housemaid's behavior becomes increasingly more erratic. She tricks the composer's son into believing that he has ingested poisoned water and in a panic he falls to his death down a flight of stairs, threatens to kill their newborn son, and then persuades the composer to commit suicide with her by swallowing rat poison.
The film ends with the composer reading the story from a newspaper with his wife. The narrative of the film has apparently been told by the composer, who then all smiles warns the film audience that this is just the sort of thing could happen to anyone.
, wrote that the discovery of The Housemaid by the West, over forty years after the film's debut, was a "marvelous feeling– marvelous not just because one finds in writer-director Kim Ki-young
a truly extraordinary image maker, but in his film such an utterly unpredictable work."
Comparing the director to Luis Buñuel
, Frodon wrote Kim is "capable of probing deep into the human mind, its desires and impulses, while paying sarcastic attention to the details..." He called The Housemaid "shocking", noting that "...the shocking nature of the film is both disturbing and pleasurable..." Frodon pointed out that The Housemaid was only one early major film in the director's career, and that Kim Ki-young would continue "running wild through obsessions and rebellion" with his films for decades to come.
1960 in film
The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
black-and-white Korean film
Cinema of Korea
Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference...
. It was directed by Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young was a South Korean film director, known for his intensely psychosexual and melodramatic horror films, often focusing on the psychology of their female characters. Kim was born in Seoul during the Japanese occupation, raised in Pyongyang and spent time in Japan, where he became...
and starred Lee Eun-shim, Ju Jeung-nyeo and Kim Jin Kyu. It has been described in Koreanfilm.org as a "consensus pick as one of the top three Korean films of all time". This was the first film in Kim's Housemaid trilogy followed by Woman of Fire
Woman of Fire
Woman of Fire is an award-winning 1971 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-young. This was the second film in Kim's Housemaid trilogy followed by Woman of Fire '82.-Synopsis:A variation on Kim's classic The Housemaid...
. The film was remade in 2010
The Housemaid (2010 film)
The Housemaid is a 2010 South Korean melodramatic thriller film directed by Im Sang-soo. The story focuses on Eun-yi, played by Jeon Do-yeon, who becomes involved in a destructive love triangle while working as a housemaid for an upper-class family. Other cast members include Lee Jung-jae, Seo...
by director Im Sang-soo
Im Sang-soo
Im Sang-soo is an award-winning South Korean film director and screenwriter.-Early life and film career:Im was born in Seoul. He studied sociology at Seoul's Yonsei University before making a move to The Korean Academy of Film Arts in 1989...
.
Plot
The film is a domestic horror thriller telling of a family's destruction by the introduction of a sexually predatory femme fataleFemme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
into the household.
A piano composer has just moved into a two-story house with his wife and two children. When his pregnant wife becomes exhausted from working at a sewing machine to support the family, the composer hires a housemaid to help with the work around the house. The new housemaid behaves strangely, catching rats with her hands, spying on the composer, seducing him and eventually becoming pregnant by him. The composer's wife convinces the housemaid to induce a miscarriage by falling down a flight of stairs.
After this incident, the housemaid's behavior becomes increasingly more erratic. She tricks the composer's son into believing that he has ingested poisoned water and in a panic he falls to his death down a flight of stairs, threatens to kill their newborn son, and then persuades the composer to commit suicide with her by swallowing rat poison.
The film ends with the composer reading the story from a newspaper with his wife. The narrative of the film has apparently been told by the composer, who then all smiles warns the film audience that this is just the sort of thing could happen to anyone.
Cast
- Kim Jin-kyuKim Jin-kyuKim Jin-kyu was a South Korean actor, film director, and producer.- Filmography :-Director:Kim Jin-kyu was a South Korean actor, film director, and producer....
- Lee Eun-shim
- Ju Jeung-ryuJu Jeung-ryuJu Jeung-ryu was South Korean actress whose fame peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. She starred in about 400 films. Ju was born in Yonghung, Hamkyongnam-do, nowadays in North Korea. While attending Hamnam Girls' High School, Ju became an ardent play fan. When she became eighteen, she ran away from...
- Um Aing-ranUm Aing-ranUm Aing-ran is a South Korean actress. She has starred in about 190 films, and gained a popularity with the image of "a cheerful female college student" in the 1960s. Her marriage with Shin Seong-il, a colleague actor and big star of the time attracted a national attention...
- Ahn Sung-kiAhn Sung-kiAhn Sung-ki is known to the public as the "National Best Actor of Korea".-Biography:A Roman Catholic, he was born in Daegu and grew up as a child actor - graduating Kyundong junior high school, from which Cho Yong-pil also graduated - appearing in director Kim Ki-young's celebrated film The...
as a boy. He was only 8 years when he played this role. - Kang Seok-je
- Ko Seon-ae
- Na Jeong-ok
Critical appraisal
In 2003, Jean-Michel Frodon, editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinémaCahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
, wrote that the discovery of The Housemaid by the West, over forty years after the film's debut, was a "marvelous feeling– marvelous not just because one finds in writer-director Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young was a South Korean film director, known for his intensely psychosexual and melodramatic horror films, often focusing on the psychology of their female characters. Kim was born in Seoul during the Japanese occupation, raised in Pyongyang and spent time in Japan, where he became...
a truly extraordinary image maker, but in his film such an utterly unpredictable work."
Comparing the director to Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
, Frodon wrote Kim is "capable of probing deep into the human mind, its desires and impulses, while paying sarcastic attention to the details..." He called The Housemaid "shocking", noting that "...the shocking nature of the film is both disturbing and pleasurable..." Frodon pointed out that The Housemaid was only one early major film in the director's career, and that Kim Ki-young would continue "running wild through obsessions and rebellion" with his films for decades to come.