The Housemaid (1960)

It was only in the last two decades that Korean cinema had slowly become a force to be reckoned with. Today, Korean films set the standard for Asian cinema, and are only occasionally bettered by films from Japan, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Some of Korea's top filmmakers, such as Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk, and Bong Joon-ho, to a name a few, are now rubbing shoulders with the great directors of Europe, frequently taking part and winning awards in film festivals like Cannes and Venice. The renaissance (if that is the correct word) of contemporary Korean cinema owes a debt to Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid, one of only a few great films to emerge post-war from the country. The Housemaid is about a happy family who are torn apart by a maid hired by the husband to help with daily chores. The maid seduces the husband and tries to wield control over his materialistic wife who is pregnant. The maid also has tensions with their children – a crippled daughter and a mischievous boy. The Housemaid starts out like an Ozu-esquire drama where life couldn't be more ordinary, with Kim taking his time to flesh out the film's major characters. The first scene immediately foreshadows what is to come later: The husband, who is reading the paper, is aghast at a report of a man who committed adultery with his maid. His wife reacts by replying, "Men are hopeless, taking interest in a maid." Their maid unsurprisingly appears in the second-quarter of the film, bringing an ominous development to the proceedings. The performance by the actress (I can't quite figure out her name) who plays the maid is tremendous, providing Korean cinema with one if its vilest villains. She hides her "sexual predator" self under her shy demeanor, only exposing her true colors when she finds herself alone with her master. Kim also sets up the mood of the film to work out like a "haunted house" picture. Many of the external shots are that of lashing rain and blinding lightning, giving the film a sinister edge. His direction is assured, and slowly but surely, he navigates his film into horror territory. The second hour of The Housemaid is unpredictable. The situation that unfolds border on disturbing material, with Kim exploring the worst of human nature. The climax is frightening not because it is horrific, but because it is tragic. Kim also adds a layer of dark humor into the dialogue, which coupled with some over-the-top acting, helps to make the film less grim. Nevertheless, The Housemaid remains as a stinging social commentary and a powerful tale of lust, greed, and revenge. In the final scene that breaks the "fourth wall', men are mocked for their ease of succumbing to temptations of flesh, like tiger to fresh meat. But really, is it fair to put the blame on one half of the human race? SCORE: 8/10 () All rights reserved!

Hilariously over the top domestic thriller melodrama and yet so wonderfully directed. I couldn't get over the richness of light, the perfect camera angles, the way the camera stalked around the scenes, the profound sense of claustrophobia, the shocking twists (well, first you're shocked, then you just laugh... I mean it's pretty ridiculous). But just as an exorcise in film-making it's absolutely perfect. Some of the performances are outstanding as well. Featuring some really gorgeous actresses turning in pretty emotionally resonant performances. The lead femme fatale is particularly affecting. This movie also has what must be the most dangerous staircase in cinema history! And the last shot of the film is a wonderful piece of dated Korean moral propagandizing. Really entertaining. I chuckled through the whole thing.

Sometimes, it's too easy to give abnormally high ratings to films may not necessarily deserve the honor. The good news is that Hanyo (The Housemaid) is the real thing - the kind of rarity that fills the viewer with such astonishment that you talk about it years later. Kim Ki-young's 1960 masterpiece must be seen at the first possible opportunity -- if you have the luck. This black and white morality tale is pure black comedy, the almost-campy tale of a respectable music teacher whose life is soon complicated with a passion for one of his students. The tone is not unlike a deliciously lurid pre-Code drama about the withering power of vice, but The Housemaid almost takes pleasure at showing the incremental erosion of morality and the corrosiveness of sin. The strange subtitles, some handwritten, only add to the atmosphere. And if you're blown away by the deadpan comedy, prepare yourself for an ending that will leave you slack-jawed for days. The movie's a miracle.Hanyo's construction is inventive and completely unpredictable - a fascinating case-study on Confucian ethics. It's so good that Martin Scorsese and other sponsors funded a complete restoration of the old print, which includes painstakingly subtitle tracks. They did an outstanding job restoring a problematic print that was at the same time extremely rare.You should be able to catch a free streaming video that's fully authorized. (http://www.theauteurs.com/films/2039)Or better yet, the DVD has just been released, and contains additional material about its restoration

Suicides, attempted suicides, blackmail, murder, attempted murder, adultery, paranoia -- the goings-on in this bizarre and fascinating melodrama put even MANJI to shame.No wonder one critic calls director Kim "Douglas Sirk on acid" -- while Western audiences may laugh at some of the overheated melodrama, this potboiler nonetheless is pretty wild for 1960, and manages to be both lurid and unforgettable. (It's also got one of the great death scenes *ever* -- see for yourself!)