1960 | 109 MIN | Drama, Thriller 

DIRECTOR KIM Ki-young

CAST LEE Eun-shim, KIM Jin-kyu, JU Jeung-ryu

RELEASE DATE November 3, 1960

CONTACT Korean Film Archive

Tel +82 2 3153 2001

Fax +82 2 3153 2080

Email kofa@koreafilm.or.kr

KIM Ki-young was one of the few Korean filmmakers working outside the mainstream industry in the 1960s and 1970s. As Bastian MEIRESONNE notes in Hallyuwood: The Ultimate Guide to Korean Cinema, he was considered too slow, too meticulous, and therefore too expensive. However, financially supported by his wife, KIM was able to concentrate on exploring human impulses and psychological tensions in his own productions. A prime example of this approach is his landmark feature, The Housemaid, which is also the first part of the so-called "Housemaid Trilogy" with Woman of Fire (1971) and Woman of Fire '82 (1982). Widely regarded as a masterpiece of Korean cinema, it has inspired numerous directors, including IM Sang-soo, who directed an official remake in 2010, and BONG Joon-ho, who stated in an interview with NPR that Parasite (2019) was, in part, a tribute to this classic picture.

Based on a real incident from the 1950s, the film opens with a married couple (KIM Jin-kyu and JU Jeung-ryu) discussing a newspaper article about a maid seducing the man of the household – an idea they initially find amusing. Mr. Kim is a piano teacher popular with his female students, Mrs. Kim works from home as a dressmaker, and together with their two children, Chang-soon (AHN Sung-ki) and Ae-soon (LEE Yoo-ri), they form a happy middle-class family. However, when Mr. Kim hires Myung-sook (LEE Eun-shim) to help with chores, the atmosphere in the household begins to change.

What starts as a melodrama focused on unfulfilled romantic desires gradually evolves into a psychological thriller, eventually taking on elements of horror. The performances are solid though distinctly theatrical, primarily due to the dialogue that often feels stiff, as if the actors are delivering lines rather than engaging in natural conversation. Only slightly developed characters serve as simple pieces of the narrative, which is focused on building the tension and surprising the audience. Myung-sook embodies the archetypal femme fatale, driven by the desire for social advancement. Mr. Kim appears distinguished yet weak-willed, somehow still exercising patriarchal authority, whereas Mrs. Kim seems fragile and innocent but turns out to be capable of cold manipulation. Even the children are presented negatively – Chang-soon mocks both his older sister and the housemaid, while Ae-soon herself shows willingness to hurt others.

Packed with characters and dramatic turns, the narrative centres on a passive and incapable man and the turmoil around him fuelled by actions of women – from the love letter written by one of his pupils, through the disruption caused by Myung-sook, to Mrs. Kim's attempts to at least save the appearance of a functioning family. Beneath its sensational surface, the film tackles the themes deeply rooted in the aftermath of the Korean War. At a time of economic hardship and rapid modernization, with women constituting an increasing part of the workforce, it reflects the anxieties of a society, such as class conflict and new gender dynamics. These narrative threads are not fully developed, which, together with sometimes confusing storytelling, makes the message of The Housemaid difficult to figure out, especially without knowledge of the aforementioned context. It's not clear whether KIM tries to criticize the changing times, the current social hierarchy, the new middle or the lower social class, the ruthlessness of women characters or the passiveness of men. Although, leaving the audience room for interpretation might be an advantage of the whole story.

Cinematographer KIM Deok-jin enhances this uneasy atmosphere through well-composed shots of the claustrophobic interior, where Myung-sook walks between rooms, spying on her employers' private lives and then plots. Dramatic zoom-ins and zoom-outs with ominous orchestral music heighten the tension in a style typical of thrillers of the era. In the midst of all this well-shot commotion, only the piano, a visual symbol of the middle-class ambitions of the Westernized Korean citizens, seems to remain unbothered.

Fearing censorship, KIM initially hesitated to create The Housemaid, but did so when artistic restrictions eased during the presidency of YUN Po-sun. It premiered on November 3, 1960, and became one of the year's biggest box-office successes, selling over 100,000 tickets. Despite that, the association with a cursed-out character proved difficult to overcome for LEE. After the commercial failure of the next two films in which she appeared, along with her doubts regarding presented acting skills, her career came to a premature end. Unknown to the wider circle of contemporary film enthusiasts for many years, The Housemaid was restored in 2008 by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) in association with The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, and subsequently screened at many festivals, such as Cannes Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Busan International Film Festival.

Written by Tobiasz Dunin

Edited by kofic