Hwanyeo

Kim Ki-young's "The Housemaid", made in 1960, was a classic of Korean cinema: South Korean, that is -- North Korean films don't bear thinking about. Kim re-worked the tale twice, in this 1971 film and in "The Housemaid '82." I was keen to see "Woman on Fire" as it was the first film of Yuon Yuh-jung, who won last year's Oscar as best supporting actress for "Minari." It made her a star, but she didn't work much until 2002. Since then she's made many films, including six for Im Sang-soo, one being his 2010 remake of "The Housemaid" (in a different role, of course) "Woman on Fire" was a sorry disappointment. A young girl from the country goes to Seoul in search of a better life, and is hired by a well-to-do couple. He writes pop songs and she has a huge hen farm (in the middle of Seoul?!) The early scenes fail to grip, while the look of the film, and the interior of the couple's home in particular, reminds us that the '70s were dubbed "The Decade that Taste Forgot." I walked out after about half an hour. This isn't the only example of a director re-working his most famous film and trashing it: George Sluizer did the same with his Hollywood remake of his stunning "The Vanishing." He at least could blame the studio, which had his 1993 version written by an American , while Sluizer had scripted the original himself. Kim has no such excuse, having written this film himself.

I haven't seen Kim's 1982 version. I can recommend his black and white original and Im's 2010 version, but not this one.

Even though not my favorite type of story I did enjoy it a lot.. Especially the maid I found very interesting. Acting and so on is quite good but you will not see anything in this story you have not seen before in others of these kind of movies. But still i found it a bit over average and I was fully entertained for the duration of the movie. Maybe not a movie you should spend long time searching for but if it is on a channel near you then give it a try.

With this film,director Kim Ki-young updated his earlier film 'The Housemaid' (1960), which was a black-and-white melodrama about a middle-class family torn asunder by the intrusion of a seductive, manipulative femme fatale. As great as that film is, I personally prefer 'Hwanyo' or 'Woman of Fire'. Here, the oversaturated colours - blues and reds in particular - and the superb cinematography deepen the exploration of the characters. Also, the new housemaid is here a victim of male violence, rather than the highly eroticised agent of chaos of the original film. Those who admired Youn Yuh-jung's Oscar-winning performance in 'Minari' will enjoy seeing her in 'Woman of Fire' as sweet and innocent young woman driven mad by trauma, shame and desire.

Kim Ki-young works in a similar register as Oshima Nagisa, the great Japanese modernist, yet his films are even more committed to melodrama. He explores connections between late capitalism, modernism and sexual and erotic tension.

'Woman of Fire' is a sadly unwatched classic of Korean cinema. Clearly not for everyone, it would perhaps appeal more to fans of Fassbinder, Pasolini, and Imamura.