Well, "The Bacchus Lady" (aka "Jug-yeo-j-neun Yeo-ja") turned out to be something else alright. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this 2016 South Korean drama from writer and director Je-yong Lee. I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to now in 2020 as I had the chance to sit down and watch it. But it being a South Korean movie was actually all that was needed for me to sit down and watch it.
And I must admit that this movie is unique and definitely well-worth taking the time to sit down to watch. Keep in mind that the movie runs at 1 hour and 50 minutes and the storyline is a fairly slow-paced one, so "The Bacchus Lady" might not be appealing to just everyone in the audience. But give it a chance at least.
The storyline is one that have a lot of aspects and layers to it. It is centered around the life of an aging woman whom works as a prostitute. She has a lot of baggage with her, and the audience are brought along for glimpses into the troubled past as well. But it is not only a storyline about an aging prostitute, it is also the story of a woman with a heart of gold and willingness to give in abundance despite of not having much to give. Then comes the sub-plots to the story, about the off-beat characters that live in the same apartment building, the disabled young man and the post-operated transsexual, as well as the story of the abandoned foreign child taken in and cared for by the aging prostitute.
"The Bacchus Lady" is a movie that is driven by a rather complex storyline and some heavy character performances by some good actors and actresses. I must admit that I was really impressed with the performance put on by leading actress Yuh-Jung Youn.
I think this 2016 movie is a hidden gem in the South Korean cinema, and it is definitely a movie that you should check out if you have an interest in a multi-layered movie that proves more than just high speed chases, insane action sequences and flashing special effects. This is definitely a movie for movie-lovers.
"The Bacchus Lady" was a nice surprise, and I was definitely entertained by the storyline. However, the movie's pacing was somewhat of a struggle for me, because it just felt that the movie was taking forever to make any progress, and that ultimately reflected poorly on the overall enjoyment of the movie.
My rating of "The Bacchus Lady" is a six out of ten stars. The slow pacing of the story prohibits me from rating it higher, though the storyline definitely is worth it. I can warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down to watch writer and director Je-yong Lee's 2016 movie if you find yourself with the opportunity to do so.
