The Housemaid

In this remake of a popular 1960 Korean film of the same name, Jeon Do-Yeon plays the titular character, Eun-yi, who is hired as an upper class family housemaid, tasked to take care of the family's small daughter and her pregnant mother, Hae-ra (Seo Woo). Overseeing her efforts is Byung-sik (Yun Yeo-jung), an older housemaid who has been with the family for a long time and holds many secrets. Hoon (Lee Jung Jae), the master of the house, takes advantage of his social position and begins a secret affair with Eun-yi. Once it is discovered Eun-yi may be pregnant, Mi-hee, Hae-ra's mother, plots a way to get rid of Eun-yi's unborn baby despite Eun-yi's wish to keep it and leave the house.

While the original film was a suspense thriller, this one isn't quite as easy to pinpoint. While there are aspects of an erotic thriller, this film is partly a character study and a satire about class struggle. The film starts off with a random suicide as a girl jumps off a roof onto the busy street. This event isn't really related to the main plot, unfortunately (which I admit would have been more interesting to follow up on). The scene portrays a cold, apathetic society as kids pull out their cell-phones to take a picture. Thus, the film starts off with a bit of a dark, off-kilter, cynical feel.

One of director Im Sang-soo's previous films, The President's Last Bang, was a satire focusing on the assassination of the dictatorial Korean president Park Chung Hee. While this film isn't particularly comedic as that film, it has elements which seem heavy-handed and too outrageous to take seriously. As a thriller, it isn't very convincing. One of the obvious problems is the portrayal of Eun-yi, who is shown here as sympathetic, naïve, and more of a victim, the opposite of the original. Unlike the rich folks, who eventually take advantage of her, she is likable and kind.

Jeon Do-Yeon does well with the role that is written for her. As good and fine as she is in almost every role she plays, it truly would have been something special to see her play a really mean, nasty character—there is no doubt it would have been a wonderful departure and a suitable challenge for this talented actress. Then again, I suppose it's like asking Natalie Portman to play Annie Wilkes from Misery. It's just unimaginable. Would it have been cool to see? Of course. The real villain role is given to Hae-ra's mother, Mi-hee. She plays the all-too-familiar "evil stepmother" role that appears to frequent Korean TV dramas as of late. Yun Yeo-jung is memorable as the older housemaid, Byung-sik, who remains constantly interesting and complex. Lee Jung Jae plays the rich master role with aplomb and brings subtlety to what is relatively a simplified and underused character. Advertisement

The film has some great visuals, particularly the interiors of the mansion, full of deep reds and whites. The camera work is hand-held and rougher near the beginning, particularly in the street scenes, and becomes more static and calculated as the film focuses more on the rich family. The film is sexually-charged and the seedy nature of the relationship between Eun-yi and Hoon, along with their motives, is never quite explained.

The story is overly simple, I felt, and I expected more twists, more believable characterization, more thrills, or something. The problem with satire is that it often pulls the audience away from fully engaging with the story or the characters, an issue that doesn't particularly work in a thriller. Perhaps it might have been better if this had not been a remake. I would guess that the fear of comparison with the original could bring a director to go the complete opposite direction in the newer film or try to turn what may be a simple story into high art (and appear intelligent). I just wish they'd just make it better by changing the name, the plot, and…well, simply being a whole new film. I suppose on the positive side, a remake does introduce a new generation of audiences to check out the original. In this particular case, I'd love to see the original just to see how much better it is than this film.

The buzz on this film is ringing out loud. A remake of the original film by Kim Ki-young, widely considered one of the top Korean films of all time, this updated version by Im Sang- soo is a lot more revealing and explicit in nature for the modern audience probably sensitized to it, being one of the films selected for competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and its two limited screenings during our Korean Film Festival were one of the earliest to have sold out. Needless to say it makes good sense for a commercial release here.

The premise is simple, where Eun-yi (Jeon Do-yeon) got invited by Byung-sik (Yun Yeo-Jong) to serve in an uber-rich household made up of three members - the master of the house Hoon (Lee Jung-jae), his very pregnant wife Haera (Seo Woo) expecting a pair of twins due anytime soon and hence the need for an extra help around the house, and their daughter Nami (Ahn Seo-hyeon) with whom Eun-yi forms a strong friendship with, since a child is non-judgemental on someone's background and social standing.

As much as most would like Eun-yi, a divorcée, to enter the household and see an opportunity to seduce Hoon, this is not that movie, and neither was that the motivation at all. We see the fairly impoverished background that Eun-yi came from, and living amongst the rich and powerful provided a chance to live the high life, since the family is extremely wasteful. With Byung-sik showing her the ropes necessary to do her job, from the bowing to the serving, the cleaning and being at the beck and call of the household members, the hardship probably is well worth it for the perks that come with the job, ones that are beyond the reach of ordinary folks.

So when things turn, you'll find yourself wondering the exact motivation she allowed herself to open up (pardon the pun) to the come hither of the master of the house, who has a penchant for alcohol and being brought up with a silver spoon, there's no such thing as a No to any of his request, although on the outside he may be that rich gentleman, it's not far- fetched to think that these folks would consider money as the basis for all things going their way, and money being the basis to bail themselves out of trouble, and to keep the mouth of others shut. Money as the root of all evil, probably couldn't be more true here if those with the means decide to abuse it, given the mindset of theirs that they can always get away from the blame game.

But what's more engaging in the film is the power play amongst the characters, who are well, mostly female, fawning over the attention, the riches and the ability of what the man in their life can offer. There's Byung-sik being extremely envious with her protégé she introduced to the household, being the unjaded hard and younger worker who earns the trust of the family, and probably she had wanted to show the young upstart her place in the hierarchy established. And of course the main cusp of the problems Eun-yi will face stem from the child in her, threatening the balance of power especially that of mistresses and maid, with stuff that's what television melodramas get made of. To the audience, we don't feel that Eun- yi is of the scheming type, but to the other women, here's a chance of their objectives being detailed by something most unfortunate, a major threat that can come sooner or later in their lives that they have to act, and stop now.

Jeon Do-yeon deserves all the acting accolades she has received thus far for her role, and we feel the pain she has to go through in having traumatic experiences forced upon her just because she's in no position to bargain, until the defining moment in the finale where she gains the upper hand but at what a price at scarring the family for life. I haven't seen Lee Jung-jae in action since Il Mare, and here he does an about turn in a negative role that portrays the caddish behaviour of someone who has it all, while the young Seo Woo portrays the wife that's quite reasonable to begin with, that typical tai-tai but with innocence, until hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

It is the power struggles and the changing of the household dynamics that makes The Housemaid an engaging watch as we witness an internal rot that was waiting to happen. While it may not reach the heights of Kim Ki-young's original, Im Sang-soo's version still keeps things tight and is a wonderful exploration of how perceived threats redefines relationships especially that amongst those with material benefits. Recommended!

The Housemaid (2010)

In all, this is an enchanting, disturbing, slightly above-the-fray look at a highly elite family and the interactions of mother, father, young daughter, and slightly sinister servant. And the new, young, naturally beautiful "housemaid" which is what makes this movie what it is.

It has become so customary to film--shoot cinematographically--at the highest technical and aesthetic level, you sometimes wonder about how a story would subsist without all the visual excess. This is a dramatic, personal story about rich people abusing a good-hearted young woman who becomes their maid. But it is dressed in such elegant, beautiful, truly beautiful visuals, the story takes on an elevation that makes it what it is, something beyond.

You have to decide whether that's a good thing or not.

By the truly astonishing and almost preposterous end you'll be giddy with the slow, careful, deliberate prettiness of it all. I know this second-to-last scene is not meant to be preposterous, but like the key turning point on the ladder halfway through, there is a detachment from the family members that defies and upsets the apparent human intensity implied elsewhere. I suppose the very last scene, which (in its ultra-wide angle shooting) is unlike anything else in the movie, takes us to intentional absurdity, making what we've seen surreal, and in that sense we might revisit the movie and its intentions differently.

It doesn't help to analyze the plot in particular. It's an old story--and better developed, narratively, in several other movies. The beautiful young maid is disruptive, even without trying, eventually drawing the father into the inevitable, and the mother, too, in her own way. A mother-in-law takes on an evil role, but with such cool and prettified distance it's hard to quite feel. And this movie really has at its core the problem of being understood rather than felt.

The leading character--the housemaid--is absolutely sympathetic and well done. (This is Do-Yeon Jeon, a Korean actress with little exposure in Western cinema.) You do get the sense that this is a "knowing" film throughout--it has the intentions of being a serious new Korean film. And it is based, loosely, on one of the truly great Korean classic movies, a 1960 movie with the same name. Here, though, you'll definitely find a coolness and a lack of true emotional involvement that runs counter to the high production values. It's a film that could have been something much more than it ended up being, in terms of content at least. But it's totally engaging in its steady slowness, so if you like films partly for being well shot, give this a try.

This was my first Do-yeon Jeon film and I wasn't sure what to expect but I was blown away by the intensity of the films bleak undertones. Do-yeon plays the part marvelously and there are other impressive performances from Seo-Hyeon Ahn and Yeo-Jong Yun.

I sat riveted throughout while it twisted and turned down its sometimes too obvious narrative path.

The rather theatrical ending was a bit of a surprise but didn't spoil the films impact too much.

I have yet see the other Do-yeon Jeon films but based on this performance I can't wait.

The synopsis for this movie seemed interesting and alluring, and it initially made me purchase the movie from Amazon. Being a fan of Asian cinema, it is always nice to stumble upon something new and (hopefully) interesting.

Such was hardly the case for "The Housemaid".

The story was below average, although it held no major surprises. And what carried the movie was the acting performances, as the storyline itself was just barely scraping to get by. And without giving away anything here, but the ending to that movie was just ludicrous. I hadn't seen that coming, I will give the director that much, but come on, that was just ridiculous.

The DVD cover even has "a sexy thriller" branded on it. Hmmm, let's think about that for a second. Sexy? Well perhaps by Korean standard, but hardly by Western. Thriller? Ehm, that would be a big, blunt no!

I was less than impressed with the movie, and it wasn't really all that entertaining. It was easy to have one's attention drifting elsewhere. The better parts of the movie was the acting, as the people cast for the roles were doing good jobs, plus the characters themselves were interesting - but they just weren't given the time or space to fully develop on the screen.

In overall, then "The Housemaid" seems like a movie that wanted to tell a deeper story, but had to suffer from limited time or lack of creative ideas. Regardless, then there are far better Korean movies available.