The Housemaid

This reminded me of Ki-duk Kim films and the visual style of Park Chan-wook films. It's basically a remake of the 1960's movie, that basically has to do with the downfall of a housemaid from working in some rich guy's house. Although the 2010 version differs from the original in many aspects, but that doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing because it has it's own style to hold it's own. Jeon Do-Yeon plays a sweethearted and kind housemaid that grew up in a harsh environment and tries to make a living by becoming a housemaid. Her performance was amazing and Seo Woo did a decent job of playing the spoiled brat as always. And later gets tormented by the wife and the wife's mother of the house, in a very vicious manner. In fact the whole family is crazy except the daughter. This is a dark movie with a handful of sex scenes and graphic parts. There are few foreshadowing in this, but the end irritated me, because karma does not come into play. But it just shows the dark side to reality.

7.9/10

The Housemaid tells an erotic tale of seduction, affair and scheming people all out to get their own way. Do-yeon Jeon plays Eun-Yi Li who is hired as a maid for an extravagant rich family - the wife is currently pregnant with two twin boys, they already have a little daughter and the husband is a very business businessman but just so happens to have time to fool with many women (supposedly) and one of them...surprise! just happens to be Eun-Yi.

The storyline is pretty typical and you can see where things will go so it didn't come as a surprise to me at all. What the film touches on is the schemes of the high class society in terms of their lifestyle and thinking that money can usually solve their problems. It also touches on the fact that the upper class often have not a lot of time on their hands - but not much really to do with it to entertain themselves.

The flaw of this film is that the main character of Eun-Yi - I didn't particularly sympathise with her. I guess it is because I found her decisions a bit stupid and you didn't really know much about her besides the fact that she was of lower class and really likes kids. In fact, I sort of didn't really hate the wife of the husband as she was actually quite decent to Eun-Yi, though you obviously can see that she is a victim in terms of her husband's infidelities.

One character that stood out for me was Miss Cho - who is the head housemaid in the mansion. You first see her as a very strict, no nonsense type of woman but during the film you see how she also is highly observant (typical butler/maid nosiness) and also has her fair share of mixed feelings towards the inhabitants of the house.

Now for the ending - won't spoil anything here. I can see why some people feel that the ending doesn't really do the film justice - I agreed at first but the more you think about it - the more the message is there. The ending I think really gets its message in the fact that the upper class can easily forget things and get on with their repetitive lives thinking they are on top and their materialism will drown out all bad memories or problems. The ending certainly won't work for some and while I feel more could have been put into it, it certainly does leave an impression the more you think about it.

The film is not perfect - a lot of decisions Eun-Yi makes didn't really make me feel empathetic due to the fact that I think she isn't a highly likable character nor a partcularly interesting one - they are sort of card board cut outs in my opinion.

Overall however, this is simply a film about a love affair and the consequences of it - I don't blame you if you watch this and you feel like 'this is something I've seen before too many times'.

A South Korean soap opera, The Housemaid is a combination of Fatal Attraction, In the Mood for Love, and myriad other adultery thrillers. Its sensual sheen and quiet sexuality underpin a grim war between servants and the ruling class with no one winning.

Adapted from an earlier Korean version by director Sang-soo Im, it tells of naïve Eun-yi (Jeon Do-yuon) being hired as a maid in a wealthy household, whose head, Hoon (Jung-Jae-Lee), takes her as a love interest while his pregnant wife comes to term and the other ladies gradually find out that Eun-yi is pregnant as well. While the house is meticulously modern and opulent, an undercurrent of evil runs through it as if it were a Poe tale.

Although at times Housemaid moves slowly, especially in the mid section, no audience could be indifferent to the haughty treatment of the servants by the rich, who treat them as you might think Thomas Jefferson treated his own slaves, with decorum but decidedly selfish and cruel. Eun-yi is not totally innocent, for she enjoys the master's attention, and Hoon can be partially forgiven because of the harpies like his wife and mother-in-law, who treat him like a child, or in the case of his wife, ignore his sexual needs except to create children. That he plays a mean classical piano and drinks wine like an aristocrat used to the fineness of wealth, Hoon is partially an animal of the lowest order, giving in to his appetites protected by his wealth and his ladies.

The final moments are the payoff as most everyone in not spared humiliation or violence. Although the connection between the opening and closing is a bit too much of a figurative and literal connection, The Housemaid holds up admirably as Gothic horror in a modern Asian setting replaying the themes of class conflict and revenge.

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!

You'd better watch the original movie, 'The Housemaid' directed by Ki-Young Kim in 1960, which is one of the first and finest Korean movie I've seen so far. Compared to the original version, The Housemaid (2010) is really deceiving.

The first hour is OK, but then it gets really boring, even though the acting isn't that bad. It's just a pity that such good actors' talent was wasted (see Do-Yeon Jeon in 'Sunshine (2007)' and Jung-Jae Lee in 'New World (2013)').

Not to mention the ending, which reminded me Brian De Palma's 'The Fury', deceiving too.