DVD REVIEW: The Housemaid

 

Korean director Sang-soo Im shocked audiences with his 2005 film The President’s Last Bang. Censors even went as far as to demand four minutes of  “documentary” footage be cut because it suggested that this work of fiction was actually non-fiction. While that film was a dark comedy focused on the assassination of South Korea’s president Park Chung Hee, The Housemaid turns his gaze towards the hypocrisy of the upper class in his loose remake of Ki-young Kim’s 1960 film.

Do-yeon Jeon stars as Eun-yi, a young woman hired by Hae Ra (pregnant with twins) and Hoon to look after their daughter, Nami. It isn’t long before Eun-yi’s warmth, in direct contrast to Hae Ra’s cold beauty, wins over Nami and piques the interest of Hoon who begins to explore the possibility of having an affair with his new housemaid. Eun-yi is won over by Hoon’s wealth and the glamorous world that he inhabits. The affair quickly escalades but when another maid catches Hoon and Eun-yi having sex the fantasy spirals into a nightmare.

The Housemaid is essentially an art-house soap opera. The performances are quite good, particularly from Jeon, the cinematography has an appealing glossy look and the film’s ending is something that demands to be seen but the characters are rigid and are driven by cliché or whatever will bring about the most dramatic consequence. I believe this is exactly what Im intended as it suggests that the upper class is driven by emotional disconnection and are quite different from the working class Eun-yi. The problem with this choice is that it makes the events that drive the plot extremely predictable. Well, predictable up until Im offers up an ending that is both horrific and wildly over the top.

Bonus features are limited to a theatrical trailer and a short ‘making of’ featurette focuses primarily on Jeon.