iThink...thereFore, iAm

And so I was kindly offered two tickets to go watch this Korean show “The Housemaid” by omy.sg - and promptly snapped them gleefully up!

Let me quantify that I’m not a fan of Korean shows or dramas. I think I’ve had enough real life drama already - but when I read the reviews of this film, I noticed this little bit:

starring Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Jeon Do-Yeon (全度研), actor Lee Jung-Jae (李政宰）and Korean Film Awards Best New Actress Seo-Woo (瑞雨)!

And so the movie buff in me went bonkers and I simply had to go watch it. Not to mention that the plot had great potential from a literary point of view (yes i’m a nerd). I’ve attended omy.sg’s invites before and so far i haven’t been disappointed with them.

In case the awards haven’t tipped you off, the acting was pretty well done - a vivid portrayed of the bleak and dark side of mankind that they pay off whatever evil they’ve done and try to hide it behind a facade of good intentions. Or sometimes not even that.

The housemaid Eun-yi is hired for a rich man’s family, apparently coming very accoladed and very well trained; you see no training having to be done on how to cook or do laundry and she gets to work right from the start. The wife of the master of the house is pregnant with twins, which makes *ahem* nocturnal activity a little tough. Obviously frustrated and craving, he takes to Eun-yi, coaxing her to sleep with him in subtle ways, playing with her emotions.

This is where, as all Korean dramas do, it gets messy - Eun-yi lets him play around with her. The head maid Mrs Cho (who is the only other maid in the house it seems) finds out and tells the mother-in-law. Warning siren #1. Mom-in-law steps into the situation and tells the wife, who is of course upset, but takes it out more on Eun-yi than the husband. Warning siren #2. Eun-yi speaks to her good friend about the situation, and actually expresses that she wants to continue staying and working in the house. Warning siren #3. Mom-in-law gives underhand means to get Eun-yi inspected, knocking her off a ladder on the second floor only to get her hospitalized and checked for pregnancy. Warning siren #4. By now you should be wondering why can’t this family just do things the proper way!

Quite the slew of malice and negativity starts flying around - the wife starts to go crazy and even attempts to use a golf club (?!) to smack Eun-yi in her sleep. Eun-yi then starts to sense that something scary is going on. Mrs Cho has her share of trying to care for Eun-yi but is restrained by her status as the maid to the employers, and has to force herself to be cold to her at times, also because she was the one who revealed the situation in the first place. The wife (whose name I can’t remember, if it was mentioned at all) puts laced herbal medicine along with Eun-yi’s stash of herbal medicine and poisons her so that her unborn baby is lost, and that drives Eun-yi insane. The husband finds out what was done and scolds the mother-in-law for killing the child - yes, he actually wants to keep the child and thinks that he is totally justified in doing what he did. One scene portrays him shouting at the mother-in-law, saying “is it not my child if it is not born by your daughter? How dare you presume to do as you wish!” but both the mother in law and the wife endure his attitude because they want to enjoy the status and wealth of being in his family. =\

The story ends with Mrs Cho leaving the house, insulting all the family as she quits her job, and Eun-yi going totally insane from what has happened to her baby. She plays with the newborn twins, and wanders around the house before hanging herself in front of the entire family in a rather dramatic fashion - the rope is tied to the chandelier, and just when you think the noose isn’t tight enough and she will drop to the floor, she sets herself on fire while dangling from there. The movie closes with a final scene - the entire family outdoors but on fancy chairs, celebrating the first daugher’s birthday, though the atmosphere is that of gloom and cold malice.

My comments on the show? Storyline was a little predictable - i have to say most dramas are like that. But what i really enjoyed was the portrayal in the acting and the MOST EXCELLENT filmography - the angles and settings and lighting in which each scene were taken captured just the essence that was required. You don’t so much see what is going on as much as you feel what is supposed to be felt - the same location at different times can seem peaceful and then later creepy. Not to mention Eun-yi was very well played and the expressions of despair, desolation, innocence and betrayal were all very strongly and very well done! Definitely deserving of a Cannes Film Festival Award. Even in the ending, it seems as if Eun-yi had not left the family alone - the damage portrayed in the dull colours and lack of shelter in the environment seems to show that something permanent has taken effect.

The nuances of the show are something that takes practice to pick up on - the film feels more of a French art film than a Korean drama (and that’s a good thing) aside from the fact that the people are all asian and the language is obviously Korean. I think the innocence of the children and Eun-yi were well brought out, and the dark side of humankind accentuated and exaggerated: my companion and i were contemplating whether there was hope for mankind after the show! :P

The worst part of the movie? The R21 scenes. Ugh. Not only was it unnecessary - but it also made it hard to find someone to go to the show with. =\