Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

calvinnme ... and this one truly did besides being as intense a psychological study as Joseph Losey's "The Servant". I am generally unscareable and though I appreciate the talent in films like "The Exorcist" which can frighten others, for me it always falls flat as I must have been born repeating the advertising line from "Last House on the Left" stating "Remember...it is only a movie, it is only a movie." So the fact that this was both fascinating as a character study and scary enough to make one bejeeberless was impressive.I actually jumped in my seat at one point in "The Housemaid" and will never look at packages of rat poison the same or even filled glasses of water or some simple rice in a bowl. This psychological masterpiece can cause heart palpitations and I can't even imagine it could be improved in a remake. I kept thinking that the "housemaid" and her unfathomable facial expressions were reminiscent of the maid to Francisco Rabal in Bunuel's "Viridiana" and it was fun to hear the post film comments saying Ki-Young was sometimes compared to Luis.All in all, I'm so glad I stayed up and watched it in the middle of the night. Sure I could have watched it at a different time, but there's something right about watching a film like that in total darkness and my only complaint regarded the end, but I won't quibble since I also dig films like "The Woman in the Window".

FilmCriticLalitRao South Korean director Kim Ki Young's film 'Hanyo'/ The Housemaid is a serious family film which needs to be watched by all members of any family. As this film is absolutely pertinent due to its brutal yet frank treatment of what makes or breaks a family, it is expected that both husbands and wives would make efforts to watch it. Director Kim's film impressed viewers to such an extent that even assistance came in the form of American director Martin Scorcese's World Cinema Foundation. As a film which chose to describe marital relations and their consequences on a married couple, Hanyo is a bold film of its times. One must bear in mind that it was made at a time when revolutionary ideas were in the air. The emotions found in contemporary South Korean films are all reflections of a nation's psyche. From that point of view, it can be said that Hanyo is no exception to the rule. It has its own fair share of controversial elements including neurotic persons. All characters have mean qualities including the couple's two children who are constantly bullying each other. Lastly, no particular group or person is favored as director Kim Ki Young depicted how everybody has reasons to do anything for safeguarding the family's interests.

Rodrigo Amaro "Hanyo" ("The Housemaid") works like a very good piece of classical music: It has a slow beginning that seems to go forever, then it adds some crescendos here and there to makes us alarmed, creating a thrilling suspense and a dramatic situation that leads to a powerful and killer ending. You might applause after all that, both the music and the film because when you see the whole picture you realize what a wonderful and memorable works of art they are.The housemaid of the title is a dangerous female student who enters in the life of a married piano teacher trying to get love from him, no matter if the teacher's wife and kids will suffer so that they can be together. The teacher is controlled by both housemaid and the wife, and he needs to make a decision fast before things get worse for everyone. Here's a story about the value of family in the middle of betrayals, delusions, obsession, tradition, real love versus psychotic forms of love, and plenty of more keywords you may think. At times "Fatal Attraction" appeared in my mind since there's a significant similarity between both films, and if the story sounds like cliché it is but you must see how it works and who is working with. We're talking about a Korean film and as some of us know, Asian females in older films didn't have the kind of roles the women had in here, powerful and energetic characters that almost boss around with the only men in the story like he was a puppy dog. And the villain? Oh boy! She was one of the most dramatic and perfectly well written villains of all time. Frightening, desperate to the point of threatening the teacher's kids who gets suspicious of everything she serves to them thinking they might get poisoned, this woman knows how to find a answer to everything in order to ruin people's lives, from false rumors to murder.Don't be let down by the slowness of the first half hour (the characters introduction), try to stay focused all the time and you'll be totally surprised until the very last minute. This is a great film! 9/10

Atavisten A hardworking but successful happy family encounter big drama when their house gets so big they need a housemaid to be on the top of things. Hanyo starts off typical for it's time (in Korea) with a clear distinction of class and desires for climbing socially. I was a little worried if it could be worth the acclaim in the beginning, but it creeps in on you soon enough with hitchcockian tension, slapstick humour and lyrical sequences reminiscent of Yasujiro Ozu.The housemaid herself is amazing, she lures you, twists you around her little finger and disgusts you at the same time. The special east-Asian resignation towards tragic fate makes it double tragic and by the end you'll be gasping for breath.I also warmly recommend the 2010 version of hanyo which is not as much a remake as a inventive homage, they go very well together.