BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

lasttimeisaw A remake of a classic masterpiece is always been a thankless task, but since half a century has passed since 1960, when Ki-young Kim's original version came out, it is a considerable and understandable timing to do it against all odds. With the A-list actress Do-young Kim on board, at least, tedium has been successfully blocked entirely through its 106 minute running time, plus I am plain oblivious to Ki-young's version, so no prejudice by preconceived ideas will hobble my judgment. The karma has its default value from the beginning, which startles its audience with a young girl's suicidal jump, prefigures the ominous fate of our protagonist, whose standpoint has been intentionally set as more of an aroused innocent (suggesting by the tantalizing finger foreplay from the male part and a waiting-naked seduction from the female part) than an adultery victim thanks to a modern metabolism which signifies female is not always the submissive counterpart of the male-dominant society. But the comprehensive tone is much or less conflicts with this setting, with would cause some ambiguous reading of the abruptly dark ending (the final birthday scenery has a moderately sidestepping deviation which cannot gratify an sublimating closing.The film strives to distill the trite storyline (with some patent slips, e.g. the medicine swapping is cursorily done, at least taking away some original potions to keep the amount even) and saves more spatial elasticity to its actors, and the most profitable beneficiaries are Do-yeon and Yeo- jeong, both shoulder the film's strength against banality elsewhere. Do-yeon also outshines in the graphically daring sex scenes with the over-beefy Jung-Jae Lee; while Yeo-jeong is the thunder-stealer here, endowing a supporting role with a show-stopper weightiness. I have quite a few storage of South Korean DVDs (mostly recent ones) which I am pretty eager to watch, THE HOUSEMAID is not in the top-tier, but one thing is certain, I am hunting the original version now.

mmushrm After watching this movie thats what I came away with. It looks good but thats about it. The plot seems straight out of a TV soap. In fact the characters, plot and storyline are staples of TV soaps in East Asia.A girl joins a rich family as a housemaid, she is seduced (and is a willing participant) by the husband. Maid gets pregnant and is found out. The "evil" mother in law (a staple of Asian soaps)schemes with her daughter the wife to make the maid lose her unborn child. maid vows revenge. Then an ending that makes no sense.And the scenes goes accordingly to the above, there is hardly any character or plot development. No suspense at all is generated. The ending comes suddenly as there is no lead up to it. Just a sudden horrendous action.I read in other reviews that the movie is alluding to a class struggle. I don't see it, it shows rich people behaving as they please which is again a staple of almost every movie or soap.I expected more from this movie and it did not deliver. Better to watch one of those Korean soaps that are so popular now.....and the ending actually reinforces that thought.

dromasca 'The Housemaid' is based on a Korean classic movie from the 60s which I have not seen, but which is referred to by many critics and viewers knowledgeable in Korean cinema. With no term of comparison I have the (maybe) advantage of judging the film by itself. As with many other Korean films it takes a well-known genre (the rich home family drama and the relation to the servants in the house) into directions unexpected for viewers accustomed to the European or American cinema styles.Eun-yi is a young woman from a poor background who takes a job into a house of people so rich that no pleasure seems to be refused to them from birth. Besides housemaid she is the caretaker for the only child of the rich couple, for the time being – as the lady of the house is expecting to give birth to twins sometimes soon. She soon will find herself as the alternate object of desire for the master of the house, and when she becomes pregnant she starts being perceived as a threat to the luxurious routine of the family life of the rich. The older servant in the house, the mother-in-law and the cheated wife will thread a plot to eliminate the danger. Her chances of successfully fighting back are minimal.Director Sang-soo Im had the privilege of building a full house of his dreams to describe the environment the rich live, which contrasts sharply with the few realistic shots in the modern city environment. The visuals he created, sets and colors are excellent and are part of the quality of the film. I personally also enjoyed the acting, with Do-yeon Jeon in the lead role the only character with human feelings and uncertainty I could relate to contrasted to the fantasies of the spoiled and the cool interest manner the other characters around behave. The psychological pressure amplified by the surrounding is well built, and provides the justification for this story which starts with a suicide and ends with another one. The film has also an epilogue which is left open for commentary – I read it as a supplementary touch of emphasis of the social commentary in the story. The director seems to have learned and integrated some of the lessons taken from great world cinema masters as Kubrick or Bunuel, but his voice is clear and original enough in this film to expect more in the future.

dbborroughs Off base remake of a classic Korean film concerns a young woman who gets a job working for a rich family and quickly ends up a mostly unwilling target for their games and in the case of the husband advances. Its soon a descent into depravity as she finds out that the rich aren't like other people.Since the original was made in 1960 I'm guessing that the film amps up the sex and violence- I'm pretty sure the ending isn't as graphic. I know the ending of this one left me kind of staring at the screen, and had me playing it again and again on my IFC in Theaters screening. It's one funky ending that seems to come from left field.As for the rest of the film I'm not sure what I make of it. The film is certainly crafted for effect- it's aiming to make us all feel uncomfortable- and it does from the WTF opening straight on until the ending. Is it any good? I don't know. It did have an effect on me but at the same time I felt manipulated. What happened- out side of the end- or the almost the end wasn't anything I couldn't figure out.The film is being promoted as rather sexy and it is, but to what effect. It seems more like a calculated move rather than something natural.Can you tell I'm mixed.I'm guessing that had the film not be so heavily promoted the last few months as a hot film in some circles I might have liked it more. As it stands now. Its okay, but nothing special.Your mileage will vary.