lee jung-jae (also known as sam kang) as hoon, the rich husband

jeon do-yeon as eun-yi (the housemaid) washing the madam’s hair

byeong-sik, as “miss cho”the main maid and eun-yi (the new housemaid)

the original poster from the 1960’s film hanyeo by korean director kim ki-young

it’s not often these days that i spend two hours of my time on a film and feel happy that i did… housemaid is a great new korean film by director im sang-soo based on a remake of the original 1960’s film, praised as “marvelous… extraordinary image…” comparing the korean director to luis bunuel. the remake by sang-soo is equally amazing and up to date, not only for its sparse dialogue and unconventional story, but also for its visual style. the film competed for the palme d’or at the cannes and is worthy of your precious time. the story is about a wealthy korean family who bring on a young maid into their fold. in time, this reveals the bourgeois family’s true colors. beautifully styled and filmed on location, it’s at times surreal but never unreal. i couldn’t help but think of “the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie” while watching it, except i must confess i enjoyed this more than its french counterpart. a great recent film to indulge in if you haven’t already seen it. deserves a place in the “must be considered films” section on TS indeed. by dd