Woman of Fire (Hwanyeo) (1971)
 Director : Kim Ki-Young
Production Company : Woo Jin Films Co., Ltd
Date of Rate : 1970-12-31
Running Time : 98 min.
Genre : Mystery
Staff :
Screenplay(Adaptation) : Kim Ki-Young
Producer : Jeong Jin-Woo
Cast(Actor/Actress) :
NamGung Won, Yoon Yeo-Jeong, Jeon Kye-Hyeon
Synopsis
Near a poultry farm just outside of Seoul, the bodies of Dong-sik and Myeong-ja are found with twelve stab wounds. The police conclude that the murders were committed during a robbery, and begin their investigation. Myeong-ja (Yoon Yeo-jeong) takes an unpaid position as a housemaid for poultry farmer Jeong-suk (Jeon Kye-hyeon), in exchange for the latter's promise to find her a good husband. While Jeong-suk is visiting her parents, her husband Dong-sik (Nam Koong-won), who is a composer, receives the sexual advances of aspiring singer Hye-ok, who tries to seduce him in order to get a song. At that moment, Myeong-ja, who has been instructed by Jeong-suk to keep an eye on her husband, intervenes and kicks Hye-ok out of the house. But Dong-sik rapes Myeong-ja and she finds herself with child. Dong-sik apprises his wife of the fact, the Jeong-suk forces Myeong-ja to have an abortion. Jeong-suk eventually gives birth to her own child, and neglects Myeong-ja. Angered, she kills Dong-sik and Jeong-suk's son, Chang-sun, in retribution. Jeong-suk retaliates by attempting to kill Myeong-ja with rat poison, but is entrapped by the latter's machinations and placed in a compromising position. When Myeong-ja accidentally commits murder, she makes it look like Dong-sik is the culprit. To protect her family, Jeong-suk gives Dong-sik over to Myeong-ja and takes care of the body. But the police find the body near the river and come after Jeong-suk and company. Dong-sik and Myeong-ja commit suicide, and Jeong-suk stabs their bodies to make it appear as if there was a robbery, in an attempt to protect her family's honor. The true facts of the case come to light, and Jeong-suk collapses, wailing, in the rain-drenched street.
Notes
 "The most problematic film in the Housemaid Trilogy and a rediscovered cult classic, Woman of Fire represents themes of sexual repression and class conflict between a middle-class family and a country maid in the context of Korea's modernization."
Woman of Fire is the second installment in director Kim Ki-young's trademark Housemaid Trilogy, which comprises The Housemaid (Hanyeo, 1960), Woman of Fire (Hwanyeo, 1971), and Hwa-nyuh of '82 (Hwanyeo '82, 1982). Although the movie's basic storyline is similar to that of its predecessor, Woman of Fire is even more bizarre, and places more emphasis on the psychological disaster than on the situation itself. Whereas the concluding scene in The Housemaid shows that the protagonist was merely imagining the details of the murder case he read in the newspaper and wraps up the film with his narration, Woman of Fire begins with the police's investigation and concentrates on the solving of the case, thus providing a more accessible structure for a popular audience. The chickens on the poultry farm function at once as the livelihood of Jeong-suk's middle-class family and a background device driving Myeong-ja and the audience into an uncanny state of mind. All of the middle-class family's efforts to protect itself end up pushing it outside the boundaries of normalcy, and its intention to exploit the country maid likewise leads it to destruction through the very incorporation of her alien presence. Opting for an expressionistic and psychological approach in lieu of a direct one, Kim Ki-young reveals, through the twisted desires of his characters, the oppressive and bizarre state of the middle classes that were born in the course of Korea's modernization.
Director Bio: Kim Ki-young (1921-1998)
 Through his horror movies, The housemaid (Hanyeo) and Chungnyeo (Chungnyeo), director Kim Ki-young created a unique visual world with materials that the limited visual language in films in the 60s dared not approach. After the Korean Independence, Kim Ki-young began making a name for himself through his involvement in the theatre class at Seoul National University. Just after the Korean War, he first began directing propaganda movies for the United States Information Service and made his commercial directorial debut through The Box of Death (Jugeom-ui sangja) (1955). He made realistic movies heavily influenced by the Italian Neo-realists such as The First Snow (Choseol) (1958) and A defiance of teenager (10dae-ui banhang) (1959). But in the 60s, he began making his trademark expressionistic and psychological films which reflected the misanthropic, and destructive desire that came from the modernization of Korean society through the use of surreal sets and lighting.
The first of such films was The housemaid (Hanyeo). Although his movies seem to lack rational and logical reason and though his works cannot be pinned down or easily classified, Kim Ki-young is one of the most significant directors in the history of Korean cinema. Kim Ki-young passed away in a fire in his residence at the age of 77 as he was working on his comeback work. |
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