The Housemaid (1960)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply A Masterpiece

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

... 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".

A very intense psychological thriller, which could have received a higher rating from me, if not some of its drawbacks that somewhat belittle the overall impression. And the main of them is complete, at times even laughable silliness of the family members. E.g., why didn't the papa or the mama throw away that f***ing bottle of rat-poison, even after the death of their son? Were they so sure that their housemaid wouldn't use it again? What can I say, the father's actions in the second half were awfully and unbelievably idiotic, even if that gutlessness was undoubtedly intended by the director.Having said that, I must repeat that it's a very good film that has some excellent cinematography plus even the children characters are quite amusing and natural, especially their sonny.

"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

Suicides, attempted suicides, blackmail, murder, attempted murder, adultery, paranoia -- the goings-on in this bizarre and fascinating melodrama put even MANJI to shame.No wonder one critic calls director Kim "Douglas Sirk on acid" -- while Western audiences may laugh at some of the overheated melodrama, this potboiler nonetheless is pretty wild for 1960, and manages to be both lurid and unforgettable. (It's also got one of the great death scenes *ever* -- see for yourself!)