Sibaji (1987)

Director:

Kwon-taek Im

Writer:

Kil-han Song (writer)

Release Date:

21 March 1987 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Surrogate Mother

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Soo-yeon Kang
Gu-sun Lee
Yang-ha Yun
Eun-jin Han
Hie Bang

Also Known As:

The Surrogate Mother (USA) (festival title)
The Surrogate Woman (USA)

Runtime:

Canada:100 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Certification:

South Korea:18

Company:

Shin Han Films

Solid performances in a straightforward historical Corean tragedy

The Surrogate Womb is a film by the prolific award winning South Corean director, Im Kwon Taek, and one of the rare early modern Corean film to win a prestigious international award (Best Actress at the Venice International Film Festival 1987).

The film is about the trial of a young woman who becomes a surrogate for an aristocratic family in pre-modern Corea. While it's a tragic film, a lot of the emphasis of the film is subtly placed upon the burden of women during this time, including being less valuable as babies than males and being the subject of shame if they are unable to bear a male child. In this case, a family who is unable to produce an heir to the family name turns to a young virgin, trading her some land for the use of her womb.

Of course, with such an immature young woman, combined with the exclusivity of aristocracy, things aren't bound to turn out well for the protagonist. The story itself isn't particularly dynamic or surprising, as our heroine unsurprisingly falls for her clandestine mate (it's a great dishonor for a family to be unable to produce a child internally) and then at the end suffers from what we expect from the very start (and is well foreshadowed).

The strength of the film lies not in the inherent story, which is a rather straightforward tragedy, but the performances therein, as we watch our innocent brash country heroine go from fiery to bewildered to enamored to despondent. Combined with the commentary on how women were valued by society (as well as some interesting dialog about the role of Confucianism in Corean society), you have a sometimes potent and certainly memorable film. But I hesitate to say that it's a much watch or for everyone to see. After all, outside of the showcase, it remains a straightforward film with nowhere near the power of some of director Im's other works.

This is a competent art film with plenty of historical value, some impressive acting and worthwhile subtext, The Surrogate Womb doesn't quite reach the heights that art films are capable of. Nonetheless, those of you who appreciate historical tragedies will find much to like here, despite the obviously aged production values. 7/10.