Reviews & Ratings for
The Surrogate Woman More at IMDbPro »Sibaji (original title)

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Solid performances in a straightforward historical Corean tragedy, 3 June 2008

Author: refresh daemon from United States

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.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
An emotionally involving tragedy, 27 November 2001
Author: poikkeus from San Francisco

Surrogate Woman is South Korean master Im Kwon-Taek's breakout international success, a film that would in many ways presage his critically acclaimed Chunhyang. The period drama occurs in the Yi dynasty, and covers the progress of a love affair gone terribly awry. Shin, a young heir, is given a surrogate wife to bear his child. However, Ok-nyo becomes more than this for him, and the couple soon become passionate lovers. The woman may have the social status of a servant, but the relationship changes both of them -- at least for a time. Lead actress Kang Soo-Yeon has been widely acclaimed in her role as the surrogate mother. Unfortunately, the film frequently wears its heart on its sleeve, almost forcing its emotionalism on you in the process. The events are traumatic, to be sure, and one is set to wonder about the plight of so many women even less fortunate than Ok-nyo. The overwhelming feeling is that a woman's emotional core has been gutted and spread out for all to see; it's more wrenching than many a blood and guts actioner. It lacks the distance of his later masterpieces like Sopyonje and Festival -- both equally tragic.

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