Bunhongsin (2005)

Director:

Yong-gyun Kim

Writers:

Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale)
Yong-gyun Kim (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 June 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Ever wanted anything so badly you would die for it?

Plot:

A woman who finds a pair of pink high heels on a subway platform soon realizes that jealousy, greed, and death follow them wherever they go.

Plot Keywords:

Shoes | Subway | Jealousy | Ghost | Curse

Cast

Hye-su Kim	...	Sun-jae
Seong-su Kim	...	In-cheol
Yeon-ah Park	...	Tae-su
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Su-hee Go
Eol Lee
Hyon-Jin Sa

Also Known As:

The Red Shoes (International: English title) (DVD title) (USA)

Runtime:

103 min | South Korea:109 min (uncut version)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:Not Rated | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA (2007) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Germany:16 (uncut version) | UK:15 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Quotes:

Sun-jae: Stop it! Please stop it. Why? Why are you doing this to us?... I just picked them up. That's all I did... Take me instead. Not my daughter! Not Tae-soo... Please...
Keiko: Those who take the red shoes away will all die!

Movie Connections:

References Vertigo (1958)

It's a Big Cliché, But It's Still Damn Good!

I'm in a quandary over this film. Like many other reviewers have amply illustrated here, this film is like a Korean Klone in lots of ways. It borrows moves from the Ringu play-book, the Dark Water play-book, the Ju-On play-book, The Eye play-book...please stop me. It's got a daughter and mother all alone in the world facing supernatural evil. It's got hunched-over, black-haired teens with bad attitudes and osteoporosis floating around upside-down and showing up in elevators. It's got the cheating hubby, the young love interest, the entrepreneurial "young Asian professional female" slowly losing her mind. Most importantly, it's got the requisite cursed artifact (not a wig, not a videotape, not a pair of transplanted corneas, but a swanky set of pink stilettos that a particular ghost doesn't want any mortal wearing).

BUT GOSH DARN IT, I LIKED THIS FILM! I guess it says something if I feel compelled to excuse myself for this fact, but I really did care for the characters and the serious situation they are hopelessly trapped in. Indeed, I was hooked by the grue--people getting their feet forcibly removed gets my attention. The cinematography is colorful, and artful, and top notch--as we have come to expect from Korean directors. (Did you catch those cool on-purpose-out-of-focus shots? Fuzzy weirdness...) The music is actually pretty unique--the low-key guitar ditty that recurs off and on is melodic, and personal, and not overwrought. Yes, the plot "twists and turns" in terribly predictable ways: Could our protagonist really be the guilty one? Is it possible that we might find the answer to the horrible mystery by rifling through old newspaper copy in the library? Even though we've "properly buried" the red shoes with their owner, is it possible the evil will return nevertheless to wreak ultimate revenge? When we get to the end, will the decidedly downbeat narrative actually make very little sense? Yes, you've seen--and come to expect--it all.

But, darn it, this flick is done with such panache in a very gutsy way. The characters are carefully drawn, the direction is solid. And when you get right down to it, America simply does not make films like this. I don't think America ever will again. We used to make great, sad, horror films, but not anymore. We real horror fans have got to rely on films like "Bunhongsin" to get our fix. In fact, that's precisely why I give this film the benefit of the doubt.