The Housemaid (2010)

A man's affair with his family's housemaid leads to dark consequences.

Director:

Sang-soo Im

Writers:

Ki-young Kim (based on the film by), Sang-soo Im

Stars:

Jeon Do-yeon, Jung-jae Lee, Yuh-Jung Youn

15 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeon Do-yeon	...	Eun-yi Li (as Do-youn Jeon)
Jung-jae Lee	...	Hoon Goh (as Lee Jung-jae)
Yuh-Jung Youn	...	Byung-sik (as Yuh-jung Youn)
Woo Seo	...	Hae-ra
Ji-Young Park	...	Hae-ra's Mother
Seo-hyun Ahn	...	Na-mi
Jung-min Hwang	...	Eun-yi's Friend
Moon So-ri	...	Obstetrician (as Moon So-Ri)
Jin-ah Kim	...	Doctor
Yi-yeong Shim	...	Doctor (as Jin-ah Kim)
Tae-back Chae	...	Herbal Medicine Shop Doctor
Sin-hwan Jeon	...	Chief Secretary
Sang-min Noh	...	Driver
Soon-kyu Jang	...	Security
Yong-jae Cho	...	Security 2

Storyline

Eun-yi is a playful young woman, a good match for a job as nanny to a precocious child, Nami, the daughter of a wealthy couple, Hae-ra and Hoon. Hae-ra will soon have twins as well. The majordomo, Mrs. Cho, is the household's cold stone center. Before long, Hoon seduces Eun-yi, and when Mrs. Cho tells Hae-ra's mother about the affair, Eun-yi is up against women with wealth, power, and no conscience. Can Eun-yi maintain her dignity and perhaps even put the family in their place?

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Plot Keywords:

mother in law son in law relationship | power of money | abuse of power | jealous wife | south korea | 

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Taglines:

When opportunity knocks, answer at your own risk.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

An early draft of the screenplay was written by Soo-Hyun Kim, but after director Sang-soo Im had edited the script so heavily that Kim considered it to be entirely Im's own work, she decided to leave the project and publicly expressed her dissatisfaction.

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Goofs

The body harness is visible during the hanging.

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Connections

Followed by Donui mat (2012)

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Soundtracks

Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major 'Les Adieux', Op. 81a, 'Adagio' (1st Movement)
Performed by Unknown
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

Will stick with you for a few weeks

This reminded me of Ki-duk Kim films and the visual style of Park Chan-wook films. It's basically a remake of the 1960's movie, that basically has to do with the downfall of a housemaid from working in some rich guy's house. Although the 2010 version differs from the original in many aspects, but that doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing because it has it's own style to hold it's own. Jeon Do-Yeon plays a sweethearted and kind housemaid that grew up in a harsh environment and tries to make a living by becoming a housemaid. Her performance was amazing and Seo Woo did a decent job of playing the spoiled brat as always. And later gets tormented by the wife and the wife's mother of the house, in a very vicious manner. In fact the whole family is crazy except the daughter. This is a dark movie with a handful of sex scenes and graphic parts. There are few foreshadowing in this, but the end irritated me, because karma does not come into play. But it just shows the dark side to reality.

7.9/10

Details

Official Sites:

IFC Films [United States] Official site [France]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English

Release Date:

26 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Housemaid

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,670, 23 January 2011

Gross USA:

$157,961

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,038,301

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidus FNH-Benex Cinema Fund 1, Michigan Venture Capital, CJ Venture Investment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1