The Housemaid
The Housemaid • 1h 51m
Directed by Kim Ki-young • 1960 • South Korea
A torrent of sexual obsession, revenge, and betrayal is unleashed under one roof in this venomous melodrama from South Korean master Kim Ki-young. Immensely popular in its home country when it was released, THE HOUSEMAID is the thrilling, at times jaw-dropping story of the devastating effect an unstable housemaid has on the domestic cocoon of a bourgeois, morally dubious music teacher, his devoted wife, and their precocious young children. Grim and taut yet perched on the border of the absurd, Kim’s film is an engrossing tale of class warfare and familial disintegration that has been hugely influential on the new generation of South Korean filmmakers.
Restored in 2008 by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and HFR-Digital Film laboratory. Additional restoration funded by Armani, Cartier, Qatar Airways, and Qatar Museum Authority.
Up Next in The Housemaid
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Martin Scorsese on THE HOUSEMAID
The following introduction to THE HOUSEMAID by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, founder of the World Cinema Project, was produced in 2013.
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Bong Joon-ho on THE HOUSEMAID
In this 2013 interview, filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (THE HOST) shares his appreciation for Kim Ki-young’s 1960 film THE HOUSEMAID.
