Movie Review: The Housemaid

Last night, I watched the new Korean show "The Housemaid", thanks to omy.sg and here is the review:

"The Housemaid" is a remake of the 1960 show of the same name, which was then rated as one of the top Korean shows of all time. Although I've never watched the original, I would imagine it to be better than this 2010 remake version.

The synopsis of the movie is this - Eun-Yi is a housemaid employed by an apparently rich family, where the master of the house Hoon was someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Hoon's wife, Hae-Ra was pregnant with twins and thus the only maid in the family - Mdm Cho - was tasked in employing Eun-Yi for additional help.

Hoon began taking notice of Eun-Yi sexually when he accidentally stumbled on her washing the bathtub in the bathroom of the master bedroom, where she was wet and from all the washing, and her short maid dress gave her a dangerously seductive look. Hoon and Eun-yi then began an affair during a holiday outing with the family.

The affair was spotted by Mdm Cho, and she passed on the news of Eun-Yi being pregnant with Hoon's child as a result of the affair to Hae-Ra's mother (who looked really young). Hae-Ra's mother then attempted to stage an accident with the intent to hurt Eun-Yi so badly she would miscarry the illegitimate child. Failing which, Hae-Ra herself starting poisoning the herbal tea that Eun-Yi takes after she got hurt.

Eventually, the poison took effect and she was forced to abort the baby. At the hospital, Mdm Cho was overwhelmed with guilt and she confessed to Eun-Yi that she was the one who told Hae-Ra's mother of her affair with Hoon. Tramatised by all that has happened, she told Mdm Cho she wants 'revenge'.

However, her idea of revenge wasn't a very good one. And I was quite disappointed with the ending of the movie. For the full review on what happened, read the full review below.

Here are my ratings:
1) Direction: S T a r s - Above Average
2) Plot: s t a r s - Below Average
3) Acting: S T A r s - Very Good
4) Entertainment value: S t a r s - Average

Full review (contains spoilers, cease reading at this point if you intend to watch the show):
The movie began curiously enough, when a suicide took place in the city and near the restaurant where Eun-Yi and her friend/sister/room mate (it wasn't revealed during the entire movie) worked at. Eun-Yi went to the suicide scene after work and was disgusted by what she saw. The whole suicide scene seemed irrelevant and unimportant to the movie, until the very end.

Eun-Yi was then being interviewed by Mdm Cho, who at that point did not seem like a live-in maid herself. Soon-after, Eun-Yi was brought home to began work. Hae-Ra, the mistress of the house, was pregnant with twins and Eun-Yi's role is to help raise the twins as well as take care of Hae-Ra's daughter Nami.

Hoon returned later that night from work and casaully chatted with Eun-Yi but otherwise didn't take too much notice of her. Until one day, Eun-Yi was washing the bathtub in the master bedroom's bathroom, and she was drenched in her maid dress. Hoon stumbled into the bathroom and was immediately attracted to Eun-Yi. The affair finally began during a family holiday.

After discovering the affair, Mdm Cho revealed her suspicions of Eun-Yi being pregnant with Hoon to Hae-Ra's mother, who in turn took things into her own hands and staged an accident intending to cause miscarriage to Eun-Yi. After the accident, Hae-Ra was informed by her mother of the affair and why she had intended to hurt Eun-Yi.

Both Hae-Ra and her mother then told Eun-Yi to abort the baby and they forcefully kept her in the house in an attempt to force her to abortion. Failing which, Hae-Ra began poisoning the herbal tea Eun-Yi had been drinking. Soon enough, the effects kicked-in and she lost her baby as she told Hoon about her pregnancy. Although Hoon was furious with his mother-in-law for killing his unborn child, he did not pursue the matter further.

Stricken with guilt, Mdm Cho confessed to Eun-Yi that she was the whistle-blower. Although Eun-Yi was initially angry, Mdm Cho's remorse made Eun-Yi forgive her. However, as the days go by, Eun-Yi was slowly losing her mind. She then decided to take revenge.

Mdm Cho assisted Eun-Yi in entering the house where she went to carry the twins, scaring Hoon immensely. It is clear by now that Eun-Yi has lost her mind completely. Mdm Cho was then instructed by Hoon and Hae-Ra to get rid of Eun-Yi but Mdm Cho refused and quit on the spot.

As she was leaving, Eun-Yi appeared on the second storey of the house, looking down at the entire family (including Hae-Ra's mother). She tied a noose around her neck, and bid her farewell to Nami, the daughter who was the only one to remain true to her within the family. She then flung herself off, hanging herself from the living room's chandelier before burning herself. The family watched in horror but escaped as the sprinklers came on.

The last scene shows the family living happily and celebrating Nami's birthday, quite possibly overseas as they were speaking in English. Nami looked thoughtful during the whole time.

The significance of the whole suicide in the beginning was definitely linked to Eun-Yi's own suicide in the end. Although Eun-Yi looked disgusted by the suicide in the beginning, she got sucked into it herself in the end. It can happen to anyone. On that note, the ending is similar to the original.

Finally, would I recommend it to friends? Not really. There are better Korean shows around.