With the recent release of 1960s classic 하녀 (The Housemaid)'s remastered version (which looks great, and is pretty much the best purchase on the Korean DVD front you can make this year), the attention was now slowly moving to the remake, which was first entrusted to up and coming Gina Kim of 두번째 사랑 (Never Forever). Producers Mirovision announced the project last year, after a strenuous battle to convince the late, great Kim Ki-Young's family, with the young director slated to both write and direct. But the project has gone through what seems to be a bit of a revolution now, with a new director, and an even more surprising choice for writer. One of the pioneers of TV drama writing, veteran Kim Soo-Hyun, will in fact write, and directing duties will go to what Chae Hee-Seung of Mirovision calls a "top director with major overseas acclaim." Kim Ji-Woon, Hong Sang-Soo, Bong Joon-Ho and Park Chan-Wook are busy, so that leaves us with, what, Im Sang-Soo and Kim Ki-Duk? Im is probably still working on his French project, but it would be quite the interesting pairing, particularly considering who the writer is.
Anyone even remotely familiar with Kim's career will know how much of a stubborn "generalissima" she is when dealing with narrative structure and particularly dialogue, so much that she often casts the same group of actors for her insanely successful dramas, so any director with a strong vision will inevitably clash with her. It's certainly a name which will raise some eyebrows at least in Korea, in the sense that she might bring many older viewers to the cinema -- consider the 60's golden age during which The Housemaid was born, and the almost limitless faith that generation shows in Kim's writing, and you can connect the dots. But there's also concern that she might turn the film into a simple matter of adultery dominated by her AK-47 style dialogue, considering how many of her works have dealt with that over the last four decades. That would certainly cheapen the impact of any remake of the original film, which added countless sociological and genre-specific layers to that simple notion. It's like remaking Psycho, really. You first wonder why, then you start worrying what they could make of its legacy. With Kim on top things look headed for a direction which doesn't promise exceptionally well, but we'll see.
The film will start shooting right after casting in complete, around October-November.
[Nate News]
Anyone even remotely familiar with Kim's career will know how much of a stubborn "generalissima" she is when dealing with narrative structure and particularly dialogue, so much that she often casts the same group of actors for her insanely successful dramas, so any director with a strong vision will inevitably clash with her. It's certainly a name which will raise some eyebrows at least in Korea, in the sense that she might bring many older viewers to the cinema -- consider the 60's golden age during which The Housemaid was born, and the almost limitless faith that generation shows in Kim's writing, and you can connect the dots. But there's also concern that she might turn the film into a simple matter of adultery dominated by her AK-47 style dialogue, considering how many of her works have dealt with that over the last four decades. That would certainly cheapen the impact of any remake of the original film, which added countless sociological and genre-specific layers to that simple notion. It's like remaking Psycho, really. You first wonder why, then you start worrying what they could make of its legacy. With Kim on top things look headed for a direction which doesn't promise exceptionally well, but we'll see.
The film will start shooting right after casting in complete, around October-November.
[Nate News]
No matter who helms this project either as a writer or a director, this project remains a futile effort to remake a film with such a distinctive voice and themes as exemplified by the late Kim Ki-Young.