A widow, a slave, and a gaze that burns through centuries of Korean propriety.
Ma-nim (Kim Jeong-ah-II) becomes a widow after her husband dies from sickness and she arrives at Bukgando to get remarried. Her new husband is a handsome and wealthy man but he is killed by a Japanese even before she spends a night with him. Ma-nim is alone in the big house once again. Everyone by her husband's side leaves and only the grandfather and slave named Bau are left behind. One day, Ma-nim notices that Bau has a way of staring at her and she is overcome by a strange feeling. She'd to oppress her desires as a woman because of her two short marriages and strict identity. Bau had never made love with a woman before but she didn't mind his gaze on her. The two of them start a forbidden love behind grandfather's back...
Cinematography
Lush period detail that traps desire in silk and shadow.
Acting
Kim Jeong-ah's restraint—every glance says what dialogue cannot.
Director
Kim Gwang-joong
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Set during Japanese colonial rule, the film uses eroticism to explore Korean identity and class collapse under occupation.
Director Kim Gwang-joong made this after years in mainstream TV—his only theatrical feature, and it shows in the runtime discipline.
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