The Housemaid (1960)

 Kim Ki-Young's "The Housemaid"

After hearing nothing but praise from filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Bong Joon Ho about the 1960 Korean film, "The Housemaid," I went in fully expecting an underrated masterwork. While there were elements of the film that were deeply intriguing, I felt as though the film seems to fall apart in the end. There is quite literally a nod and wink into camera and a note about not letting 'younger women' occupy your mind in the last moments, wrapping its theme into a packaged and somewhat eye-rolling final sentiment. 

The film centers on a happy family who, after moving into a house for the first time, decide to hire a maid for upkeep. However, the maid proves more than they bargained for after she sleeps with the husband and blackmails the family. Things get even weirder from there.

While I do admire how ultra-bizarre the series of events start to get, there is a certain level of absurdism that doesn't quite work. I've seen this film compared to a Bunuel film, but I don't feel as though the ending's nod-and-wink cements this position very well. That being said, the film takes a mighty big swing with some of its absurd scenarios and the equally absurd behavior of its characters. For that, I applaud it.