Madam Bbaeng-deok to set screens ablaze in October

by awcoconuts

Wow, this movie looks steamy, suspenseful and thought-provoking — Jung Woo-sung (God’s Play, Cold Eyes) stars in Madam Bbaeng-deok (English title: Scarlet Innocence), a modern interpretation of a classic Korean fable. In the centuries-old folktale, a girl named Shim Chung is raised by her father, Shim Hak-gyu, after her mother passes away shortly after childbirth. They are poor, but content to have one another. Shim Chung grows into a pure and filial young woman, and when her father begins to lose his sight, she sells herself to some boatmen who intend to sacrifice her to the sea god, so that her father is able to pay to restore his vision.

Shim Chung is indeed thrown into the sea, but the sea god takes pity on her and sends her ashore safely encapsulated in a large lotus flower. She is discovered by an emperor, who falls in love with and makes Shim Chung his bride. Eventually she is reunited with her father, who regains his vision, and the story has a happy ending. From the release of the trailers and Madam Bbaeng-deok’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s clear the movie’s plot and message distinctly diverge from the original.

Jung Woo-sung plays Hak-gyu, a professor who is forced to move to a rural town and to leave behind a wife and child in Seoul after being involved in a scandal at his university. He meets Deok-yi, played by the actress Esom (Santa Barbara, High Heel), a young woman in her early 20s, and he is drawn to her naïvete and innocence. They begin a torrid love affair, and when it comes time for Hak-gyu to return to the city, she is unable to let go. The plot jumps ahead eight years and when Hak-gyu’s vision begins to fail, Deok-yi reappears, seeking revenge.

[Note: The title, Madam Bbaeng-deok, is in reference to a single mother with a son named Byung-deok (nicknamed Bbaeng-deok), who in folklore remarried Shim Hak-gyu after he thought he had lost Chung. Bbaeng-deok’s mother was known to be a cunning, wicked stepmother, much like Lady Tremaine in Cinderella. By naming the characters in this fashion, Esom as Deok-yi, Park So-young (who plays Hak-gyu’s daughter) as Chung-yi, and Jung Woo-sung as Hak-gyu, the writers have neatly made reference to the original folktale. Shim Hak-gyu is more widely known as Shim Bong-sa; bong-sa refers to a blind person.]

Deok-yi transforms from a sweet, young woman experiencing her first love at the beginning of the movie to an obsessed and seductive femme fatale by the end, and both Esom and Jung’s powerful characterizations in the trailer have reeled me in. In addition to being able to draw out nuanced performances from his actors, writer/director Im Pil-sung (Hansel and Gretel) seems to have a deft eye for visual appeal; the cinematography is artistic and stunning.

While I love me some Jung Woo-sung (Oppa!), I am actually anticipating Esom’s performance more — from the little I’ve seen, Deok-yi feels like a career-defining role.

Madam Bbaeng-deok is set for a wide domestic release in October 2014.

Via TV Report

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