Kim Ki-young

The Housemaid

The Housemaid

A torrent of sexual obsession, revenge, and betrayal is unleashed under one roof in this venomous melodrama from South Korean master Kim Ki-young. Immensely popular in its home country when it was released, The Housemaid is the thrilling, at times jaw-dropping story of the devastating effect an unstable housemaid has on the domestic cocoon of a bourgeois, morally dubious music teacher, his devoted wife, and their precocious young children. Grim and taut yet perched on the border of the absurd, Kim’s film is an engrossing tale of class warfare and familial disintegration that has been hugely influential on the new generation of South Korean filmmakers.


The Housemaid was restored in 2008 by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and HFR-Digital Film laboratory. Additional restoration funded by Armani, Cartier, Qatar Airways, and Qatar Museum Authority.

Film Info

  • South Korea
  • 1960
  • 108 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.60:1
  • Korean
  • Spine #690

Available In

Collector's Set

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 1

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 1

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Box Set

9 Discs

$87.46

The Housemaid
Cast
Kim Jin-kyu
Piano teacher
Ju Jeung-nyeo
His wife
Lee Eun-shim
Housemaid
Um Aeng-ran
Miss Cho
Ok Gyeon-hee
Miss Kwak
Lah Ok-ju
Factory worker
Go Seon-ae
Dormitory dean
Ahn Seong-gi
Chang-soon, the son
Lee Yu-ri
Ae-soon, the daughter
Cho Seok-geun
Driver
Nam Bang-choon
TV technician
Credits
Director
Kim Ki-young
Produced by
Kim Ki-young
Written by
Kim Ki-young
Screenplay
Kim Jeong-sook
Executive producer
Ahn Hwayoung
Cinematography
Kim Deok-jin
Lighting
Ko Hae-jin
Editor
Oh Young-geun
Art director
Park Seok-in
Music
Han Sang-gi
Assistant directors
Jeon Eung-joo
Assistant directors
Kim Dae-hee
Effects
Lee Sang-man

Current

Bong Joon Ho on The Housemaid
Bong Joon Ho on The Housemaid
Prepare yourself for The Housemaid. Available in our new collector’s set Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, Kim Ki-young’s twisted little tale, about a bourgeois family whose lives are thrown into dangerous disarray by the arrival of a liv…
The Housemaid: Crossing Borders
The Housemaid: Crossing Borders

A melodramatic investigation of family and class, Kim Ki-young’s film exorcises some demons of 1960s South Korean society.

By Kyung Hyun Kim

World Cinema Project: Recalled to Life
World Cinema Project: Recalled to Life

The critic and WCP executive director offers a personal take on art cinema and a primer on the project’s scope and mission.

By Kent Jones