So-young, an elderly prostitute working in Seoul, tries to take care of a young Korean-Filipino child she meets in a hospital and make ends meet. So-young's life takes a dark turn when several of her old clients try to reconnect with her.
Jug-yeo-ju-neun Yeo-ja, Jookyeojooneun Yeoja, Egy gyilkos asszony, 죽여주는 여자, Bacchus ponia, A Dama de Baco, Baküs Leydi, 酒神小姐
Germany
Berlin International Film Festival
USANC-17
Seattle International Film Festival
Brazil18
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival
South Korea18
France
Brazil
France
Germany
South Korea
USA
There's a shot in this movie of an old man getting his ass wiped and it looks like something out of an Edward Hopper painting and I think that's really representative of the entire film. It's all about accepting the unpleasantness of dying and trying to find a spot of dignity within it.
I never knew of the "bacchus lady" tradition (elderly sex workers) in South Korea. The premise, narrative, and characters are all interesting enough to keep you hooked throughout.
I loved the protagonist (So-Young). I also really appreciated certain ways this movie explores what it means to be in the twilight years of your life (e.g., contemplating life insofar as the meaning we ascribe to it as well as the impermanence of it, loneliness, economic and health issues, increasing disregard/abandonment by society and even loved ones, etc.).
Without getting into spoilers, what kept this from being "great" in my book is:
(A) The decision to introduce a great subplot that essentially investigated the bacchus lady tradition--something that could've both enhanced and…
In Südkorea ist Altersarmut schon seit längerer Zeit ein großes gesellschaftliches Problem. Aus diesem Grund entwickelte sich seit den späten 90ern das Phänomen der Bacchus-Ladies: Ältere Frauen, die in Parks den bekannten Energy-Drink "Bacchus" verkaufen und den Männern darüber hinaus sexuelle Dienstleistungen anbieten.
In dem gleichnamigen Film von E J-yong spielt Youn Yuh-jung (inzwischen weltberühmt durch ihre Rolle in "Minari") eine solche "Bacchus Lady". Zu Beginn erfährt man nicht viel über das Schicksal der älteren Dame und wie sie in diese Lage gekommen ist. Recht schnell wird allerdings klar, dass sie das Herz am rechten Fleck hat und grundsätzlich immer versucht das Richtige zu tun.
Eines Tages kommt ein kleiner Junge durch Zufall in ihre Obhut, den sie kurzerhand mit…
Boy, this was depressing, but in a way I think with a purpose. A none too pleasant rumination on ageing and loneliness but with a strange sense of beauty in its central character's innate decency. Youn Yuh-jung gives an incredible performance but what else did you expect?
the way this tackled sex work and poverty among the elderly was really brutal while also being compassionate and I will be sad for the rest of the day
I found it really hard to rate this movie.
The actually main story of the Bacchus Lady which are elderly sex workers i found really interesting and i was all in on especially since it was Youn Yuh-jung front and center the whole movie and she was great.
Also add in the young kid that she has to look after from the start of the movie and the interesting people she lives in that are introduced and i was right into this movie.
Where it went off the rails for me a bit was the introduction of a sub plot of the elderly men that she started to help end their lives.
Where they eventually went with that was very dark and incredibly depressing especially with the fate of our main character which just ended on an absolute bummer.
Youn Yuh-jung playing a sex worker in her 60s is a delight, and the scene of her and a fellow Bacchus Lady bickering at one another in the park is worth watching this alone.
My one complaint is that the film is throwing so many different things at her character and tries to keep too many subplots afloat that I wished it would have thrown one or two of them out. I particularly didn't care about the immigrant child that Youn's character is suddenly having at her hands, as that part of the film felt somewhat clichéd and shoehorned in.
Youn Yuh-jung again proves what an acting legend she is with another challenging role (this was prior to her Oscar-winning performance in Minari). Although the cinematography is bright and colorful, the subject matter could hardly be more depressing. The film focuses on neglected and forgotten people within Korean society who are rarely seen in mainstream films, including elderly prostitutes, a transgender lady, people with physical and mental disabilities, immigrants and mixed-race individuals, and so on. For that, it deserves to be commended. It was also nice to see locations in Seoul that I am quite familiar with such as Tapgol Park, Namsan, Itaewon, etc. But man, I could have used some more levity...this is a bitter pill to swallow.
