Amazing Film!

[David Ojeda]

I chose to watch The Bacchus Lady after it was brought up in, I believe, session 4 of the seminar. Directed and written by E J-yong, the narrative introduces the viewer to So-Young, an elderly woman prostituting herself in the Jongno area/district. To me, the film starts in medias res; it does not develop from the exposition how the protagonist grew up, or pivotal moments that lead her to prostitution. From the beginning, the director throws you into her life: So-Young walks into a clinic, where she is then seen explaining gonorrhea symptoms to a doctor. A few moments later, a woman stabs the doctor, and So-Young leaves the scene without receiving treatment (It is somewhat inferred later on that this is due to lack of money). This stabbing scene plunges her into Min-ho's life, the stabbing woman’s son. Min-ho appears innocent; he stays quiet and just observes. Since the mother is in custody, So-Young takes Min-ho home, nourishing him while introducing him and the viewer to her world. Unable to leave Min-ho with anyone (Do-Hoon, a neighbor, watched him for a moment until the boy escaped), she takes him to work, asking him to stay downstairs as she meets her client. Society condemns prostitutes. However, this narrative humanizes these women, showing us the reasons some partake in prostitution.

Lisa Chan's session touched upon the reasoning behind why some women, like So-Young, find themselves in this situation. The primary source Dr. Chan provided states women suffer mistreatment due to the importance of food; they are forced to rely on others to attain it. In The Bacchus Lady, So-Young is forced to rely on males to survive and for her child to survive (she states she sends money to the states, where he studies). This monetary reliance on others to purchase food, have shelter, and receive shots for health reasons is why she strolls the park for customers. On one of her strolls, she meets a documentarist who, like the viewer, wants to understand the reasoning behind the actions of the Bacchus Ladies. So-Young reveals she worked as a housemaid when she was young, and then a factory; she eventually ended up in a U.S. army base (Korean War; 1950s). Her details connect with what was discussed in the primary source: servant women depending on the master to survive; women workers depending on factory owners; prostitutes who must please the pimps and the customers.

In a five-act narrative or play, peripeteia takes place, causing the narrative to switch course; this commences the tragic hero’s downfall. I think the latter takes place during one of So-Young’s park visits. She receives information about a former client’s health, which causes her to make a choice that begins the domino effect.

The Bacchus Lady is amazing! Via the documentarist, it provides commentary on how the elderly are treated. One gains an insight into female expectations with the confrontation of So-Young and a woman she ran into who saw her the prescription for gonorrhea (the verbal battle looked like it was a fight between conformity and nonconformity; a battle with tradition). Due to the maturity of the film, I would not show it in its entirety in school. However, I would clip specific scenes that communicate the dichotomy of a woman (the verbal battle between So-Young and the woman, for instance). I would also choose scenes that provide students with the opportunity to explore how the essence of a tragic hero’s fall and Aristotle’s concepts of a tragedy are seen in the narrative. Lastly, I could see mature students (seniors) discussing the nature-vs-nurture topic by focusing on So-Young’s interview scene and the film’s ending.