What is the Sake Behind Madame Freedom?

Compared to the “Stray Bullet”, this film is much more watchable, entertaining and understandable. No wonder it was a big box hit back in 1956. According to Isolde’sarticle, Korea film industry went through a short boomduring the 50’s and the beginning of 1960. The underlying motivations of such development owed to the rapid modernization and the increasing demand of entertainment from the massive citizens who encountered western culture and admired it. Although there were waves of women going into work force, I supposed that it was still a men-dominated society during that period.What is very interesting about this film is the fact that it is about women, as well as their attempts to escape from the private sphere to the public and actively strive for “freedom”. What are the reasons of its success in the 50’s and the massive influences that has lasted throughout Korean film history? What would the audience distribution of this woman film be like in the 50’s? Did the film only cater to female spectators? If not, how did the male spectators feel about this film?


The prevalence western culture in the public life was in contrast with the traditional Confucian conventions in the private life. The film started with Ms. Oh wearing traditional Korean clothing and humbly taking care of the lives of her family. The long shot of her walking alongside with Chunho from her house towards outside signified the transition of private life to public life. Yet the process was rather gradual and indicated by the clothes she wore in the boutique shop as well as her attitudes towards alcohol, dancing and having affairs. Surprisingly, after the completed transformation from a virtuous housewife to “Madame Freedom”, Ms. Oh ended up wearing a traditional Korean gown to the party. Why did she choose to wear Hanbok? Would it be more appropriate to wear a western
gown in the dancing hall? Moreover, if clothing was a metaphor of her changing social identities, the Hanbok she wore created ambiguity of her new identity. Perhaps, this was her intend to manage a duel-identity that would allow her to freely participate        in both private and public lives.

 

The film ended with Ms. Oh regretting her faults while Prof. Jang leaning on the door which he initially shut on Ms. Oh’s face. It was the restoration of the traditional patriarchal structure. Unlike Mr. Baek who was put in jail due to speculation, and Mr. Han who was caught adultery in act by her wife, Prof. Jang was the only one who stepped back and avoided the overwhelming lure from the flux of western cultures and values. Thus he was depicted as the guard for pre-existing moral standards. But, what did this narrative try to convey regarding that it's a commercial film which was made upon the social phenomenon of women’s advancement in public sphere? Did it try to elevate this movement or the other way around?