What would have been the Post-War Korean women’s reaction after viewing ‘Madame Freedom’?

     This film brought drastic changes to the Korean society with its story of a freedom- loving married women, Sun Young.  Based on the serial novel in a major newspaper (Kim 193), Hyung Mo Han’s adaptation of the “Madame Freedom” dramatizes its theme in depth by articulating the female characters.

     In addition, I believe that the theme of this film is what led “Madame Freedom” to be a huge box office hit in 1956. According to Soyong Kim, “Films featuring female protagonists made for and consumed by women have been an important revenue source for the South Korean film industry since 1955. (Kim 185).” All the people living in Korea were devastated after the war. This film deals with the story of an ordinary middle class woman becoming extraordinary with the freedom.

     At first, Sun Young was just a housewife looking after the elite husband and the son. She always needs her husband’s permission to make a decision even if it is a small one. However, after Sun Young gets the permission to work at the Paris Boutique, she is exposed to the Western consumerism and becomes very independent to the point where she spends hours in the dancing hall at night without telling her husband and abandons the son. Sun Young no longer wears the traditional 'Han Bok'. She starts to wear the Western suit as she gains more freedom. 

        By watching this film, one can figure out that women’s freedom outside of their home is closely linked to the western consumer culture. During the 1950s period in Korea, this was not possible for most of the women in the middle class.  In cinema, “we demand something different (Corrigan 49).”  During the hardship, Korean women might have wanted to see something different. Something unrealistic to fulfill their lifelong dream.  This include Sun Young going to the dance hall with different dance partners, and being able to afford expensive western goods. Also, I’m sure it was very shocking for the Korean women to see the female dancer at the dancing hall.

     At the time when this film was released, Korean women were not familiar with the word ‘fancy’ or ‘freedom’. I’m curious of what Korean women thought after viewing this film.  

If you have any comments / opinions, please share them with me!

Works Cited:

Kim Soyoung, "Questions of Women's Film: The Maid, Madame Freedom and Women," in South Korean 

      Golden Age Melodrama, 185-200.

Timothy Corrigan, Chs. 2-3 A Short Guide to Writing About Film, 6th Ed., 18-80.