Birdcage Inn

For one reason or another a young woman named "Jin-a" (Ji-eun Lee) is forced to relocate from her previous domicile and accepts employment as a prostitute at a small family-owned hotel. Although most of the family members accept her (to one extent or the other) the college-age daughter, "Hye-mi" (Hae-eun Lee) treats her with unveiled contempt and ridicules her at every opportunity. Likewise, some of her customers along with her former pimp also make life miserable for her as well. Even so she endures the best that she can. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that the director (Ki-duk Kim) used just about every scenario related to the "world's old profession" he could find. Unfortunately, some of these scenes didn't translate well due to the cultural anomalies inherent in Korean society and in addition there were a few scenes which seemed to be a bit too slow. In any case, all things considered I rate this movie as about average.

One of Kim Ki-duk's earlier, lesser-seen films, "Birdcage Inn" portrays the hard times of a young Korean prostitute and the family that makes money off her in a Korean coastal city. As with all Kim's films, the plot is pretty ludicrous, but this one lacks much of the sensationalistic depravity that makes most of his films conversation pieces. Kim's really attracted to prostitutes and the business of prostitution - as, it seems, are many of his heroines (one character's transition at the end of the film foreshadows a similar character's change of heart in Kim's recent "Samaria"). He also seems to have a Mizoguchian love/hate feeling towards women. His girls may be whores but they have good hearts, and even though they may be smacked around repeatedly they persevere.

The main girl, Jin-a, has to be the prettiest whore in all of Korea working a seedy dive like the one depicted in "Birdcage Inn." She's down on her luck and is the sole income provider for this impoverished family and their little inn by the sea. The family, though, aren't really all that bad, they just have to put the kimchee on the table and the kids through school somehow. The high schooler son's obsessed with sad, muppet-faced Jin-a and installs a microphone in her room so he can listen in on her frequent trysts with customers. The father, well, aside from the time when he pretty much rapes Jin-a, he's an otherwise great guy. The mother takes it all stoically, which is more than can be said for the daughter, trying to get through university and court a potential fiancé amidst all the dirty business. She can't stand that her family resorts to such activities and she blames poor Jin-a for all of it. Still, "Birdcage Inn" eventually becomes the female-bonding film you figure it was intended to be from the get-go.

Like Lars von Trier, Kim tends to have his adorable lead actresses go through a good deal of pummeling and degradation in his films, and he continues to incur the wrath of feminists. But as I mentioned, despite its subject matter "Birdcage Inn" is probably the tamest of Kim's films until "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring," and actually manages to finish on a relatively upbeat note. At the end of "Birdcage Inn" the whore's still a whore and everyone's still stuck in a dead-end existence, but they're all oddly content and accepting, with a smiling, Ozu-like resolve.

Kim Ki-duk continues his exploration of primal human behavior in BIRDCAGE INN.

A master at depicting specific, "closed" environments, here he sets his story in a one-girl brothel in a seaside town.

A man falls in love with the brothel's prostitute and this presents a dilemma for those who depend on her for survival.

This is a more restrained, quieter film than the Korean director's BAD GUY, THE ISLE, CROCODILE or ADDRESS UNKNOWN. The violence is less overt, the sex off-screen more than on-screen.

For some, it will be a more accessible film.

Personally, I would place it just below the four titles above, but that is in no way a slight on the movie. Recommended.

Subject matter is a small brothel where a family struggling to support their kids education rents out a prostitute which get shelter, food and some percentages in return. The women of the family largely ignores her, the father sees her as a means for money and sex, the one that respects her is the son who adores her for the beautiful woman she is.

This is a very simple movie, script and execution was so different from the other Kims that I thought it to be from the early 90s not 1998. Music turns even to genuine porn variety. I was surprised to learn that the cinematographer Seo Jeong-min has made almost 130 movies as it seems a bit amateurish, at least he did better in 'Suchwiin Bulmyeong'.

The basic storyline was good. Its about values turned bad and living poor. Men are captives of their desire and the women are in difficult positions. But the script is not so good, some characters are not believable and the finale was confusing. Go see 'Suchwiin Bulmyeong' and 'Seom' instead for similar, but much more elaborate film art.

You cant help feel sorry for Jin-a though. She is very fragile and even though she is misused quite a few times she is always positive.

So silent, so fragile, so friendly; a watcher-friendly film to watch effortlessly. But still so artistic... Metaphors are even peaceful. (Especially everything with water and fish gives added tranquility in this movie rather director's other film preferences.) The film does not manipulate watchers, not confusing but still exciting in every second.

Easy to empathy with all the movie and characters.

The end is also not undetermined. This will also be comfortable to finish.

I wish to be living still at the same world with the director; cuz we all need to see the hard realities of life from such an artistic but still realist window.. While the world's almost every living being is struggling with enlarging problems minute-by-minute, i hope Kim-Ki duk is resting in peace...