HWANG JIN-YI premiers at the New York Korean Film Festival’s opening reception on Thursday, August 21 at the New York Times Building and will be screened again during the festival. Detailed schedule and locations here. 

Opening credits appear as luminescent folds of embroidered silk fill the screen. The rich fabric and gold threads are indicative of the handiwork that one finds on the highest quality hanbok (traditional Korean clothing). Like the complexity and craftsmanship of the hanbok that is still worn during holidays, this film integrates history and old world traditions with the benefits of modern filmography. Chang Yoon-Hyun’s HWANG JIN-YI is based on the life of renowned kisaeng who lived in the 16^th century. Kisaengs were high-class entertainers who had more sexual freedom than other women but were not prostitutes. She was accomplished in many art forms but she specialized in poetry and the use of her wit to point out the corruption among local officials.

Frequent flashbacks to childhood when she explored the town with Nomi, her close friend, border on becoming trite, yet they’re a vital prelude to the proud and defiant woman she becomes. After many years, Nomi returns to the village to guard the Hwang family estate. He comes back with long hair, broader shoulders and is now a badass fighter who protects his first love. Fist-flying action and Robin Hood-esque adventures unfold each time Nomi appears. The bad boy gone good is easy on the eyes and his noble intentions to dole out rice to the poor add to his charm.

The movie gains momentum and grit as Jin-Yi’s fate throws her from a life of sheltered privilege into testing out her own will and talents in the abrasive world outside her family’s gates. She is forced to become a kisaeng to survive and renames herself Myeongwol. In renaming herself, she finds conviction in living a life answering to no one. Myeongwol is mesmerizing with her pale (rice powder) beauty and stands bold as a rebel in silk and brocade. Despite her great success and prosperity, her dark tantrums surface behind closed doors. Haunted by childhood memories, it’s clear that she is worn down by the truth: Nomi can never be her true lover because of the life he leads.

As the cultural trends of modern Korea change, so do the historical fictions that are being remade into films and dramas. These feature films focus on women in Korean history who openly challenged gender roles and dynamics. Chang Yoon-Hyun’s HWANG JIN-YI translates the edgier aspects of the tale through the tainted lust between the young lovers as well as the use and misuse of sexual power and domination. Chang eases you into the glamour and cruelty of the Joseon Dynasty with an exquisite use of lighting. The precise lighting reveals the contradictory underworld of rebels against the opulence that surrounds the government officials and nobles. Despite some of the expected turns of the story, bring your hankie because the stellar performances of the lead roles by Yu, Ji-Tae (Nomi) and Song, Hye-Kyo (Hwang Jin-Yi) will move you. When I watched this film at the Pusan International Film Festival, the audience was sobbing and sniffling so loud that I missed some of the dialogue.

I bought this film before I left Korea because I love watching Jin-Yi’s disdain for haughty, righteous men who think they are above judgment. She lowers a man’s ego with one glance of her perfectly crafted eyebrows and full peach lips. An ancient Korean Wonder Woman, Hwang Jin-Yi was a famous kisaeng poet and philosopher who stood up for the underdogs and executed justice on her own sexy terms.

(Watch the trailer)

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