Birdcage Inn
| Birdcage Inn | |
|---|---|
Poster for "Birdcage Inn"
|
|
| Hangul | |
| Revised Romanization | Paran daemun |
| McCune–Reischauer | P‘aran taemun |
| Directed by | Kim Ki-duk |
| Produced by | Lee Seung-jae |
| Written by | Kim Ki-duk Seo Jeong-min |
| Starring | Lee Ji-eun Lee Hae-eun Ahn Jae-mo |
| Music by | Lee Moon-hui |
| Cinematography | Seo Jeong-min |
| Edited by | Ko Im-pyo |
| Distributed by | Boogui Cinema |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
100 minutes |
| Language | Korean |
Birdcage Inn (Hangul: 파란 대문; RR: Paran daemun; lit. "Blue Gate") is South Korean director Kim Ki-duk's third film, released in 1998. The drama stars Lee Ji-eun, Lee Hae-eun and Ahn Jae-mo. It was released domestically in October 1998, and screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1999.
Jin-a (Lee Ji-eun), a 22-year-old prostitute, arrives at a small seaside motel called the Birdcage Inn to replace the previous one. The inn is run by a couple who have a daughter and a son. They provide Jin-a with room and board and make a living by renting out rooms and taking a cut of the money she earns. Jin-a works at night and spends her daytime drawing and watching the sea.
In addition to her circumstances Jin-a has a hard time because of the family. The well regarded, silent, apparently caring, father providing for his family rapes Jin-a. The mother only sees Jin-a as a source of money to make a living and to fund the education of her college student daughter and high school student son. The son, Hyun-woo (Ahn Jae-mo) begs to be allowed to take naked pictures of Jin-a for a photo contest and to have sex with her. At first, Jin-a turns him down. However, after Hyun-woo's long imploration, Jin-a poses for him on the deck of a ship by the seaside and has sex with him. Afterwards he uses his walkman to tap Jin-a's room to listen in on Jin-a and her guests.
The daughter, Hye-mi (Lee Hye-eun), who is sexually repressed, is the same age as Jin-a, does nothing to hide her contempt towards Jin-a. She expresses her hostility by refusing to use the same toothpaste and hand basin as Jin-a and ignores Jin-a's gestures of friendship, such as sharing an umbrella and buying her a Walkman which she has been dying to have. She emphasizes to Jin-a that she and Jin-a belong to different worlds. The relationship between the two becomes even worse when Hye-mi finds out that her sexually frustrated boyfriend, with whom Hye-mi has refused to have sex with before marriage, has gone to Jin-a and has had sex with her.
One day, rummaging through Jin-a's room and personal possessions Hye-mi gains an insight into Jin-a that allows her to develop an empathy towards Jin-a. That night Hye-mi lies in bed and eavesdrops on Jin-a and a customer.
Meanwhile, a publisher having seen Hyun-woo's photos of Jin-a goes to him and deceives him into selling them at a low price. After seeing Jin-a's nude in the magazine, Jin-a's former pimp goes to her again demanding money. Supposing that she's been paid a lot for it, he beats Jin-a when she denies it, Hye-mi tries to protect Jin-a from him. That night Jin-a makes an attempt to kill herself by cutting her arm and is found by Hye-mi who has had a nightmare about Jin-a.
...
Wikipedia