Promise of the Flesh: The Kink of Violence

Rape. That's a disturbing through line to have in your work but it appears to be one in the films of Kim Ki-young who repeatedly features sexual violence against women in his story lines. What makes that weird instead of just disturbing is that you sense that he's periodically attempting to combat sexism and misogyny between the scenes that show his unpredictable heroines being attacked. Bodices are ripped, breasts are exposed, but strangely these victims/survivors are less likely to scream than they are to be facially outraged. It's like Kim is aware of sexism but can't stop thinking of women primarily as sexual objects. Admittedly my exposure to Kim Ki-young is still fairly limited but in the especially twisted and perverse Promise of the Flesh, the leading lady — a murderess (Kim Ji-mee) — while definitely suffering from PTSD has a not-particularly-convincing journey to "love."

What kind of world is it when women are seduced by men barking lines like "I would marry any woman who would take care of my child" or "If you don't marry me, then I'll kill you then I'll kill myself"? It is a world of histrionics. Indeed, you get the feeling that Kim directed his actors to "play to the second balcony" for particularly heightened moments. People roll around on the floor, slap each other in the face, leer at each other as if only the crudest look could convey desire. The camerawork can be equally overstated with prolonged shots of the light at the top of the lighthouse or a particularly strange closeup that zooms in on a single eye during sex. The sweetest thing about Promise of the Flesh is the pink candy the prison guard (Park Jung-ja) is constantly slipping into her charge's mouth.

Awards: Grand Bell honors for Kim Ji-mee as Best Actress and Park Jung-ja as Best Supporting Actress.