Hwang Jin Yi

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I am sorry I do not remember most of the names in this movie. In “Hwang Jin Yi” a baron’s daughter, Lady Jin Yi, finds out she is the daughter of a slave her father raped. A servant, who lived in Lady Jin Yi’s household when she was young, tells her fiancé the truth about Jin Yi. The fiancé will no longer marry Jin Yi because she is the daughter of a slave. Her mother tells Jin Yi the truth of what her father did and disowns her. Her mother has been hiding her secret all her life. The mother took Jin Yi from her biological mother when she was born and raised her as her own. Her biological mother turns to a brothel and lives the rest of her life fulfilling this career. The servant told the fiancé the history because he wanted Jin Yi to be at his level because he secretly loved her. Jin Yi has three choices to commit suicide, to become a concubine to royalty, or to go and live in the brothel her mother lived in. She chooses to pursue the biological mother’s career.

Jin Yi services mostly magistrates. She secretly keeps in contact with the servant who becomes a robin-hood kind of thief. He steals and opposes the government to feed the people. Eventually, the magistrate catches the thief. Jin Yi and the thief proclaim their love and of course die tragically. The thief has his head caught off, and Jin Yi scatters his ashes over a cliff. The assumption is she commits suicide at the end.

Even though I could only show clips of the film because of it content, I could implement several literary devices. I can use the symbolism in hierarchy. Jin Yi wore certain clothes when she was royalty, and then her clothes changed once she was at the brothel. The women at the brothel would use large braided wigs and certain makeup. Jin Yi still had status at the brothel but not as when she was the baron’s daughter. We could analyze why she had to succumb to a brothel. If she was half royalty, why did she have to leave her position?

I also found the rituals captivating in the movie. When her biological mother died, they gave her quite a send off. It was a happy ceremony because of what she did on earth, and she would no longer have to do this line of work. Jin Yi organized and funded a wedding for her servant. Yet, she did not attend the wedding. She was inside the house watching the wedding outside. Also, when Jin Yi went outside, she was all in black and her face was covered with a veil. I would have to research if this was because she came from a brothel or it was just a costume in the movie.

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