About This Film
Despite the rather extreme title, which points both at a melodrama and an exploitation film, “Spinning the Tales of Cruelty Towards Women” is actually a quite significant film for the Korean movie industry, since it was the first one to screen in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the Cannes Film Festival. Furthermore, the depiction of the hardships women had to face during the Joseon Dynasty spawned much controversy, by many who believed that the events depicted in the film were hyperbolic.
Synopsis
The story revolves around a very beautiful woman, Gil-rye, whose life has been a constant struggle against the rules forced upon women at the time. The film begins with an attempted rape, before it goes back in time, to show her story from the beginning, when she was given to a wealthy family to take part in a spirit wedding, actually marrying a man deceased. If that was not enough, she actually has to behave like a married a woman, following an extreme number of rules, mostly imposed by her mother-in law. The girl does her best, but she falls victim to her mother-in-law's brother, who eventually sneaks into her apartments and rapes her, even making a tendency out of the fact. When her father-in law discovers the fact, he asks her to leave, which was actually considered an act of mercy, since she was considered the one at fault for not keeping her chastity.
Gil-rye wonders the countryside until she meets Yoon-bo, a neighbour at her previous residence, with the two of them eventually falling in love. After some more tragic events, the couple seems to settle happily in the man's family house, but their happiness does not last for long.
