1960 Busan, South Korea

Byeonghee Ahn
1942
Busan, South Korea
Interviewed on Jan 27, 2019
by Nicole Ahn

(The following is a translation.)

Ah, the movies. I know it’s not a big deal for you young people these days, but back then it was all the rage. Students would dash to the movies in herds after their exams as a de-stressing activity. But I didn’t get to see my first movie until high school. Your great-grandfather frowned on it as frivolous entertainment, and I didn’t dare disobey my father.

When I turned 18 though, my head got bigger and I decided that it was time. I thought I was so badass, because I did what the cool kids did and skipped school with my friends. (Korean high schools commonly enforce “voluntary” self-studying hours until 10PM.) We took the bus to the city center, my heart thudding all the while. I was a nerd, you see, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime escapade.

The Housemaid was playing, and it was the talk of the town. My friend who’d seen it before me wouldn’t shut up about how good it was, and that really goaded me into getting a ticket. Technically we weren’t allowed to watch it because we’re underage—after all, the film is about an extramarital affair between a married man and a housemaid, absolutely scandalous back then!—but no one really cared to check our IDs. Police officers and teachers would do patrols, and maybe a few unlucky kids would get dragged back to school by the ear, but there were just so many of us it was impossible to do a thorough check. Kids have it pretty bad these days in comparison.

Oh popcorn? That’s so yankee [American]. The classic cinema foods were roasted peanuts and squid. Theater employees would sell them inside the screening area before the movie started, yelling out the items while pushing trolleys or snack displays slung around their necks. The whole place would become heady with salty smells wafting from the snacks and sweating teenage boys. 

The lights dimmed, and the screen glowed to life. The storyline was quite dramatic; there were three girls who were going after this man, not including his wife! I remember vividly when mid-screening, someone in the audience yelled “Begone wench!” at the housemaid who was seducing the dude. So many characters die, and I internally gasped every time. Poisoning, suicide, pushing people down the stairs, jealous catfights… That was one rollercoaster of a movie.

I got back home, still stunned by what I’d just experienced. The plot, the beautiful actors, the thrill of the experience, my first moving picture all in one! And of course the next day at school, I got my ass whacked by the teacher. But I didn’t regret it one bit. Don’t be like me though! Skipping school is bad. You’re going to all your classes right?