''Mulleya Mulleya'' ( ; also known as ''Spinning the Tales of Cruelty Towards Women''), is a 1984 South Korean film directed by Lee Doo-yong. It was chosen as Best Film at the

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the

1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with ''Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger D ...

. The film was also selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

57th Academy Awards The 57th Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1985, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Jack Lemmon presided over the ceremonies. This ceremony marked the first time that multiple black nominees would win an Oscar, when Prince and ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

A historical drama about the life of a widow. 15th century life was sometimes cruel to Korean women and this story depicts a lot of the injustices that could occur as happening to Kil-Rye, the heroine.Synopsis based on

Cast

Won Mi-kyung Won Mi-kyung (born April 24, 1960) is a South Korean actress. Won was born in Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea. She graduated from Seoul Girls' High School. Won is referred to as one of "The Troika of the 1980s" along with Lee Mi-sook, and Lee Bo ...

: Gillye * Shin Il-ryong: Yun-bo * Moon Jung-suk: Mother * Choe Sung-kwan: Father * Park Min-ho * Choe Seong-ho *

Moon Mi-bong The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

* Yang Chun *

Hyun Kill-soo Korea's provinces ('' Do''; hangul: 도; hanja: ) have been the primary administrative division of Korea since the mid Goryeo dynasty in the early 11th century, and were preceded by provincial-level divisions (''Ju'' and ''Mok'') dating back ...

* Choe Jeong-won

Critical reception

Comment on contemporary reactions to this film: There was a great deal of controversy in the Korean media when this film came out, saying that this work did not represent Korea well. Some objected to the shade of the lead actress' skin, saying that she looked too dark for a Korean. Whiteness of skin was and is still considered important among many in Korea. Others scoffed that it was unlikely that all of the injustices depicted could have happened to one woman. However, it is a vivid and visually spectacular depiction of the struggles many women went through in that time period. The film also polarized audiences and stirred controversy when it was shown at the East–West Center and the Fifth International Film Festival in Honolulu.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{South Korean submissions for the Academy Award 1984 films 1980s historical drama films Films set in the Joseon dynasty Films directed by Lee Doo-yong Best Picture Grand Bell Award winners 1980s Korean-language films South Korean historical drama films 1984 drama films