''Yeong-ja's Heydays'' () is a

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n film directed by Kim Ho-sun. It became a huge box office hit upon its release; it drew an audience of 360,000, surpassing the top foreign film at the time, ''

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw).''Variety'' film review; December 12, 1973, page ...

'', by 30,000.

Plot

After returning from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, Chang-su (

Song Jae-ho Song Jae-ho (born Song Jae-eon; 10 March 1937 – 7 November 2020) was a South Korean actor. Career He made his acting debut in 1959, and became best known for his work in 1970s and 1980s Korean cinema, notably ''Yeong-ja's Heydays'' (1975). S ...

), who works as a scrubber at a public bath, runs into Yeong-ja (Yeom Bok-sun) in a police station. Three years previously, Chang-su was a laborer at an iron foundry. He met Yeong-ja at his boss's house, where she worked as a housemaid. He fell in love with the innocent and kindhearted Yeong-ja, and proposed to her before leaving for Vietnam. However, while he was gone, Yeong-ja was sexually assaulted by the boss's scoundrel son, and then kicked out of the house. Wishing to live an upstanding life, she got a job at a garment factory, but her paltry wages were not enough to make ends meet. She even tried working in a bar at a friend's recommendation, but the work did not suit her. Yeong-ja became a conductor on a bus, only to lose one of her arms in a traffic accident with no other means to support herself she becomes a prostitute. Reuniting with her for the first time in three years, Chang-su is shocked to discover that she is living an aimless life with no hope or prospects. He pours all his care into saving her, including making her an artificial arm, but she leaves him for the sake of his future. Several more years pass. Chang-su discovers Yeong-ja's whereabouts and goes to her house. When he sees that she is living a happy life with her husband (

Lee Soon-jae Lee Soon-jae (; born November 16, 1934) is a South Korean actor. He has had a prolific career on the small and big screen spanning over six decades, and was given a second-class Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit for his work as an actor. Early an ...

), who also has a disability, and their child, he wishes her happiness and departs.

Cast

*Yeom Bok-sun as Yeong-ja *

as Chang-su *

Choi Bool-am Choi Bool-am (born June 15, 1940) is a South Korean actor and a professor. Biography Choi was born in the neighborhood of , Dong-gu, Incheon, Korea in 1940. Choi was the only son to his father Choi Cheol, a business man, and his mother Lee M ...

as Yeong-ja's husband *

Do Kum-bong Do Kum-bong (August 27, 1930 – June 3, 2009) was a South Korean actress whose fame peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. She starred in more than 283 films. Filmography Awards * 1963 2nd Grand Bell Awards : Best Actress for '' New Wife'' (Sae ...

References

External links

* * South Korean romantic drama films 1975 films Films about prostitution in South Korea 1970s Korean-language films {{SouthKorea-film-stub