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하녀 [Hanyeo / The Housemaid] (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
Nov
13
Adding one more ingredient. DP: Deok-jin Kim.
A memorable kitchen or cooking scene*
“Look at us. We're almost totally dependent on our maid. She cooks and washes for us, and is the first person to greet me when I come home from work. She is entirely at our service.”
– Dong-sik Kim
A housemaid works her way into a middle-class household and takes over the wife's tasks – cleaning, cooking, child rearing.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.
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飼育 [Shiiku / The Catch] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1961)
Dec
26
offerings
An altar with two rotund, smiling stone statues – possibly Jizō, a bowl of rice with chopsticks stuck into it, and a Japanese soldier's photograph. The position of the chopsticks tells us that the soldier has died. DP: Yoshitsugu Tonegawa.
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剣 (小説) [Ken / The Sword] (Kenji Misumi, 1964)
Dec
6
rice
Young people eating. An older woman in kimono scoops rice from an electric rice cooker. When read from right to left, this scene – as are numerous others in Chikashi Makiura's photographed 剣 (小説) – are split into tradition and modernity. DP: Chikashi Makiura.
“We come to life, we die… It's a perpetual renewal. How boring.”
– Mibu
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少林三十六房 [Shao Lin san shi liu fang / The 36th Chamber of Shaolin] (Chia-Liang Liu, 1978)
Jul
8
rice
With the utmost focus, Monk San Te (Chia-Hui Liu aka Gordon Liu) carefully handles a large ladle with watery rice. His sceptical sifu (Hung Wei) looks on. DPs: Yueh-Tai Huang & Arthur Wong.
