The Housemaid (2010)
In theory, “The Housemaid” deserves a lot of attention and things I could say about it. There are the main characters who were all extremely interesting considering that it was one of those films that are very much like plays: They mostly take place in one house, have a very limited set of characters and the story is mostly focused on their interaction. In comparison to the great plays I am thinking of, Molière’s comedies or Shakespeare’s plays or Horváth’s dramas or even most operas, “The Housemaid” cannot compare, and it probably doesn’t try to. This is a story with a lot of melodrama, funny and tragic at the same time. I wished somebody had pointed out beforehand how incredibly much black humour is subtly integrated in this film, finding its pinnacle in the very last scene. At first, I must admit that I disliked the child – she does feel incredibly unnatural and bored, doesn’t she? But later on, it becomes obvious that she is the secretly rebellious outsider in her environment, the only person who truly sees through the evils of the main character. In that respect, she saves the film!
Compared to the 1960’s film, there is virtually no similarity except for the title. In the one film, it’s the evil woman who seduces, in the other film, she is the betrayed victim; one film is full of atmospheric horror, the other one is virtually a black comedy mixed with k-(melo)drama elements. Film-wise, I thought the 2010 version absolutely cannot compare to the haunting atmosphere of the older film, but as a stand-alone it was at least interesting. I am mildly amused that Roger Ebert liked the movie – how random is that?
On a side note, MUBI is still a horrible website and Imdb just looks too horrible. No matter whether it’s movies or anime or anything else, there seems to be no such thing as a website that is as convenient as, uh, say, Facebook. What to do? As for myself, I am still most happy with my own painfully maintained blog index. XD