Dir. Kim Ho-Seon
Cast: Yeom Bok-sun, Song Jae-ho and Choi Bul-am
"Young-ja's personal misfortune is registered as a social tragedy born of reckless, unilateral urbanization and modernization. Thus, Yeong-Ja's Heydays acquires power as a critique of the times” (Kwon Eun-sun). Yeong-Ja's Heydays is arguably the most important of the “hostess melodramas” cycle that were very popular during the 1970s. Based on Cho Seon-jak’s same title bestseller novel, Yeong-Ja's Heydays was Kim Ho-Seon’s first feature film and unexpectedly became the box office sensation of 1975. Throughout the film, Young-ja follows the typical path that many young women who came to the city from the local villages had gone through - from housemaid to bus conductor, and eventually to the brothel. Although she only had a simple dream to make a family and live an ordinary life, Young-Ja lost her arms and fell into prostitution in her despair. In this context, the title of the film, Yeong-Ja's Heydays connotes an ironic and critical meaning.The film was Yeom’s debut feature and also well known for its superb original soundtrack.
