Promise Of The Flesh

“If a man despises me and deceives me, I’ll never forgive him.”

Watching Promise of The Flesh by Kim Ki-Young (1975) was an uncomfortable experience. A story about a broken soul Sook-Young whose self-esteem is battered after encountering rape by a few men, she meets a thief, Hoon, on the train and a strange relationship blossoms between the two. Although Hoon manages to restore some humanity faith for Sook-Young and the two made a promise to meet after two years, there is little hope that Hoon would appear due to his arrest.



The rape scenes were disturbing, with jarring and harsh jazz music playing in the background, coupled with claustrophobic framing and camera movements, I felt very suffocated while watching it…to the extent that I can only remember what I felt about those sequences when I sit here and write away.

For this entry, I decided to try writing a Haiku - this is my very first attempt:

Sceneries pass by

Two souls intertwine soundly

Twist of saviour fate

References:
Promise Of The Flesh - Yukcheui Yaksok
Promise of the Flesh / Yuk-che-eui Yak-sok