Portrait of a Beauty
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Profile
- Movie: Portrait of a Beauty
- Revised romanization: Miindo
- Hangul: 미인도
- Director: Yun-su Jeon
- Writer: Su-ryeon Han, Jung-myeong Kee (novel)
- Producer:
- Cinematographer: Hee-ju Park
- Release Date: November 13, 2008
- Runtime: 108 min.
- Distributor: CJ Entertainment
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
- Available Online:
Plot
Retired court painter Han-pyong Shin seeks to settle an old score with the most sought after painter of that time, Hong-do Kim (Kim Yeong-Ho). Shin raises his son to surpass Hong-do Kim, but his son commits suicide over his lack of talent. The father then pushes his daughter Yun-jeong to disguise herself as her brother and enter the world of court painters.
Now the grown-up Yun-jeong (Gyu-ri Kim), better known as "Hyewon" - the pen name of Yun-bok Shin, finally enters the court and learns to paint under the guidance of Hong-do Kim, who is trusted by by King Jung-jo.
Hong-do Kim quickly notices Yun-bok's huge potential as well as his girlish features. Things remain normal until Yun-bok goes out and comes across a playful seller of mirrors, Kang-mu (Nam-gil Kim). When their romantic adventure takes off, it is Hong-do Kim who ends up heartbroken. Kim's jealousy, and his desire to own Yun-bok physically and emotionally, soars to a perilous level.
Yun-bok Shin, better known by the pen name Hyewon, is a real figure who produced a host of thematically provocative and artistically excellent paintings in the 18th century. However, not one record of the painter still exists. A story about a genius painter who loved his patron’s lover and then lost everything, only to leave a miindo of the lady.
Notes
- "A Portrait of a Beauty" is based on the 2007 fictional historical novel "The Painter of the Wind" by Jung-myeong Kee.
- The novel examines the life of 18th century painter Yun-bok Shin. Although highly regarded for his erotic & satrical paintings, there are few documents relating to the painter's life in the present day. Jung-myeong Kee's novel then presents the hypothetical question, "What if Yun-bok Shin was actually a girl dressed in men's clothes?"
- Other titles based on the same story:
- The Painter of Wind (SBS / 2008)
Cast
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| Gyu-ri Kim | Kim Yeong-Ho | Nam-gil Kim | Chu Ja-Hyeon |
| Yun-bok Shin / Yun-jeong Shin | Hong-do Kim | Kang-mu | Sul-hwa |
Additional Cast Members:
- Han Myeong-Ku - Jeong-ju
- Kwon Byeong-Kil - Keo-sang Kim
- Yeo Ho-Min - Hwa-won Shim
- Park Ji-Il - Han-pyeong Shin
- Choi Kyu-Han - Ha-won Choi
- Ra Mi-Ran
- Kang-san
- Kim Seung-Hun
- Jeon Kuk-Hwan - Sang-kwan Dang
Trailer
Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2009 (13th) Fantasia Film Festival - July 9th-29th (Canadian Premiere)
Awards
- Best Cinematography - 2009 (46th) Daejong Film Awards - Nov. 6th
Comments
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lunapark6.com Says:
Mar 15 2009 10:03 pm
“Portrait of a Beauty” (Korean title “Miindo”) is based on a controversial 2007 novel titled “Baramui Hwawon” by Jung-myeong Kee. The novel gives a fictional account of 18th century folk painter Yoon-bok Shin, better known under his pen name “Hyewon.” Hyewon’s paintings are noted for its eroticism and its realistic depiction of everyday life. The novel then asks the purely hypothetical question … “what if Yoon-bok Shin was a girl and disguised himself as a man?” Although there isn’t any historical evidence to back this assumption, the novel sold enough to quickly inspire the 2008 SBS drama “The Painter of Wind, ” starring Korea’s little sister - Geun-yeong Mun. With that, film-makers decided to bring the novel “Baramui Hwawon” to the big screen as “Portrait of a Beauty.”
As a child, Yun-jeong Shin (Min-sun Kim) often painted for her older brother. Their father fiercely pushed her brother to pursue painting, but because of his lack of talent relied on his sister’s paintings. When the pressure became too much her brother committed suicide. Her father, upon discovering that Yun-jeong painted for her brother, then pushes Yun-jeong to take her brother’s identity (girls at the time were not allowed to paint) and enter the world of court painting.
Now as an adult, Yun-jeong, who uses her brother’s name Yun-bok, becomes accepted in the King’s court as a painter and works under the tutelage of Hong-do Kim (Yeong-ho Kim). It doesn’t take long for Hong-do Kim to notice Yun-bok’s immense talents, as well as his feminine features. Yun-bok then meets Kang-mu (Nam-gil Kim), a carefree glass seller whom she falls in love with. When Hong-do takes notice of their relationship, he becomes engulfed by jealousy and is willing to do anything to end their relationship.
“Portrait of a Beauty” has that unusual premise (a woman takes the identity of a man to become a famous painter), copious amounts of nudity & sex, and tragic melodrama of the Shakespearean kind. Sounds good you say? On paper it does, but the finished product is rather lackluster.
First warning sign would lie with Yun-se Jeon - the movie’s film director. Yun-se Jeon’s prior film “Le Grand Chef” had moments of fun, but was ruined by poorly done flashbacks of Joseon era South Korea. Well, “Portrait of a Beauty” is entirely set in Joseon era South Korea so that’s not a comforting sign. The next sign of possible trouble would lie with casting Min-sun Kim in the starring role of Yun-bok Shin. Although she has taken steps to play more diverse characters (reference “Rainbow Eyes” where she convincingly plays a tough as nails cop), you’re not going to confuse her with Do-yeon Jeon anytime soon. What stacks the table further against her, is her own beauty and the director’s odd decision to not disguise her more when playing a man. In the first half of the film, when Yun-bok’s identity still needed to be kept under wraps, you wouldn’t believe for a second that anybody would think she is man. This killed any sense of realism the movie might have had.
Beyond Min-sun Kim’s unconvincing portrayal of Yun-bok Shin, her co-stars were just as bad. Yeong-ho Kim, who received a lot of praise for his recent work in Sang-soo Hong’s “Night and Day,” portrayed the rugged scholar aspects of Hong-do Kim well, but when it was time to display emotions he totally blew it. Nam-gil Kim, who played the glass seller, wasn’t as bad, but he doesn’t do anything to distinguish himself either.
The film does have a surprising amount of nudity and sex scenes for a commercial Korean film. The first scene involving two models as they mimic Kama Sutra positions for painters, doesn’t carry a lot of heat but I did learn a thing or two about sexual positions. The second sex scene has Min-sun Kim going all “Wei-Tang” for the cameras.
Although I didn’t have high expectations going into “Portrait of a Beauty” the movie never engages in any meaningful way. Performances are weak throughout the film which is probably the biggest factor for this sense of detachment. The decision to not have Min-sun Kim look more like a man in the early portions of the film also dampens any enthusiasm for the film that may arise. A decent love triangle (or is it quadrangle?) story starts to emerge in the second half of the film, but (again) poor acting dampens everything. Most likely “Portrait of a Beauty” will only be remembered for its steamy sex scenes and its preposterous premise. The movie itself? Blehhhh……..