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Korea Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Different layers of motifs, puzzles bring stylish take on 65-year-old female killer
'The Old Woman with the Knife' and its film adaptation offer diverging visions of aging, violence and redemption "The Old Woman with the Knife" by Gu Byeong-mo follows a female assassin nearing the end of her career — a striking and compelling premise that has proven irresistible for adaptation. The hardboiled Korean action-thriller novel, originally published in 2018, was reimagined as a musical last year and its film adaptation premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. It follows the story of Hornclaw (played by Lee Hye-young), a 65-year-old assassin whose age is beginning to catch up with her, and Bullfight (Kim Sung-cheol), an enigmatic young man who trails her with unclear motives. Her line of work, already dangerous, grows more precarious as she ages, and the world around her begins to see her as obsolete. 'She's like the legendary gunman whose hands have started to shake,' said director Min Kyu-dong at a press conference. 'Then a hotheaded newcomer shows up and challenges her to a duel. When she refuses, he starts firing wildly to provoke a confrontation.' Both the novel and the film center their narratives on this aging killer. But while the book turns inward, delving into the psychological weight of growing old — questions of powerlessness and the meaning of existence — the film leans outward, embracing visual spectacle through action-packed confrontations, tense chases and uneasy alliances. At its best, the film is not a retelling, but a divergent reflection of the same story — like a puzzle assembled from the same pieces, yet arranged into an entirely different picture. Bullfight and Hornclaw: Rivalries in two registers One of the starkest differences between the novel and the film lies in the characterization of Bullfight. In the film, his backstory is clearer and more emotionally grounded, hinting at a traumatic event that not only fuels his obsession with defeating Hornclaw but also his desperate need to leave a mark on her life. For the film to work, Bullfight's world had to be as robust as Hornclaw's, according to the director. "What could have pushed a young man to seek out a showdown with an aging killer? Perhaps a traumatic event, powerful enough to upend his entire life, is what drives him," said Min. 'With a novel, if something doesn't make sense, you can close the book and come back later. In a film, the moment passes, and if you don't understand, the rest of the story might not land.' The novel resists clarity. Bullfight's motivations remain ambiguous, his feelings toward Hornclaw unreadable. Gu has consistently declined to offer any clarification since the novel's release. 'It's the part readers are most curious about,' she said. 'But if I give a clear answer, the mystery disappears. I want readers to sit with their own questions.' Power struggle Another key divergence appears in the portrayal of the fictional company. In the novel, the shadowy organization of contract killing is referred to only vaguely as 'the agency." Both Hornclaw and her former partner and mentor, Ryoo (Kim Moo-yul), recognize the moral compromise inherent in their line of work, fully aware that their so-called 'clean-up' jobs are, in the end, acts of unforgivable violence. In the film, the moral framing is more ambiguous — even somewhat palatable. Hornclaw describes her work as a kind of sacred duty, targeting only those whose crimes seem to warrant death. There are boundaries, rules that govern her actions. The agency's director, Son (Kim Kang-woo), harbors ambitions to modernize it and ultimately edge Hornclaw out. Their conflict deepens as Son aligns with the newcomer, advocating for new ethics and methods within the agency. This clash reflects not only generational tensions but also a clash over justice, efficiency and the value of human life, leaving the aging Hornclaw increasingly sidelined and dismissed. Moral ambiguity Similar to the ethics of the agency that Hornclaw clings to, the film portrays her as a figure holding onto some sense of justice and righteousness, with her first love, Ryoo, also lingering as a sacred yet mysterious presence in her past. For example, Hornclaw's first murder is deliberately ambiguous in the film. The novel, however, offers a harsher, more unsettling interpretation: Ryoo intentionally abandons the young Hornclaw in a dangerous situation, out of a need to take care of the offender. Far from heroes, the novel suggests that neither Hornclaw nor Ryoo was innocent or virtuous. The novel devotes considerable space to Hornclaw's troubled history: her years of drifting from place to place, during which she was driven to steal not out of necessity but recklessness, her fraught relationship with Ryoo, and her child (omitted entirely from the film). This portrayal adds a layer of moral ambiguity and emotional complexity to the story. Many symbolic motifs — existence and disappearance, wounds, loss and recovery, salvation and violence — are intricately woven into the book. The film, likewise, is layered with motifs and puzzles. According to the director, even something as simple as a car's license plate hides a code. 'I hope that discovering these subtle details will be a small but rewarding pleasure for the audience and book fans alike," said Min "The Old Woman with the Knife" novel is available in English, translated by Chi-Young Kim, as well as in several other languages in 13 countries. hwangdh@
New York Times
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Lavish Party Inside the Frick's $220 Million Renovation
On a rainy night on the Upper East Side, art world philanthropists, billionaire business moguls and New York socialites scurried under a canopy of umbrellas and into the newly restored Frick. Old money — the Gilded Age mansion of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick — met new money — a $220 million renovation — on Monday night at the Frick Collection's long-awaited opening gala, where swooping capes and cheek-to-cheek kisses were en vogue among the Vermeers, Van Dycks and Rembrandts. Once partygoers had dried off inside — past a marble bust of Mr. Frick himself — they popped caviar tater tots over flutes of champagne and took in the mansion's refreshed environs, which are set to open to the public on April 17. 'It's really important to have spaces where we can leave politics at the door and find common interests in something like art and beauty,' said Tai-Heng Cheng, a lawyer, legal scholar and Frick trustee who wore his great-great-grandfather's pendant. 'And we can bicker endlessly about what's beautiful, but that's OK,' he added. 'That's better than bickering endlessly about other more weighty things.' In pleated gowns and black tuxedos, couples proudly ascended the grand staircase to the newly added second floor. In the Gold Grounds room upstairs, Ian Wardropper, the museum's former director, who recently retired, explained the origin of a cluster of porcelain flowers to Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder (as in Estée). As he spoke, Mr. Wardropper was interrupted and complimented several times for his vision and persistence. During his 14-year-tenure, he considered six proposals for the museum's renovation, but he held on to see Annabelle Selldorf's lauded expansion through. Tijana Ibrahimovic, a media personality, said she was thrilled to visit the new section for ceramics, as well as to experience the 'old-world feel' of the library. But there was one feature that particularly captivated her. 'I'm excited to see the fountain in the middle again,' she said. Guests marveled at the marble steps, original to the mansion, and their natural path to 'the Piero': Piero della Francesca's 15th-century showstopper Saint John the Evangelist, cloaked in red, feet bare, with a cherry-on-top golden halo. 'What a sightline,' Mr. Wardropper said, taking brief moment to sit on a plush hexagonal bench in a former bedroom, now a homage to Mr. Frick's daughter Helen Clay Frick. Until the renovation, it had been used by museum staff. 'Seeing people walk through is such a pleasure,' he added. Spectators admired the curtains (weighty, handwoven drapery replete with thick tassels, coils and sateen balls), took iPhone photos in front of classic works (Manet's 'Bullfight' was of particular interest) and gazed upon works by Rousseau and Millet until being whisked away for dinner downstairs. Those seated in the West Gallery, the grand hall that is 'as long and wide as an airport runway, custom-built for art,' the critic Holland Cotter wrote for The New York Times in a visual guide to the reopening, were treated to opening remarks from Elizabeth 'Betty' Eveillard, the chair of the Frick's board of trustees. But a majority of the guests were scattered in gallery rooms across the first floor, where they watched the remarks via livestream on TVs stationed in each room. Ms. Eveillard announced the board's naming of the newly built Ian Wardropper Education Room, in honor of Mr. Wardropper's pursuit to expand educational programming. And the gala, she noted, looking down the long banquet tables set with candelabras, their candles flickering with faux flames (why risk burning down millions of dollars' worth of renovations?) sold out before invitations were even in the mail. The event, which was attended by more than 450 people, raised $3.7 million. 'I thank you all,' she said. 'And I say, welcome home.' The Fragonard Room became a kind of kids table — or cool kids' table — where younger patrons, including the model Ivy Getty and the Vogue editor Lilah Ramzi, gabbed and dined on avocado crab salad while surrounded by paintings of floating cherubs and ethereal children. 'We're giving gay Gilded Age for the Frick,' the theater producer Jordan Roth said, exhibiting the components of his puffy-sleeved, all-black look. 'Vintage Dior, vintage Lanvin, two-days-ago Prada.' 'Fresh paint!' the socialite Laurence Milstein chimed in, referring to Mr. Roth's new Prada. 'I was like, you know what, if there's one person who's going to understand the assignment, it's Jordan Roth.' In between courses, attendees took to the Garden Court and sipped cocktails around the fountain, under the gold hues of the stately, illuminated columns. After a main course of roasted mallard duck with pickled blackberry port jus, it was time for final remarks. Axel Rüger, the museum's director, presented Mr. Wardropper, his predecessor, with a commemorative silver tray from Christofle. 'My tuxedo and I have been in a race to see who would retire first,' Mr. Wardropper said. The evening, he continued, was a celebration of 'bringing the Frick into the 21st century.' It was the culmination, he added, of transforming a mansion that once had a team of 30 servants serving three people, into a museum and education center serving 300,000 people. 'Long live the Frick!' Mr. Wardropper concluded, and everyone in the room, flanked by two Turners on velvet-coated green walls, leaped to their feet and applauded. Suddenly, a stampede of waiters emerged ferrying miniature shipping crates made of chocolate, adorned with 'fragile' stickers and accompanied by little golden mallets. With puzzled — and then delighted — looks, guests cracked into their desserts, shattering the packages to reveal Frick masterpieces in cookie form — making collectors out of all who attended.
