Product Details

• Actors: Song Hye Gyo, Yu Ji Tae, Ryu Seung Ryong
• Directors: Jang Yun Hyeon
• Format: DVD Region, NTSC, Widescreen, Subtitled
• Subtitles: English, Chinese
• Region: All Regions
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000X5R12W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,355 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Hwang Jin Yi'' delivers a novel interpretation of one of the most celebrated women in the Joseon Kingdom era (1392-1910), but shines just dimly on the silver screen. The shortcomings of the highly anticipated film regrettably eclipse its unique plot, all-star cast and crew, and grand-scale production. The film traces the life of Hwang Jin Yi, a 16th century gisaeng - a female entertainer-artist similar to the Japanese geisha - remembered as both a distinguished poet and alluring femme fatale. Born into a respected noble family, the charming Hwang leads a peaceful life in the city of Songdo. But when her scandalous birth secrets are revealed, she voluntarily chooses the lowly life of a gisaeng. Hwang, brought to life by Song Hye-gyo, evolves from an innocent damsel to smoldering temptress. Song gives an impressive performance of her character's winding emotional journey, and breaks away from her image as a sweet-faced starlet. "Hwang'' is original in both senses of the word. The film portrays not so much the artistic gisaeng we saw hitherto in other works, but the human Hwang based on the novel of the same title by North Korean writer Hong Seok-jung.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different take of the movie, December 13, 2007

By 

Joon S. Keum (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hwang Jin Yi: The Movie (Standard Edition) DVD (DVD)

I have watched this movie with better subtitles. The plain matter of fact is that judging the movie with awful subtitles from a questionable source can taint the entire experience into something that contrary to the reality.

This movie is based on a North Korean author's best seller about the life of a giesang or Chosun period entertainer, who was famous for her beauty as well as her wit. Even though she was a real life character from the mid 1500s period, there is little veritable detail about her life. What is popularly known is that she was raised as a noble woman, and later in life she was to figure out that she was not really 100% noble after all. The movie or the novel in which it is based makes a point of the life she decides to live, after she abandons the life that was not hers.

What is known about her today is that she was a decent poetry writer, whose short poems have been passed down through time. According to my wife, her poetry is still read as part of the national literature reading curriculum for secondary schools in South Korea.

After watching the movie, it is uncanny the relationship between many gifted female writers from different periods and societies. The writer depicted in this movie reminds me much of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, another gifted woman who was born in a society way ahead of its time.

The movie itself is wonderful in the way is shows the quirks and problems of the time. The tension between the peasants and the upper classes, as well as the mores and hypocrisy that existed among those who claim to be virtuous.

The movie is well made, it has a certain color and rhythm that is particularly Korean, different than the Chinese and Japanese period pieces in its subdued acting, that is if the watcher is careful to compare the differences.

I recommend that you search out the original subtitled Korean version, but you will need a code free region 2 DVD player to play it. In our days, these players are rather affordable, therefore there would not be an issue watching different region movies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars English Subtitles Awful!, December 11, 2007

By 

A. Mapanao - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hwang Jin Yi: The Movie (Standard Edition) DVD (DVD)

I'm a big fan of Song Hye Kyo (Gyo) and I anticipated the release of this movie, "Hwang Jin-Yi." However, since English is the only language I know, it was very disappointing to know that this DVD itself does not have the English subtitle option. Luckily, the DVD player that I was using gave me the option to play this particular DVD in English. To my surprise, the subtitles was awful. The English was very broken as if it actually translated the main movie's language, word for word into English. For those that know any foreign language, you would know that trying to translate it into English would require you to re-word it so that you can understand it. This was the only downfall for this particular DVD. I did, however, tried to go through the entire movie attempting to "encrypt" the subtitles so that I can understand what's going on. I got the general idea after the movie ended, but I wouldn't want to go through that ordeal again.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie Really Bad English Subtitles, November 13, 2007

By 

Arthur A. Rowbotham "Bookish" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hwang Jin Yi: The Movie (Standard Edition) DVD (DVD)

This movie is interesting in that it takes a historical figure popular in Korea and presents her from a different angle. It clearly takes many liberties with the actual historical events, but artists should be given some license as long as they don't distort the integrity of the person they're are bringing back to life for the purposes of entertainment. However, the subtitles in this edition of the movie are absolutely horrible, at least for English speaking audiences.