#drama #Youn Yuh Jung #Jeon Mu-Song #Yoon Kye-Sang #2016 #recorded in March, 2022

The story takes us through a few weeks in life of So Young (Youn Yuh Jung), an independent, spunky, and experienced ‘Bacchus Lady’ (an elderly prostitute who offers Korean energy drink Bacchus-F to potential clientele) in Seoul. One day, she happens across a young Filipino boy whose mother is arrested for assaulting a doctor for fathering her child and then abandoning them. Taking pity of the boy, So-young befriends and takes him under her wing. In the meantime, she meets a client who asks her for a strange favour: to help him commit suicide.

“The Bacchus Lady” is a film about those who have often been hidden away ad looked down upon in Korean society, particularly the elderly. Outside of the protective circle with whom she lives, she has to face down demeaning assignments. Set mostly in Beautifully maintained public parks, especially around Jungmyo Confucian Shrine in Jongno park and replete with shots of autumn leaves in their burnished splendor, the gorgeous mise-en-scene reinforces the paradox of Korea’s economic clout and her class disparity.