Splendid Outing

A double-whammy critique of Korea’s patriarchal society and political repression, 1978’s Splendid Outing also fits comfortably in the “psychotic women” genre that includes paranoid mysteries like Rebecca and Repulsion. Director Kim Soo-yong adeptly keeps his audience guessing which half of his film is real and which is imagined as he drags his lead character from the boardroom to the bedroom of an abusive captor intent on keep her as a replacement for his runaway wife.

Gong Do-hee (or President Gong to her business partners) is a respected widow who rose to the rank of chairwoman in her husband’s absence. But on a day trip to escape her busy schedule, she finds herself kidnapped and sold off to a fishmonger on an isolated island. After being raped, beaten and forced to care for the man’s crippled daughter, Do-hee starts to accept her fate. But a sympathetic doctor inspires her to makes one last attempt to return to her former life.

Eventually, Splendid Outing does come clean about the reality behind its far-fetched plot. But by that time, the film has done such a fine job walking the line between feminist horror-story, social satire and Hitchcockian mystery that one is apt to forgive any failings. Director Kim Soo-yong has admitted his film is an anti-authoritarian statement against Korea’s then-powerful regime. But is never spills the beans in clumsy fashion. In fact, its more obvious attack against the male power structure is the more forward-thinking message in play. But Splendid Outing also manages to disguise itself comfortably (or uncomfortably) as a pseudo-exploitation film with our final girl struggling not only to survive but to find out what kind of life is worth surviving for.

Radiance’s world Blu-ray premiere is limited to 2500 copies and includes new interviews, and audio commentary, visual essay and collector’s booklet featuring new and archival writing on the film.