Doll Master
| Doll Master | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Jeong Yong-ki |
| Produced by | Han Man-taek |
| Written by | Jeong Yong-gi |
| Cinematography | Jo Cheol-ho |
| Edited by | Nam Na-yeong |
| Distributed by |
Lotte Cinema Cineclick Asia |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
The Doll Master (Hangul: 인형사; RR: Inhyeongsa) is a 2004 South Korean horror film directed by Jeong Yong-ki.
Plot
60 years ago, a doll maker fell in love with a woman in a red kimono (Jeong Yu-mi) during the Japanese occupation in a countryside in Korea. The red kimono woman, too, fell in love with the doll maker after he made a doll in her image. Later, when the red kimono woman was found murdered, the blame was put on the doll maker. He was eventually arrested and killed by vigilantes in the woods. The doll, not contented to be without her maker, sat by his grave for all eternity.
In the present day, Hae-mi (Kim Yoo-mi), the sculptor, Tae-seong (Shim Hyung-tak), the "model" who is looking for work, Young-ha (Ok Ji-young), the woman who claims she can talk to her Demian doll, Jung-ki (Lim Hyeong-jun), the photographer and Sun-young (Lee Ka-yeong), the ditzy high school student, arrived at an isolated museum in the middle of nowhere with the promise of dolls to be made in their image. They are greeted by the museum’s curator (Chun Ho-jin) who introduces them to the dolls and the paraplegic doll maker, Im Jae-won (Kim Do-young).
However, when Yeong-ha's doll has its head separated from its body, the doll, who is the spitting image of the red kimono woman, kills the guests one by one. Im later admits that she is using the red kimono doll to avenge its maker; it is also revealed that the guests Im invited are the descendants of the doll maker's killers. At the same time, the clues point to a mysterious, young woman named Mi-na (Lim Eun-kyung), the soul of the doll Hae-mi once owned as a child.
Being the only victim left, Hae-mi tries to avoid the attempted assassination of Mi-na. She stops her attempt when she remembers a time Hae-mi protected her from being broken, which the scar on her arm is from. Mi-na then asks Hae-mi why she abandoned her all those years after promising to protect her. However, a displeased Im shows up and destroys Mi-na's soul by poking her eyes and beheading her. She then tries to kill Hae-mi, but she successfully kills Im.
When Im and the museum’s curator were killed, Im's husband (Nam Myung-ryul) tells her that they regret bringing the red kimono doll after all the trouble it caused.
While burning all the corpses (including the doll) in a camp fire, Hae-mi questions herself whether the fault lies on the dolls or humans. As she throws Mi-na's head into the fire, a young Hae-mi (Byeon Ju-yeon) throws Mi-na out the window in the flashback.
Cast
- Kim Yoo-mi as Hae-mi, the sculptor
- Shim Hyung-tak as Tae-seong, the "model"
- Ok Ji-young as Young-ha, the woman with the Demian doll
- Im Hyung-joon as Jung-ki, the photographer
- Lee Ka-yeong as Sun-young, the ditzy high school student
- Lim Eun-kyung as Mi-na, the soul of the doll Hae-mi once owned. She was later retrieved by Im Jae-won after being discarded.
- Chun Ho-jin as Choi Jin-wan, the museum's curator
- Kim Do-young as Im Jae-won, the museum's doll maker
- Jeong Yu-mi as woman in red kimono. She was the muse for the red kimono doll.
- Byeon Ju-yeon as young Hae-Mi
- Nam Myung-ryul as Im Jae-won's husband
Dolls
Although the story states that the dolls are decades old, many of them featured in the film are modern ball-jointed dolls. Some of the dolls such as Mi-na and Demian are a part of the "Event" series of "The AI" dolls from a Korean doll company called Custom House.[1]
References
- ↑ http://www.customhouse.co.kr/en/about/index.asp "July : Movie [Doll Master] Main character Mina doll released"