〈화녀〉(김기영, 1971)의 압축적 근대성 : 색채를 중심으로

Abstract

This study diverges from previous research that examined the compressed modernity of ‘Maid Trilogies’ through a singular symbol. Instead, it focuses on the aesthetic achievements of Woman of Fire, a work that has been overlooked in the context of Maid Trilogies. The investigation delves into the color aesthetics to explore its significance. Woman of Fire is a remake and part of the genre of Maid Trilogies featuring typical characters and centering around the triangular relationship between the wife, her husband, and the housemaid. Through repetitive narrative structures observed in Maid Trilogies, the work presents the changing appearance of the middle-class society in response to social fluctuations. Moreover, it expresses the tension arising from the compressed modernity of Korea by portraying the middle-class society. Woman of Fire presents the grotesque portrayal of the underlying compressed modernity through its narrative and film language. This research asserts that the examined color aesthetics in the film also embody grotesque aesthetics. Notably, colors play a prominent role in Woman of Fire, unlike in the black-and-white film The Housemaid and the incidental use of colors in Woman of Fire 82. It is crucial to pay attention to the distinctiveness of colors and their role in Woman of Fire. In the film, colors do not act as isolated symbols but interact with other elements, demonstrating their ‘absorptive nature.’ As a result, colors with their ‘absorptive nature’ carry relative meanings, making them subject to interpretation. Particularly, the relative meanings formed by colors become more pronounced through the differences generated by recurring colors. These differences in the continuous sequence of images create ruptures, and the traces of these ruptures give rise to gaps, leading to the expression of implicit meanings. Through the utilization of colors in Woman of Fire, the director masterfully communicates the latent dimensions of compressed modernity in a grotesque manner, employing the language of cinema to vividly depict the film's underlying themes. Specifically, the central role of the color red serves to present moments of perception, thereby visually manifesting implicit meanings through ruptures. The occurrence of these ruptures within the film is the result of the interplay between red, freeze frames, camera movements, and other mise-en-scène elements, as well as the sudden emergence of incidental white, which induces gaps and leads to narrative suspensions. Of particular significance is the role of white, functioning as an insert shot to convey the horrors stemming from the realities of compressed modernity. Despite attempts to conceal the horrors arising from these gaps through the use of opaque and blue colors in lieu of the initially dominant red, such endeavors ultimately prove futile. Consequently, the color aesthetics in Woman of Fire serve as a cinematic resistance by the director against the complexities of compressed modernity, symbolically representing the thwarted prospects of human rehabilitation amidst societal adversities.