Bound by Chastity Rule
(Yeolnyeomun)

In a rural Confucian Korea, Han (Choi Eun-hee) is widowed at a young age. Her aristocratic rank and tradition dictate that she live with her mother-in-law, reputedly a paragon of virtue, under the sign of the door of chastity. But she soon returns the love of a simple farmhand and falls pregnant. To save her honour, the family send the father and child away leaving Han under the yoke of her mother-in-law. Years pass, and the now grown son sets out to find his mother. As in Shin Sang-ok’s finest films, the stakes of Bound by Chastity Rules rely on the story’s melodramatic arguments. The troubling complexity of the film hangs on the tension underpinning the character’s ability to persevere in a virtuous conduct that is nonetheless the cause of her alienation. JB