MovieChat Forums > Hwanghae (2011) Discussion > One last time, let's discuss his wife de...

One last time, let's discuss his wife death. Plz.


And I really just want to concentrate on the wife's death case here please. I prefer to think that indeed she was alive and we see her, after the credit, getting off the train. That would mean that the ashes in the box we're not his wife. Cool right? Yeah. But then, all of my confusion comes from the confession the restaurant guy made on TV about killing the woman he recognize as the wife. The only argument I found against that is that he mistakes her with another woman who looks alike and who had a picture of a daughter who also looked alike. Look-alike so much that even the father would confuse her with his daughter. Way too far fetch. I really want to believe that the wife is still alive but the only good argument I found is about her being dead, here it is:

. She is dead. The woman at the restaurant recognizes the picture and says she was good friends with the Japanese restauranteur. The Japanese restauranteur recognizes the picture and gives the main character her address. He goes to the address and finds a picture of their child in the apartment. There are signs of a struggle and blood stains on the walls. Later, the news mentions that a woman from the same region in China as the main character is found dead. Later, the news states that the Japanese restauranteur admits to the crime, stating that he killed her because she planned to return to her husband in China. The final scene is just a cheap gimmick - a flashback or fantasy sequence. If it is meant to truly show that she was alive all this time and returned to China, then the previous events must be a fantasy: why would a stranger have a picture of the main character and her child in their apartment?

So please can anyone give me a convincing argument to confirm my thoughts on her being still alive and that we see her getting off the train in the end. Thank you.

reply

Perhaps the vision was the husband's who had a tendency to dream good dreams about her when he was asleep.

reply

So you think it's her in the box?

reply

I do, it sort of makes the ending even more bleak but it otherwise raises more questions about the actions of other characters; such as the confessing boyfriend.

reply

The Japanese seafood deliveryman (not restaurateur) was harboring 2 Korean women from China:

1. Nam's wife - whose hideout was revealed after Nam beat him up, & where he found their daughter's photo. It was never revealed who had abducted her an hour before Nam arrived. Methinks it's likely her pimp, given the violence involved.

2. Another Korean woman - whom the deliveryman mutilated & disposed of at Ansan Mountain. The TV news only said she was 'Joseon' (the Korean ethnic minority in China) but didn't mention she was specifically from Yanbian (although that's where Joseons like Nam & Snakehead Myun lived at the start of the movie).

Yes, the bittersweet postscript shows her returning to China, well-heeled & alive. I checked the Chinese & Korean forums; no one suggested that this is a fantasy sequence or flashback. Perhaps the subtitles you saw were lacking, or you didn't watch the original longer film version (which showed Nam daydreaming about his wife boarding the departing train twice, i.e. before he went to meet the Judo Professor's wife, & while he was dying.)

reply

Thanks for the info!

reply