# The Servant (방자전) (2010 film)
**The Servant** (방자전, 房子傳) is a 2010 South Korean historical erotic comedy film directed and written by Kim Dae-woo, which retells the classic folktale *Chunhyangjeon* from the point of view of Bang-ja, the servant of the nobleman Lee Mong-ryong, who falls in love with Chun-hyang himself[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927). It stars [Kim Joo-hyuk](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-joo-hyuk) as Bang-ja, Ryoo Seung-bum as Lee Mong-ryong, and [Cho Yeo-jeong](https://www.edgepedia.org/cho-yeo-jeong) as Chun-hyang, and was released in South Korea on June 2, 2010 by CJ Entertainment[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927) • [2](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00052036).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Kim Dae-woo, his second feature after *Forbidden Quest* (2006)[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927) • [3](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100527220400005) |
| Source | The 18th film adaptation of the classic *Chunhyangjeon*, told from the servant's perspective[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201006022259285) |
| Release | June 2, 2010; 124 minutes; rated restricted (18+, 청소년 관람불가) in Korea[2](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00052036) |
| Cast | Kim Joo-hyuk (Bang-ja), Ryoo Seung-bum (Lee Mong-ryong), Cho Yeo-jeong (Chun-hyang), with Oh Dal-su, Song Sae-byeok, and Ryu Hyunkyung in supporting roles[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927) • [2](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00052036) |
| Box office | Opening weekend 591,687 admissions (36.9% market share) on 586 screens; about 3 million admissions in total[5](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100607045300005) • [6](https://host.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24395) |
| Production | Barunson, sio film, and The Tower Pictures; filmed October 1, 2009 to January 10, 2010[2](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00052036) • [7](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm) |
| Awards | Grand Bell Awards 2010: Best Supporting Actor (Song Sae-byeok) and Best Costume Design (Jeong Gyeong-hui); Blue Dragon Film Awards 2010: Popular Star Award (Cho Yeo-jeong)[8](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20090927) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and story
The film takes the best-known love story in Korean literature, *Chunhyangjeon*, the tale of the nobleman's son Lee Mong-ryong and Chun-hyang, daughter of a gisaeng (a female entertainer), and inverts it: Chun-hyang's true lover, the film proposes, was not Mong-ryong but his servant Bang-ja[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201006022259285) • [9](https://www.oaff.jp/2011/english/program/screening/09.html). In the film's telling, Bang-ja accompanies his master to Cheongpunggak, falls for Chun-hyang at first sight, and, stung by Mong-ryong's contempt for him, declares his love[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927). With coaching from Ma, the elderly seduction expert who shares his room, Bang-ja wins Chun-hyang's heart and body, but on one condition: he must help her marry Mong-ryong, whose status offers her the social advancement she wants[10](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20090927).
The frame story has Bang-ja recounting his tale to a popular novelist in Joseon-era Seoul, so that the *Chunhyangjeon* audiences know is presented as a story Bang-ja had written about himself[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201006022259285) • [11](https://ijessnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.pdf). The characters are deliberately recast: Mong-ryong is a schemer who uses love for advancement, Chun-hyang is a pragmatic woman who wants both love and status, and Bang-ja is a charismatic lower-class man[12](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1006080053). Director Kim Dae-woo said he had always wondered what Bang-ja and Hyangdan, the servants, were doing while Mong-ryong and Chun-hyang conducted their famous romance, and that he wanted to twist what he saw as the naive ending of the original, in which a nobleman and a gisaeng's daughter marry[13](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=1600&key=20100604.22027202538) • [14](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=61325).
## Production
Kim Dae-woo wrote the screenplays for *Forbidden Love* (2003) and *[Untold Scandal](https://www.edgepedia.org/untold-scandal)* (2003) and directed *Forbidden Quest* (2006) before making *The Servant* his second feature as director[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100527220400005). Filming ran from October 1, 2009 to January 10, 2010, about 100 days, at locations including Chukryeongsan, Milyang, Andong's Gunja village, Gyeongju's Yangdong village, and Gayasan in Hapcheon[7](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm).
**Design.** Art director Park Il-hyun and Kim Dae-woo decided that "the beauty of Joseon lies in the plainness of muted colors", giving the film's sets and landscapes a subdued palette[7](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm). Because shooting took place in late autumn and winter, the crew brought in large quantities of fresh flowers to turn fallen-leaf paths into flower-lined roads for the springtime scenes between Bang-ja and Chun-hyang[7](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm). Costume director Jeong Gyeong-hui, at the director's request to show elements never before expressed through period costume, worked to depart from the familiar forms of traditional Korean dress; she won the Grand Bell Award for Best Costume Design for the film[7](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm) • [8](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20090927).
## Reception and box office
The film opened strongly despite its adults-only rating. On its first day it drew about 170,000 admissions, the best opening of any Korean film released that year to that point[15](https://www.donga.com/news/Entertainment/article/all/20100607/28917043/3). Over the June 4 to 6 weekend it took 591,687 admissions on 586 screens, a 36.9 percent market share, displacing *Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time* at the top of the Korean box office, with 861,290 admissions cumulatively by June 6[5](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100607045300005). It passed one million admissions on its sixth day of release and reached 1,653,169 by the end of its second weekend, again ranking first[16](https://www.edaily.co.kr/News/Read?mediaCodeNo=257&newsId=01485846593001720).
Final totals are recorded slightly differently by different databases: the Cine21 record drawn from the Korean Film Archive's KMDb gives 2,985,556 admissions[6](https://host.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24395), while the Korean Film Council's KOBIS year-end table lists 3,035,116 admissions and revenue of 22,853,629,794 won, ranking tenth among all films released in South Korea in 2010[17](https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/hanyang/bitstream/2021.sw.hanyang/152187/1/%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%20%EC%88%98%EC%9A%94%EC%97%90%20%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C%20%EB%AF%B8%EC%8B%9C%20%EC%8B%A4%EC%A6%9D%EB%B6%84%EC%84%9D%20%ED%99%95%EB%A5%A0%EA%B3%84%EC%88%98%20%EB%A1%9C%EC%A7%93%EB%AA%A8%ED%98%95.pdf). The Osaka Asian Film Festival's program notes describe the film as a massive hit in South Korea watched by over three million viewers[9](https://www.oaff.jp/2011/english/program/screening/09.html).
Song Sae-byeok, who played the eccentric magistrate Byeon Hak-do, collected several best-new-actor honors, including from the Korean Film Critics Association, the Buil Film Awards, and the Director's Cut Awards[8](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20090927). The film also received a technical award for art direction from the Korean Association of Film Critics[10](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20090927).
## References
1. [The Servant (2010) - Korean Film, Filmmakers](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20090927)
2. [방자전 자료검색, 한국영상자료원 영상도서관](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00052036)
3. ["'방자전' 김대우 감독 \"금기 깨기 자체가 행복\"", 연합뉴스](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100527220400005)
4. ["[영화리뷰] 영화 '방자전'", 경향신문](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201006022259285)
5. ["<박스오피스> '방자전' 1위", 연합뉴스](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20100607045300005)
6. [방자전 (The Servant), Cine21](https://host.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24395)
7. ["음란서생 김대우 감독의 은밀한 色色농익은 해학과감한 상상... [방자전]", 한국영화데이터베이스 제작 노트](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/bangja/bangja_2-1.htm)
8. [The Servant (2010), Korea Film](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20090927)
9. [The Servant, Osaka Asian Film Festival 2011](https://www.oaff.jp/2011/english/program/screening/09.html)
10. [The Servant (2010), Korean Film Council](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20090927)
11. [The Servant in International Journal of Education and Social Science Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026)](https://ijessnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.pdf)
12. ["'방자전', 개봉 6일만에 '100만' 돌파", OSEN](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1006080053)
13. ["잘 생긴 하인, 못 생긴 양반... 춘향의 이중생활", 국제신문](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=1600&key=20100604.22027202538)
14. ["[전영객잔] 순진과 냉소 사이 [1]", Cine21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=61325)
15. ["[연예 뉴스 스테이션] 아니벌써?... '방자전' 개봉 첫주 86만명", 스포츠동아](https://www.donga.com/news/Entertainment/article/all/20100607/28917043/3)
16. ["'방자전' 2주 연속 주말흥행 1위... '165만 돌파'", 이데일리](https://www.edaily.co.kr/News/Read?mediaCodeNo=257&newsId=01485846593001720)
17. [영화 수요에 대한 미시실증분석 (KOBIS 2010 year-end table), 한양대학교](https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/hanyang/bitstream/2021.sw.hanyang/152187/1/%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%20%EC%88%98%EC%9A%94%EC%97%90%20%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C%20%EB%AF%B8%EC%8B%9C%20%EC%8B%A4%EC%A6%9D%EB%B6%84%EC%84%9D%20%ED%99%95%EB%A5%A0%EA%B3%84%EC%88%98%20%EB%A1%9C%EC%A7%93%EB%AA%A8%ED%98%95.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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