# The Surrogate Woman (씨받이)
**The Surrogate Woman** (씨받이, *Ssibaji*; also released internationally as *The Surrogate Womb*) is a 1986 South Korean period drama directed by Im Kwon-taek, about a Joseon-dynasty noble family that hires a young peasant woman to bear the son its own daughter-in-law cannot provide, and the tragedy that follows when the arrangement collides with human feeling. The screenplay is by Song Gil-han, and the film was produced by Shinhan Films.[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237) When Kang Soo-yeon won Best Actress at the 44th Venice International Film Festival in 1987, this was not the first time a South Korean film received an award at a major international festival, as [The Coachman](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-coachman) (1961) had won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize at the 1961 [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival).[2](https://www.e-asianwomen.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/0274AW/aw-26-3-73.pdf) • [14](https://eng.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_008619)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 씨받이 (*Ssibaji*); international titles *The Surrogate Woman* and *The Surrogate Womb*[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) |
| Director / screenplay | Im Kwon-taek; screenplay Song Gil-han[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237) |
| Production / release | Shinhan Films, 1986; released March 21, 1987 at the Myeongbo Theater[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237) |
| Runtime / format | Feature, 95 minutes, color, 35 mm[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) • [4](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/) |
| Lead cast | Kang Soo-yeon (Ok-nyeo), Lee Goo-soon (Shin Sang-gyu), Yun Yang-ha (Shin Chi-ho), Han Eun-jin, Kim Hyung-ja (Pil-nyeo), Bang Hee (Lady Yun)[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) |
| Principal award | Best Actress (Volpi Cup), 44th Venice International Film Festival, 1987, for Kang Soo-yeon[5](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20080698) |
| Genre | Period drama (사극) set in the Joseon dynasty[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in the [Joseon dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/joseon-dynasty), an era the film presents as one in which the dead were treated better than the living and the continuation of a family line outweighed the lives of the women who made it possible.[6](https://moviekeyword.com/adult_movie/%EC%94%A8%EB%B0%9B%EC%9D%B4the-surrogate-womb-1986/) Shin Sang-gyu, the eldest son and head of the main line of a high-ranking yangban (hereditary aristocratic class of Joseon Korea) family, and his wife Lady Yun have no children, and no son to carry on the family line.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) • [7](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/) After lengthy deliberation, Sang-gyu's mother and his uncle Shin Chi-ho decide to bring in a *ssibaji*, a woman hired to bear a child for the family, and Chi-ho travels himself to a village known for women who sell such services.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) • [4](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/)
He chooses Ok-nyeo, a seventeen-year-old who is herself the daughter of Pil-nyeo, a former surrogate.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/) • [4](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/) On the night of the coupling, Sang-gyu is captivated by Ok-nyeo's beauty and begins to favor her, stirring intense jealousy in Lady Yun.[4](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/) • [3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) When Ok-nyeo becomes pregnant, the whole household treats her with honor, and she briefly forgets her station and comes to love Sang-gyu genuinely. Pil-nyeo, drawing on her own past, warns her daughter against this love, but Ok-nyeo does not listen.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008)
The ending follows the logic of the institution rather than the characters' feelings. Ok-nyeo gives birth to a son, who is placed directly into Lady Yun's arms, and the Shin family's main line celebrates. Ok-nyeo, never allowed even to see the baby's face, is pressed to leave the house that same night.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) A year later she hangs herself near the house where her child lives.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture summarizes her death as resistance through death against the family order that used her.[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237)
## Production and context
The film belongs to the period when Im Kwon-taek, who had debuted as a studio director in 1962 and spent nearly two decades turning out genre films, found his voice as a filmmaker with a social outlook. In the 1980s he made a cycle of films centered on women, including *Village in the Mist* (1983), *[Gilsotteum](https://www.edgepedia.org/gilsotteum)* (1986), *Ticket* (1986), *The Surrogate Womb* (1987), and *Adada* (1987).[8](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/inFocus.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=332) Song Gil-han, the screenwriter, had been Im's collaborator on earlier films including *Jagko* (1980), *Mandala* (1981), *Gilsotteum* (1986), and *Ticket* (1986).[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237)
The production credits include Koo Joong-mo as cinematographer, Park Soon-duk as editor, Shin Byung-ha as composer, and Jeong Do-hwan as producer.[4](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/) • [5](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20080698) Sources differ slightly on the running time: the Korean Film Archive's film record gives 95 minutes, its cinematheque listing 92 minutes, and its video library copy 93 minutes.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008) • [9](https://eng.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_006249)
## Reception and significance
**The Venice award.** The film was not a success at its first release, but its standing changed when the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) awarded Kang Soo-yeon Best Actress for 1987.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/) She won the Volpi Cup at the 44th Venice International Film Festival, the first Asian actress to receive it.[5](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20080698) The award made her the first international film star of Korea and marked her transformation from cheerful teenage roles into the most notable Korean actor of the following decade and a half.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/) For Im Kwon-taek, the film brought the international attention that later culminated in his Best Director award at Cannes.[1](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237)
The film's place in Korean film history rests on this double significance: it announced Korean cinema abroad at a moment when attendance at home was low and international recognition was scarce, and it did so through a story of a woman destroyed by her society's institutions.[10](https://korea.koreanfilm.org/history.html) The Japanese critic Tadao Sato described it as a realist film that indirectly criticizes a male-centered society.[11](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=795) A Melbourne International Film Festival note called it a strongly feminist film about a young woman brought into a rich, ancestor-conscious family to bear a son.[12](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/19385/surrogate-woman)
Kang's performance as Ok-nyeo, a woman sacrificed before status and institution, is the element most often cited in later assessments of the film, and the Korean Film Archive has continued to screen it as a landmark of Korean cinema.[5](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20080698) • [13](https://dgk.or.kr/home/download/%EB%B2%A1%EB%8D%B8%EB%8D%B0%EC%9D%B4%202022%20%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf)
## References
1. [씨받이, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (한국민족문화대백과사전)](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0068237)
2. [Asian Women journal, article on Kang Su-Yeon and the 44th Venice Film Festival](https://www.e-asianwomen.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/0274AW/aw-26-3-73.pdf)
3. [씨받이, Korean Film Archive video library record (KOFA)](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/vod/1008)
4. [Surrogate Woman (Ssibat-i), Festival des 3 Continents](https://www.3continents.com/en/film/la-mere-porteuse/)
5. [씨받이 (The Surrogate Womb), Korean Cinematheque](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20080698)
6. [씨받이 (The Surrogate Womb, 1986), 영화키워드](https://moviekeyword.com/adult_movie/%EC%94%A8%EB%B0%9B%EC%9D%B4the-surrogate-womb-1986/)
7. [The Surrogate Woman, London Korean Film Festival](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/)
8. [TICKET, Korean Film Council (KOFIC) In Focus](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/inFocus.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=332)
9. [The Surrogate Woman, Cinematheque KOFA programme](https://eng.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_006249)
10. [A Short History of Korean Film, Koreanfilm.org](https://korea.koreanfilm.org/history.html)
11. [TV영화 - 씨받이, Cine 21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=795)
12. [Surrogate Woman, Melbourne International Film Festival archive](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/19385/surrogate-woman)
13. [백덤데이 2022 자료집, Dongduk Women's University](https://dgk.or.kr/home/download/%EB%B2%A1%EB%8D%B8%EB%8D%B0%EC%9D%B4%202022%20%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf)
14. [A Coachman ( Mabu ) - Korean Film Archive](https://eng.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_008619)
---
*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 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license