When people say that art should be political, what they really mean is that they don’t want to ingest films that might challenge their political views. They want to be entertained, not preached to. This is a childish perspective because it boils down to a viewing populace that doesn’t want to think, doesn’t want to get uncomfortable, and doesn’t want to be exposed to any ideas it hasn’t pre-approved. All art is political, whether you like it or not, dreamt up by individuals whose lived experience cultivated the thing they create for others to navigate. Sorry to report that the X-Men comics are about minorities circa the U.S. Civil Rights movement with white supremacists as the bad guys, Captain American canonically hates fascists (same with Superman who famously targeted slumlords in his earliest stories), Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” speaks to the alienation Vietnam soldiers felt by their country upon returning home, and Star Wars is an allegory for the Vietnam War with the Empire representing the U.S.. Borrowing from his own lived experience, filmmaker Kim Soo-yong’s (Mist) Splendid Outing (화려한 외출), from a script by Cho Moon-jin (Always a Stranger) adapted from Kim Yong-sung’s short story “The Site of Traces,” tells a nightmarish story in which reality and dreams collide as one woman discovers the terrible cruelty and sharp pain of authoritarian ideology.
Since the passing of her husband, Gong Do-hee (Yoon Jeong-hee) has taken over his duties as president of the company, thriving in the position and enjoying the benefits that it brings. As she contends with misogyny from her male colleagues who wish she would remarry and to the needs of her two young children, a loneliness springs within her that prompts a visit to a shaman who discloses that Do-hee feels like she straddles two worlds as she was a twin in the womb and that lost twin calls to her. This prompts Do-hee to return to the fishing village she grew up in where she finds herself immediately kidnapped and sold off to a crazed man that claims Do-hee is actually his wife, forcing her into various domestic responsibilities. Each day, however, Do-hee strives to escape the violent man, his daughter, and their island home and get back to Seoul, but when no one she tells believes her story, hope begins to dwindle.
The following review is based on a Blu-ray review copy provided by Radiance Films, courtesy of MVD Entertainment Group.
As Spine #138, Splendid Outing possesses the usual hallmarks of a Radiance Films title. Packaged in a clear plastic case, the initial limited edition release (2,500 copies) includes the removable OBI strip containing the release information, reversible liner with new art on the front from Time Tomorrow and original release art on the review, and essay booklet containing two new essays and one archived from Director Kim. The feature is heavily soft pink mixed with blues and reds, inspired by Jung Il-sung’s (In Island) frequently dream-like cinematography.
As with previous limited editions, the booklet offers a way for viewers (new and old) to engage with the film in a new way, but this may be the first time since I’ve been reviewing Radiance releases that an essay included a spoiler warning that tacitly tells readers to wait until they’ve watched the film to progress. Researcher with the Korean Film Archive Chung Chonghwa’s essay “Splendid Outing, Or an Outing in Search of Myself” examines the film by going plot point by plot point, offering their perspective and context on what the film means. In his essay “Slipping Through the Jaws of Censorship: The Contemporary Reception of Splendid Outing,” film critic Pierce Conran (who also provides a visual essay on the disc) explores the film through the historical context of when it was released, during the Yushin Era of Korea (1972-1981); how that impacted Director Kim’s perspective; and how Director Kim’s own experience with authoritarianism influenced the subtext of Do-hee’s experience on the island. Finally, there’s an excerpt from Director Kim’s autobiography, My Love, Cinema, which allows for the filmmaker to directly share his views on the era, the incorporation and reaction to political messaging within cinema, and the joy of being tapped to adapt “The Site of Traces” after thinking he’d never get the chance to adapt it. Amid these works are the usual film stills, cast and crew information, restoration information, and release credits.
Unlike prior Radiance releases, a brief message is shown at the start of the film that states Splendid Outing was part of a project that began well before this home release was selected/optioned for release. It appears that the Korean Film Archive obtained a 35 mm original negative and, in 2023, digitally scanned and color graded the film in 4K. The notes in the booklet add that a digital file was provided by the Korean Film Archive to Radiance, at which point restoration work was handled by Heavenly Movie Corporation. As a 4K HD restoration, Splendid Outing is quite strong, even when one notices the obvious wear and aging. There’s plenty of grain for those who love that. The colors within the frame are striking (the sequence in Do-hee’s bedroom after the day we follow in particular) yet don’t veer too far into hyperrealism, allowing the audience to never quite know if what we’re watching is a nightmare of reality or a psychosis-powered dream. The red of the net that Do-hee gets caught in is vibrant, matching the same shade of any spilled blood shown in the film. The village is shot as naturally as Seoul; each providing reasons to think what we’re seeing both is and isn’t real. There are a few scenes in which a vertical line appears on the sides or the colors fade across portions of the screen, clear signs of wear, but the colors are otherwise largely undisturbed. The dialogue is crisp and clear and the scoring is without noticeable distortion. If not for a few moments, this would be among the strongest restorations Radiance has released. With this being a first-time Blu-ray release, a certain amount of understanding goes a long way in appreciating that we’ve got a chance to explore this title at all.
The on-disc supplemental materials are outstanding and, frankly, much-needed to better understand Director Kim’s intention. Included are three featurettes and a feature-length audio track from cinema scholar Ariel Schudson. The first, a 15-minute interview with filmmaker Lee Chang-dong, focuses on lead actor Yong, his experience working with her on his project Poetry (2010), and the personal reaction to her health diagnosis that mirrored that of her character in Poetry. For those less familiar with her work, while not a deep dive on Yong’s career as Lee ties his thoughts to his work with her, it’s still a fascinating portrait of an actor at an important moment in their life. The second, a 21-minute interview with filmmaker Chung Ji-young who served as the assistant director on Splendid Outing, discusses the film through the lens of his professional experience, talking about working within the studio system, his recollections working with Director Kim, and the adaptation process as it relates to the political undertones of the film. The final featurette is a 16-minute visual essay, “Stranded but Not Afraid: The Island Women of Classic Korean Cinema,” which tackles the larger subgenre of “Women Island” dramas which are prevalent in South Korean cinema. This visual essay provides a larger view of where Director Kim’s work fits within Korean cinema, creating connections for audiences less familiar with the cultural and historical significance of Korean storytellers. Between these three supplemental materials, audiences are empowered with information that makes the dark and tragic tale within Splendid Outing take on greater meaning beyond any single frame we observe — exactly what Radiance is excellent at achieving when developing their bonus materials for each of their works.
In light of 2025 release Splitsville, a dark rom-com that utilizes violence and misogyny to explore how relationships between men and women haven’t changed even within progressive viewpoints, the tale of Splendid Outing feels extraordinarily timeless as the issues it deals in are frustratingly relevant. A tale of a woman struggling between the life of corporate success and autonomy and one of traditional values of love and companionship, it is, itself, split as both living nightmare and allegory regarding authoritarian regimes. On the surface, Director Kim makes it plain that Do-hee relishes her freedom, her platform for feminism, and the bounty of stature while also giving space for her loneliness. At no point does Director Kim seem to suggest that Do-hee is somehow weaker for possessing desire, for longing for physical comforts; rather, he uses one particular moment of Do-hee in repose to highlight how, no matter how much she achieves, her male counterparts will only see what she lacks in terms of companionship, thereby reducing her to little more than her sex. Thus, the events of the island, her reduction, her abuse, her lack of autonomy, are viewed as a deconstruction, a removal of everything but her sex so as to force her back into the role society deems her fit to reside within. One need only consider the television broadcast she witnesses while preparing to give a televised lecture on female independence that features an interviewer talking with two older women about their marriages, which both interviewees declare are filled with violence and infidelity, yet each misses their partner. The text of the film pounds into the audience the conflicting viewpoints within the generational divide and how these are represented in Do-hee’s situation beginning with the perceived punishment of being anchored to a crazed man who purchased her from a group of haenyeo (themselves a respected occupation of gender-defying female fish divers, which, in the knowing makes their involvement in devaluing the independent woman back to presented regressive title of “merely wife” all the more pointed). This experience, whether real or imagined, is meant to degrade and humiliate Do-hee, breaking her down until she’s unwilling to return to the life she once had, which makes her indomitable will all the more impressive and heartbreaking by film end. The subtext for the entire film, however, correlates to the indignities Koreans suffered under Park Chung Hee, the Chairman of the Supreme Council who became President of South Korea in 1963. This is covered more in-depth in the included essays, but Director Kim’s intent was to use the narrative of Do-hee’s experience on the island to conflate and examine the treatment of political prisoners, adversaries, and those who defied President Park. The film may have released roughly six years after the dissolution of the President Park’s control, leading to a period known as the Fourth Republic of Korea (1972-1980), but that doesn’t mean that artists wouldn’t find ways to espouse or express their feelings, using their art to process and expunge from themselves during his reign. This is much in the same way that John Woo incorporated anxieties of the U.K.’s handing over of Hong Kong within his action classic Hard Boiled (1992) or Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) continues to speak to the immigrant experience, America’s history of slavery, and the detrimental effects of colonialization.
Splendid Outing is, without a doubt, incredibly disturbing. It’s not graphic in its violence, but what is inferred lingers and the implications are quite unsettling. That the film, even 47 years later, can pack such a wallop speaks to the significance of the issues it addresses and their continued significance. Even with the few obvious signs of wear on the visual elements, the restoration presents an opportunity for film historians and cinephiles that has been otherwise unavailable, which speaks to the significance of boutiques like Radiance and their mission to preserve cinema. Films are a time capsule, constructed from the various elements of a specific period in time, enabling audiences to go back and see what was through a new lens. What we find is often surprising and that’s no less true through Director Kim’s film and his horrifying tale.
Splendid Outing Special Features:
- *NEW* 4K restoration by Radiance Films
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Audio Commentary by Ariel Schudson (2025)
- *NEW* Interview with filmmaker Lee Chang-dong (2025)
- *NEW* Interview with assistant director Chung Ji-young (2025)
- *NEW* Stranded but Not Afraid: The Island Women of Classic Korean Cinema – a visual essay by Pierce Conran
- *NEW* improved English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Chung Chonghwa and Pierce Conran and archival writing by Director Kim Soo-yong
- Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Available on Blu-ray December 9th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Radiance Films Splendid Outing webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group Splendid Outing webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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