The story takes place on a mountain slope where defectors from North Korea live. These families sell cheap things such as socks and pens to make a living and there is a serious gap between the parents and their children. A widower Kim Deok-sam nags his son Geo-buk to join the American army. Ok-Mae who lives next door teaches her daughter Bok-soon traditional Korean folksongs and forces her to become a gisaeng.

描述朝鲜战争后南韩妇女的地位。对争取独立，选择外出工作的女性似带有怀疑态度。
A college professor’s wife OH Sun-young discovers a new world since she started working at a boutique. She begins to enjoy wearing dresses that accentuate her features, achieve high sales profits, and dances in the arms of men other than her husband. However, the story takes a turn when she is caught in the hotel with the owner of the boutique who has been seducing her. Madame Freedom was already a famous story since the novelist JUNG Bee-suk wrote the series in The Seoul Shinmun. Despite the controversy on the moral issues between the writer and the critics, the book was published and produced as a play by the theater group Shinhyup. The film also set a new box office record of 130,000 and its success brought the boom of melodrama. Its cultural influence is proven to be powerful enough to shake the foundation of Korean film since there have been 5 sequels and remakes since the original.