The Handmaiden (2016) a dark psychological thriller about a love story ingeniously combined with eroticism
The Handmaiden (2016) a dark psychological movie about manipulators and a love story ingeniously combined with eroticism, revenge and secrets.
NETFLIX – The Handmaiden is a 2016 South Korean suspenseful erotic thriller starring Kim Tae-ri, Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, and Cho Jin-woong. Directed by Park Chan-Wook, as an adaptation of the 2002 novel Fingersmith by British writer Sarah Waters, this Korean movie shocks its audience with elements of sadism and horror.
- In the book, the action takes place in London in 1862, but in the movie, the action setting is changed to Korea in 1930, when the country was colonized by the Japanese.
The viewer will have the strange impression of walking off on a dizzying serpentine, juggling at the thin border between tenderness and violence. Flawlessly orchestrated, dark, and deeply unsettling, the movie emphasizes that pure love triumphs over violence.
Hangul 아가씨 | Original title Agassi | Based on Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Directed by Park Chan-wook | Written by Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong
Release date 14 May 2016 | Running time 144 minutes
Facts
- The Handmaiden is the best-selling Korean movie in history.
- With a budget of almost $9 million, The Handmaiden (2016) grossed globally over $38.6 million.
- The books Jin Ping Mei and The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife were mentioned in the movie.
- The movie title in Korean (Ah-ga-ssi) means THE LADY referring to Lady Hideko, on the other side the English title THE HANDMAIDEN refers to Sook-hee.
- The main priority is the exposition of eroticism in various ways: sincere, forced, manipulated, extravagant, beautiful, or on the contrary, unhealthy.
- Park Chan-wook is well known for directing controversial movies like Oldboy and Stoker (with Nicole Kidman).
What’s the story?
The Handmaiden story starts with Sooke, a young maid with a dark past employed by a Japanese heiress named Hideko. Sooke is a pickpocket who didn’t end up by mistake working for Hideko, she gets recruited by a mischievous charlatan posing as “Count Fujiwara.” The latter wants to seduce and marry Lady Hideko, then commit her to an asylum to steal her inheritance. Sooke’s purpose is to whisper sweet things in Hidekos’s ears, encouraging her to marry Count Fujiwara.
Lady Hideko lives in a luxurious but isolated mansion with her dominant uncle Kouzuki. Her uncle helped the Japanese take over Korea in exchange for a gold mine. Now, Kouzuki uses all his accumulated wealth to feed his obsession for rare and erotic books. Sook-hee’s main job is to help Hideko prepare to read for Kouzuki’s guests.
The movie has incredible and unpredictable twists that will completely shock you and make you want more. Sooke and Hideko will end up falling in love, or at least that’s what the director wants us to believe.
The film features a series of flashbacks revealing that Kouzuki taught Hideko how to erotically read this kind of sadistic pornography since she was 5-years old. After years of psychological and physical abuse, her aunt hanged herself from a tree in the yard. Her uncle forces Hideko to take over as the reader for the auctions fin front of the buyers.
The Count will soon realize he can’t seduce Hideko, but he can include her in his plan and then split her inheritance. Where will this story go? How many twists do you think you can survive? In the end, it’s mind-blowing, definitely one of the best Korean psychological movies. A must-watch until you die!
Main Cast and characters of ”The Handmaiden (2016)”
Kim Min-hee portrays Lady Izumi Hideko, a young and beautiful Japanese heiress who will do anything to escape her abusive and dominant uncle.
Kim Tae-ri portrays Nam Sook-hee, the maid hired to put thoughts in the mind of Lady Hideko to marry the charming but fake count.
Ha Jung-woo plays Count Fujiwara, a charlatan who tries to become rich by marrying Lady Hideko and putting her into an asylum.
Cho Jin-woong portrays Uncle Kouzuki, a Korean man who betrayed his own country by selling it to the Japanese to feed his fetish for erotic books.
Achievements
In the UK, it was 2017’s fifth best-selling foreign language film on home video, and the year’s third highest-grossing Korean movie (behind Operation Chromite and Train to Busan).
The Handmaiden became the US highest-grossing movie directed by Park Chan-wook after surpassing Stoker.
More about The Handmaiden
This dark Korean thriller refined in an Asian style will reward his audience with great aesthetics and an excessively sensual visual experience that will disturb their senses. The narrative game is all about the discrepancy between appearances and truth. The characters’ intricate behavior will initially give you a humoristic brainstorming, quickly sliding into seriousness. Will the director reveal the truth, or the viewer will sink deeper into the fog? It’s a constant question.
The Handmaiden leaves the impression that the barriers of violence are crossed but the director Park Chan Wook has repeatedly sayed that:
” I’m interested in the emotions of people who are violent and not in the violent act itself.”
The acting is well nuanced and orchestrated, and that’s because the director spent time with the actors outside of the set:
“I stayed with them even outside the rehearsal schedule. We had dinner with them, we went to everyone’s birthdays, and I encouraged them to socialize with each other and make friends.”
