The Handmaiden: A Riveting and Passionate Historical Melodrama
A captivating and passionate historical melodrama unfolds, centered on the love between a Japanese heiress and her Korean handmaiden.
Set in the early 20th century, during the Japanese occupation of Korea, a Korean girl named Sook-Hee is hired as a handmaiden in the estate of a wealthy Korean man. This man has risen to the elite ranks through his marriage to a Japanese woman. Unbeknownst to the master, Sook-Hee is a professional con artist, working in tandem with a seasoned swindler posing as a Japanese aristocrat. The manipulator plans to marry the rich man’s niece, Hideko, to seize her inheritance. Sook-Hee’s role is to persuade the reclusive and naive young woman to fall for the charmer’s advances. However, as Sook-Hee and Hideko spend more time together, their bond deepens, blossoming into a romantic and sensual passion.
The film is based on the novel “Fingersmith” by British author Sarah Waters. Park Chan-wook relocated the story from Victorian England to Korea.
Park Chan-wook: A Master Storyteller
South Korean director Park Chan-wook is a filmmaker of many talents, with two standing out in particular. First, Park doesn’t confine himself to a few related genres but creates a diverse range of works. His filmography includes the renowned psychological thriller “Oldboy,” the eccentric romantic comedy “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK,” the political detective story “Joint Security Area,” the vampire drama “Thirst,” and other fascinating productions.
The film received the award for Best Production Design (Ryu Seong-hie) at the Cannes Film Festival.
Second, and even more importantly, Park doesn’t make “empty” entertainment films, but he also doesn’t believe that going to the cinema should be solely a spiritual exercise. His films are too bold to be considered mainstream, yet they are dramatic and engaging enough to impress even viewers who usually find arthouse screenings boring.
A Blend of Genres
All of this applies not only to Park’s past hits but also to his new film – a neo-noir historical melodrama that can also be described as an erotic thriller. Although “The Handmaiden” leans more towards melodrama than erotica and thriller, it is more of a “female” film than a “male” one, unlike most of the director’s previous works. Even the relatively few explicit scenes in the film are intended more for female than male viewers.
When a film description includes the words “arthouse” and “a story about female love,” the sensational French film “Blue Is the Warmest Color” immediately comes to mind, but it’s almost laughable to compare it to “The Handmaiden.” If the European film is like onion soup, a thin dish with a few ingredients, Park’s film is a rich, hearty stew with many delicious pieces. The explicit erotic and tender romantic scenes of “The Handmaiden” are perfectly combined with intense psychological games, unexpected plot twists, demonstrations of elite depravity, national and social tensions, dark family secrets, the aforementioned bloody fragments, and black and farcical humor.
A Sumptuous and Stylish Experience
When you leave the theater, you feel like you’ve watched several films at once, which have miraculously coexisted in one wonderful work without quarrels or disagreements. And, of course, “The Handmaiden,” as is almost always the case with Park, is impeccably beautiful and stylish. Fortunately, its action takes place in an elegant estate during a time when people wore formal attire.
However, it’s not as powerful and dynamic as “Oldboy.” But few films in world cinema don’t disappoint when compared to one of the best films in all of Far Eastern cinema. Moreover, drama, by definition, shouldn’t compete with a thriller in this regard.
It can also be said that not all of the film’s flashbacks are equally valuable and that Park could have eliminated some of them, making “The Handmaiden” faster-paced. But even not-so-necessary flashbacks add something to the characters’ images, and the film would have lost more than it gained if it had gotten rid of them. After all, despite the entertainment value of its plot, “The Handmaiden” is primarily a series of carefully drawn psychological portraits.