The Handmaiden [2016] – ★★★★★
🖌️ Fiercely intelligent and psychological, unapologetically erotic and endlessly stylish, The Handmaiden is a perfect film that toys with the audience’s expectations and formed beliefs.
The Handmaiden is an award-winning erotic psychological drama directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy (2003), Stoker (2013)), and based on/inspired by the novel Fingersmith (2002) by Sarah Waters. The film centres on a young maid, Sook-Hee, who arrives to the estate of an affluent book-lover, Kouzuki, to be a servant to his niece Lady Hideko. However, nothing is as it seems, because Sook-Hee’s main employer is actually a conman, self-named Count Fujiwara, who made a deal with the young maid to con Lady Hideko out of her inheritance. Fiercely intelligent and provoking, The Handmaiden does three things brilliantly: it toys cleverly with the audience’s expectations, formed beliefs and imagination; it touches a sensitive nerve with its poetic and erotic imagery; and it provides a stunning visual experience.
Perhaps paying an indirect tribute to Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950), The Handmaiden evokes that kind of intelligence found in such films as Singer’s The Usual Suspects (1995) or in Nolan’s The Prestige (2006), but with one erotically-charged atmosphere and more dream-like visual presentation. That is where the main merit of The Handmaiden lies, begging a second-viewing. The setting of the film is the 1930s Korea under the Japanese colonial rule, and the film is divided into the three main parts. In the first part, “Count Fujiwara” makes a deal with Sook-Hee for her to pave the way for Lady Hideko to fall in love and marry “the Count”, so then he can declare Lady Hideko insane and get her fortune. Sook-Hee, then, tries to establish the relationship of trust with her Lady, but, perhaps, forms a too strong bond of friendship. In this first part, everything agreed between Sook-Hee and the Count seems to go according to the plan, until just the beginning of the second part where things turn on its head. The second part maybe the most intriguing of the three, where nearly everything which was going on in the first past is being put into question. In the third part, what the audience encounters is the deeply satisfying finale.
Through the intricate presentation of the dark-wooded haunted colonial home of Uncle Kouzuki or his eerie Japanese-style garden, The Handmaiden achieves setting the atmosphere of unease and suspense, mixed with strange lightness and morbid curiosity. The film has a “ghost scare”, a “mental asylum” setting, and its story is based on a conspiracy to defraud, but, all these elements, and many more, eventually come together to form a perfectly logical structure. Park Chan-wook’s usual theme of vengeance runs through the picture, and both art and literature play a large part in the film, contributing to the film being both exquisite and intoxicating. In the film, Uncle Kouzuki is not only an avid collector of books, but also a devious art lover, and we even glimpse in the film the famous erotic paining The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife by Japanese painter Hokusai, though here the picture is presented differently. In the film, there are graphic sexual scenes and allusions, which are unconventional, but placed as they are in the film, they are complementary elements to the story which is essentially also a tale of a boundless obsession and a hidden passion. Yes, sometimes the film borders on grotesque, but at the same time, it never stops short of being fascinating and poetically erotic.
The beauty of the female characters plays nicely against the strange peculiarities and arrogant personalities of the male characters in this film story. Sook-Hee, Lady Hideko, Uncle Kouzuki and “Count” Fujiwara are vividly portrayed, and their inter-relationships are as fascinating as they are complex. The audience never quite knows what one really thinks of another, whether one considers another a friend or a foe, what their relationship with one another really is like, and whether there is an implicit blackmail or a romantic love affair going on.
All four main characters are imperfect, mysterious and have their own unknown agendas. Sook-Hee is one’s natural pickpocket, with seemingly no conscience, bragging at one point that, by the age five, she was able to tell a real coin from a fake. However, the audience is still sympathetic towards her; she does not fit the portrait of one’s typical anti-hero; and she undergoes a moral transformation as the film progresses. Lady Hideko at first appears naïve and irrational, but, not everything as it seems, and, perhaps, her difficult childhood under Uncle Kouzuki’s supervision makes her more repressed and unwilling to reveal her true self. Park Chan-wook described the character Lady Hideko as “a white cat, elegance and distanced” [sic]. “Count” Fujiwara is a typical conman, only thinking about his own forthcoming wealth; but is he as clever as he seems? Finally, Uncle Kouzuki is a “twisted”, sexually-perverted erotic books’ lover fond of corporal punishment and who makes his niece read graphic erotic literature for his pleasure. Although Kouzuki’s character seems unchangeable, his past, his true relationship with his niece, and the extent of his mental deviation all raise more questions as the film moves further.
The Handmaiden’s visual style is also Park Chan-wook through and through. The director celebrates the beauty of Japan and its culture by deploying high-quality visuals. The film’s visual style becomes instantly recognisable with a luscious, sumptuous effect. The soundtrack is also impressive as Park Chan-wook collaborates here with his usual film composer Jo Yeong-wook.
The Handmaiden must be Park Chan-wook’s best work to date. The film boasts well-defined, interesting characters that play out in a very cleverly-constructed and erotically-charged plot which, in turn, has unbelievable twists and a satisfying ending. If you couple all this with the stunningly beautiful, distinctive cinematography, then The Handmaiden becomes a “must-see” film and, clearly, is one of the best of 2016.
Spotlight on Film 
Really great review. As a big fan of the director’s work I cannot wait for this one. I think it is released in the UK in a couple of weeks time.
I actually thought ‘Stoker’ was an under-rated gem as it slowly led you one way before flipping the characters’ personalities at the end. It was at times complex and perplexing but Chan-Wook’s brooding style and design, plus the off-centre performances really intrigued me. However, I can see, if compared to ‘Old Boy’, ‘Sympathy for Mr Vengeance’ or ‘Thirst’ it could be deemed a lesser work. Overall, it was quite restrained for Chan-Wook. Something, it would appear ‘The Handmaiden’ is not in terms of the sexually explicitness.
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Thanks very much. I think you will love “The Handmaiden”, and I will like to hear your opinion on it when you do watch it. As for “Stoker”, I realise why people like it a lot and I really enjoyed the brooding style and design, as you put it. The movie just did not work for me. My problem was not only the plot, but also the confusing cast of Matthew Goode. I just felt the male character and its presentation was wrong for the film, and it should have been something completely different.
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Fair enough – I respect your opinion. I look forward to The Handmaiden. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Great write up! I too am baffled about the Korea not submitting this as their Oscar entry unless they felt the academy would frown upon the sexual content?
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I guess this movie was too subversive for Korea… even in some western movies, we don’t have this kind of twists.
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Thanks! Yes, I think the sexual content did play a role in “The Handmaiden” being rejected and not only because of the Academy, but I think also because of the country wanting to distance itself from such an erotically provoking film. It didn’t even win Korea’s Blue Dragon Award as the Best Picture. Besides, their chosen film “The Age of Shadows” is described as “patriotic”. Still, I think “The Handmaiden” was too good to be ignored like that. It is a film of such great merit, they could have just overlooked everything they did not want to see and submitted this little masterpiece.
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Actually, now I think about it, wasn’t Park Chan-Wook on that list of blackballed artists by Korean government? That would certainly explain it more clearly…
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Hmm, possibly. The film was still nominated for some awards at national level, though, but, it was still only actresses and the art director, not Park Chan-Wook…
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What a fab review and I anxiously await to see this! Actually, I’d like to start with Sarah Waters book, ‘Fingersmith’ and move on to Park Chan-wook’s film.
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I think it will be very interesting to start with the book first. I haven’t read it yet. Even though it is 1930s Korea in the film, and not Victorian era Britain as in the book, the book and the film largely run in parallel, so I’ve heard. But, I also read that when Sarah Waters read Park Chan-wook’s script, she recommended they refer to the film as “only loosely inspired by the book”.
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10/10? Nice! I’m really interested in this one. Lots of good things swirling around about it.
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This is the only mark I could give to a film of such calibre. Some scenes in there will not appeal to everyone, but you cannot fault imagination.
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I was very impressed w/ Stoker and can’t wait to see The Age of Shadows. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised this one wasn’t submitted for Oscar, I wonder if they might be put off by the sexual content. I can see that it was a hit at Cannes.
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Yeah, I still believe it is more to do with South Korea intentionally distancing itself from the film. The Handmaiden had a chance in this year’s Oscar race, and at the very least a huge chance of being nominated for the Best Foreign Picture. I mean, Black Swan and Brokeback Mountain had their nominations and there there was a fair share of unconventional sexual content. Difficult to compare, but still…
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This is a great review. The clip for the movie looks very good. I had not heard of this. Will it be coming out on Viki or Drama Fever?
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Thank you! I so do recommend watching this film. I’m afraid I do not know whether it would come out on Drama Fever or anywhere else…
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Ok, I will have to investigate. There are a lot of good foreign films out there. I just watched Juana Inez de La Cruz on Netflix. It’s a true story, have you seen it? It’s too bad that in life, when someone is brilliant they are condemned during their lifetime, but years later when they are dead they are suddenly honored for the very gift that caused them pain… hers was writing. If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend it.
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No, I haven’t watched nor heard of it. It is a series, isn’t it? It looks very interesting, thanks for the recommendation. I love inspirational stories like that, they teach you so much.
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Yes, it was a series. I came across it by accident. English subtitles, just so you know. Have a good day.
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