- Actors: Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Tae Kim, Jin-woong Jo, Hae-suk Kim
- Director: Chan-wook Park
- Producers: Chan-wook Park, Syd Lim
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: Korean
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: January 24, 2017
- Run Time: 145 minutes
I refuse to
watch dubbed foreign films if subtitles are available, but the cinematography
and art direction is so rich in Chan-wook
Park’s The Handmaiden that I found myself
wishing that I understood Korean and Japanese. Torn between reading the text in
order to follow the narrative and the captivating pull of magnificent images, The Handmaiden kept my eyes glued to the
screen for much of the running time, afraid to miss a thing. Park has long been
a filmmaker known for his excesses, and his latest is no exception, though he
has somehow managed to make a film that feels both indulgent and restrained,
often at the same time. The Handmaiden
is overflowing with emotion and passion, but that never gets in the way of some
of the director’s most precise and thoughtful filmmaking in years.
Adapted from
Sarah Waters’ novel, “Fingersmith,” The
Handmaiden shifts its narrative from class-divided 19th century England to 1930s Korea, under Japanese colonial
rule. While there are still issues of class dealt with in the tale, the complex
relationship between Koreans and the occupying Japanese adds layers of meaning
on top of an already rich narrative. A lowly young Korean woman named Sook-Hee
(Tae-ri Kim) is sent to work as the handmaiden for Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim), a
Japanese heiress living in a secluded estate with her controlling uncle,
Kouzuki (Jin-woong Jo).
The narrative of
The Handmaiden unfolds like an
artichoke, layers of prickly covering eventually revealing the heart at the
center of the story. What initially seems an ordinary set-up dealing with class
and cultural differences, eventually reveals itself to be a complex plot of
betrayal, with a love story at the center. We first discover that Sook-Hee is
not as innocent as we first imagine, and that her placement under Lady Hideko
is far from coincidental. Secretly given the task of talking up a con man
disguised as a suitor named Count Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha), Sook-He
unintentionally finds herself falling for Lady Hideko instead.
The film is told
in sections, each one revealing new information about the characters, providing
the unexpected surprises and twists that Park’s films often contain. While
tamer in terms of violence, Park also retains his propensity for shocking
material through the sexual encounters in the erotic thriller. In the filming
of the sex scenes, Park never shies away from the intimacy of the moments, but
he also choreographs them in such a way that body placement restricts the
amount of actual nudity. These are scenes which are emotionally raw without
ever resorting to physical exploitation. The decision to remove all men from
the set on the day of filming (including Park), as well as limiting the need
for any unnecessary bodies in the room by implementing a remote camera, gives
these sequences intimacy without the prevalence of the male gaze.
Filmmaking alone
allows endless praise for The Handmaiden,
though the story itself is also surprisingly engaging despite a lengthy
run-time. Fans of Park’s earlier work (particularly his revenge trilogy) may be
disappointed to find this to be one of his tamer narratives in terms of
content, though this is clearly one of his strongest filmmaking efforts. And
even though the use of violence is limited and far less graphic than in past
projects, there are still many signature
Park moments which caused
this reviewer to cringe. Park is a filmmaker with an uncanny ability to turn a
narrative full of exploitation and escapism into something wholly artful and
intelligent.
Considering the
wide appeal of Park’s work and the critical praise that this film received upon
its theatrical release, I was shocked to find that the DVD release contains
absolutely no special features. This comes after the decision to release the
film on DVD, but not on Blu-ray. The
Handmaiden is a richly designed film, full to the brim with visual
spectacle in the form of costumes, sets, and cinematography. These should have
been celebrated in high definition, not to mention extras that highlight the
hard work. While I must commend Amazon Studios for releasing this film in the United States,
it is a film which deserves far better treatment than this.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 9/10
Historical
Significance: 7.5/10
Special Features: 0/10
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