By Kane Edmonds
The triumphant return of Park Chan-wook sees some of his best work yet.
4 STARS DIRECTOR: PARK CHAN-WOOK DOP: CHUNG CHUNG-HOON RUNTIME: 168 MINUTES RELEASE DATE: MAY 2016
Pre-Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite success in early 2020, Park Chan-wook would most likely be the first name that would spring to mind when thinking of Korean directors. The man is truly a seasoned veteran in Korean cinema and renowned globally amongst film fans for his infamous vengeance trilogy. Although he did direct Stoker in 2013, The Handmaiden is Parks first return to Korean film since 2009; but fear not, there are no signs of rust settling in on his capabilities as proven in this expertly-crafted, erotic, feminist psychodrama.
Based on the book Fingersmith by Sarah Walters, Park swaps out Victorian England for 1930’s Japan occupied Korea. Our female leads are on opposing sides of the class spectrum; Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a Japanese heiress with a large cash inheritance pending and Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), the daughter of a thief and herself a skilled pickpocket. Their paths cross when Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) employs Sook-hee to pose as a handmaiden and convince the heiress to marry him in his scheme to win the heart of the heiress, lock her up in a mental hospital and inherit her fortune- which her wealthy, black tongued, cruel, perverted Uncle Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong) currently stands in the way of. Uncle Kouzuki acquired his wealth by assisting Japan in taking over South Korea, for which he received a gold mine for his efforts allowing him to fund his dirty obsession with rare and prohibited pornography books, he forges and resells these texts to fellow rich sickos at dinner coat events at his mansion after a sensual reading of said texts by his niece, Hideko. Count Fujiwara claims to be a master forger to Uncle Kouzuki, which gets him access to Hideko. it’s a classic poor-stealing from-rich plot. Until it’s not. After a mesmerizing scene in which Sook-hee files down a sharp tooth at the back of Hideko’s mouth with a thimble on her thumb whilst she bathes, a sexual tension between these two begins to rise and reaches a boiling point in which the two have passionate and forbidden sex, in a scene that, due its detail, shouldn’t be misread as arousing but instead as crucial to their character; each gasp and deep breath serving the broader narrative purpose. This makes things difficult for Count Fujiwara, laying the footwork for a carefully sculpted series of twists and turns.
Kim Min-hee is totally captivating as Lady Hideko; perfecting all the mannerisms of someone who knows they are better than you, and who is subtly cunning but dimly beaming melancholy in a result that Is especially haunting. Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara follows suit, acing all the characteristics of someone who is clever and good looking but also sly and overconfident- the result, a well-balanced performance of charm and comedy. Kim Tae-ri keeps the standards up throughout, her portrayal of Sook-hee evokes naivety and ambition, but it’s the way that she uses her eyes and body in certain moments that introduce romance into this story that is remarkable. And finally, Cho Jin-woong, who struggles none in making Uncle Kouzuki exude his ominous, stern threat and appearing as abhorrent and vulgar as possible.
Perversion often finds its way into Parks films, and in this case, it’s important not to mistake the gazing on the highly choreographed, extremely detailed, realistic and revealing sex scenes of our two female main characters as the perversion in The Handmaiden. It is instead manifested as the creepy rich men who come to listen to old, pornographic literature being read aloud by the beautiful, young Lady Hideko and become visibly flustered; and indeed Uncle Kouzuki, whose obsession with classic pornography and the objectification of sex leads him to sell forgeries to further fund his obsession, and himself even saying he never wishes to have sex with his niece as the prospect of imagining it is much more arousing- he even has specimen jars containing preserved penises and vaginas. Uncle Kouzuki’s pornography in this film acts as the antagonist to Hideko, something for her to escape from or defeat; the extremely erotic scenes between her and Sook-hee function as a shelter from the perversion.
Of course, an auteur after all, Park’s signature is ever present in The Handmaiden, though perhaps not as obvious as in previous classics such as Oldboy, 2003. Whilst there are certainly some disturbing scenes, the nature of the text doesn’t demand the extreme violence Park is so good at conveying; however, it is still very perverse, and that does require a degree of abstract weirdness and extreme elements. Be it the camera angles or the costumes, Park’s twisted form is certainly present, though in a more subtle, stylish manner.
If it’s guilty of one thing though (or two), it’s that, as with most period dramas, it can go on for quite some time. I was not aware of this before watching and I definitely began to impatiently await the conclusion, that being said, it’s a damn beautiful film to watch whilst impatiently awaiting conclusion. There is also a risk of becoming confused in regards to following the story; whilst its ambitiousness is by no means a flaw, the multi-faceted plot demands your full attention, as there are key details and changes that almost always come unprovoked which cannot go unmissed.
A far cry from what he is most known for, The Handmaiden is an erotic brain-twister that demonstrates a maturity on Park’s side; A true feminist story against the backdrop of Korea in the 1930’s, with gorgeous sets and outrageous costumes but by no means void of that which is bizarre and extreme.
The Handmaiden is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime and VUDU
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