The Handmaiden is a 2016 South Korean erotic thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. The Handmaiden (2016) movie review
This is a big departure from the movies I like. The trailer showed it as a classy love story that has some very tasteful love scenes. In that sense it is absolutely correct. For those expecting the love scenes to be abundant, the movie holds some restraint. It doesn’t show anything graphic until about half way point. At that point the director shows a love making scene to show main characters are developing feelings for each other. Which is then followed by a scene with the main male character so we can experience the uncomfortableness the female leads are going through as they have to keep up the appearance of everything being fine.
The director, Park Chan-wook, relies a lot on subtle movements of characters. He wants us to focus on reactions of the characters rather than dialogue as it speaks volumes on how the words truly impacts and their current predicament. Even small gestures like rubbing shoulders or caressing one’s leg becomes unbearable because we see the uncomfortableness the heiress is going through. The main male character is depicted as arrogant, manipulative, assertive, and in many ways crazy. His focus is the inheritance and that is all he thinks about. That is not to say he is one dimensional, just that all his actions are deliberately focused on getting what he wants. The Uncle character is revolting too so males in this film are not meant to be depicted in good manner.
The movie is long – over two hours with quite a few scenes dragging on for longer than they need to. Again, this was done intentionally as every scene or reaction is supposed to represent some feeling of sadness, happiness, disgust, and even pain.
For those waiting for the sex scenes, while there are a decent amount of them (two quite graphic ones), most of the nudity is shown in increments. (visible breasts and one playing with them). The actual grapahic ones are well done but are not too pornogrpahic in nature.
We see the females going down on each other but nothing up close is shown. It’s mainly about their reactions and occasional side angle to show the actual positions they are locked in. However, there is a scene of a woman with wet mouth as she converses with her partner on the feelings she is experiencing during love making. Some would say that is graphic but it is not pornogrpahic. Also, it does appear that love scenes do become more graphic as the film progresses and more secrets are revealed.
Everything from set pieces, to clothes, to make up, and various cars used in the movie are all fantastic. The house itself looked like a big maze with rooms being elaborately decorated. It consists of many places where one can go to spy on others or indulge in their darkest desires. The dialogue, while graphic at times, is used in an effective way to get not only exposition out but also create a sense of unease as the love between heiress and her maiden grows. All the actors/actresses in the movie did a great job expressing a wide range of emotions. This is not a comfortable movie for everyone to do so they did a fantastic job in going with the flow.
Overall the movie is long but entertaining. It has a lot of slow moments and it can get graphic at times. However, that is not supposed to be the main point of it. It is based on a novel named Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters. Many things are changed on the adoption, including changing it from Victorian setting to 1930’s Japanese occupied Korea. The writer has stated the movie is inspired by her novel, rather than being an adaptation of it. Still, the director did a great job bringing to life a love story that takes its time in being developed.
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