The Handmaiden

[fraz]

The story follows a Japanese heiress being subject to a con but as the story progresses, who is actually conning who?

I thought it was a great film, maybe a bit lengthy overall (around 2 hr 20m) but packed in loads of twists and turns and more sex than a few seasons of Game Of Thrones.

Totally recommended 9/10

[kevinknapman]

Based on Sarah Waters novel Fingersmith but relocated from Victorian London to Japanese occupied Korea in the '30s, it's the story of Sookee, a pickpocket hired by the 'Count', a con artist, to be the handmaiden to Japanese heiress Hideko, to convince her to marry him.

To say anymore of course would be to spoil the many twists and turns of the plot, though those familiar with the original book or BBC adaptation will know where it's going.

Like Kim Jee-Woon's The Age of Shadows, this is a stylish and beautifully shot film set in Japanese occupied Korea by a South Korean director making their first film on home soil following a stint in the US.
That's where the similarities end however as The Handmaiden is an opulent, erotic and blackly comic film that may prove a little too much for mainstream audiences.

Chan-wook fans on the other hand should be thrilled by the fact that he's lost none of his perverse interest in the darker sides of human nature taking the initial idea of the original novel and teasing it to extremes.

An impressive cast enter in to this duplicitous world gamely, with Kim Tae-Ri and Kim Min-Hee especially good as Sookee and Hideko, dealing with complex characters who may not be what they seem. The explicit sex scenes that they share undoubtedly an extra challenge for an already intense shoot.
Ha Jung-Woo is also fine as the charming but untrustworthy Count and Cho Jin-Woong is effectively creepy and sinister as Hideko's uncle, keen to get his hands on her inheritance even if that means marrying her. The less said about what he keeps in his basement the better.

A little long but narratively bold, The Handmaiden is the work of a director at the top of his game. A sumptuous visual feast from beginning to end.

[stuartboy]

Found this hard going as I felt the subtitles were a bit rapid. Maybe it was the Japanese/Korean vocal language that I found distracting. Indeed it was overlong, but I was shocked to see it was as late when it ended, so perhaps not. Still quite glad there wasn't a Part 4. Also I found it hard to differentiate the two ladies which didn't help with the various twists. Lol.
Very graphic and without a winky in sight! Some gore thrown in for good measure. Shame that enormous octopus didn't get a larger role.

6/10

[Jacket]

Went in blind, all I knew was it was from director of Oldboy so was expecting similar gangster story.

However it was not at all as I expected, it was far more 'Fifty shades of yellow'. Still, strong cast, well directed and an interesting story. I was not disappointed!
It was long but actually I didn't find this a bad thing, the story is very engaging!

[Florence1]

Well acted and beautifully shot however it did feel overly long. I did get confused sometimes about who the characters were but it did sort itself out in the end. The subtitles at the beginning seemed to be very fast but not sure whether I managed to catch up or if they slowed down but didn't seem to be such a problem at the end. 6/10

[midian]

I think more people know Park Chan-Wook for Oldboy, but I am a a great fan of his "I am a Cyborg...". I find his work always visually interesting even if dealing with really unappealing topics. I wanted to see this at the LFF earlier but didn't manage to get tix. i even watched the tv BBC "Fingersmith" two parter in advance so i would be prepared for his version on the same theme.

I wasn't disappointed as it is a twisty and weird tale as expected. It was interesting how he handled the deception compared to how the BBC version handled it. I think I may even read the book as each exploration took slightly different tack so I am now curious about the source.

This a lush lesbian love story / deception story with deep inroads into the works and mind of pornographers. Much more intimate and detailed than the BBC version (no surprises there). It was has many laugh out loud slapstick bits interwoven with the more situational darker humour.

It it not going to be for everyone (two guys walked out not long after the first lesbian love scene - but i don't know if there was a correlation). Designed to make the cinemagoer into a real voyeur and part of the exploitation process as well as exploring the boundaries of what is 'acceptable' in a film for mainstream distribution. very uncomfortable at times.

The subtitles are sometimes in Korean, sometimes in Japanese. I think i generally got why the language was shifting between the two modes and what the each represented. I look forward to when someone, more knowledgeable about that time period and the wider geo-politics, does a full decoding. It is also a critique of japanese colonialism hiding amongst all the sex and conning. Not just in the language, but also in the architecture, clothes and the food. That's a whole deeper level worth exploring.

Spoiler

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and i just loved the final scene with the tinkling of bells, even as i was a bit why, this is too much information. I felt a bit too much of a voyeur then

I liked it a lot. 9/10.

[prettyxcool]

A very engrossing suspense, deception thriller, played out in a very sumptuous lesbian love story, with some very explicit sex scenes. The actors are stunning, the film is beautiful. The two women's romance is tender, moving and passionate. The erotic tale unfolds in three parts. It never lets up, you are entranced and mesmerised, but I did see the twist coming in the second part. 9/10

[fillumboy2]

One of the most beautiful-looking films you'll see this year, this makes a very interesting companion piece to last month's Age of Shadows.

Both set on 30's occupied Korea, both involve double- or even triple-crossing intrigues and both are wonderfully shot and set.

Highly recommended.

[missgotty]

This film is very long and didn't really need to be. Predominantly themed around fetish, eroticism and lesbian love. Annoyingly two guys kept talking and giggling in front of us every time there was a lesbian sex scene. I found the storyline easy to follow but it dragged a lot.

5/10

[sfancy]

very long and overly explicit!