Filmmaker Park Chan-Wook is a visual storyteller who has consistently worked on a level that is completely all his own throughout his entire career. His ability to gracefully traverse often challenging cinematic terrain is unsurpassed, and his latest film, The Handmaiden, is a sumptuous caper steeped in raw sexuality, tackling the destructive nature of patriarchal oppression and celebrating the power of women as his intricate tale of deceit and thievery unfolds in three parts.
The Handmaiden follows Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-ri), a young woman who comes from a long line of grifters, who is hired by the diabolical Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) to act as a handmaiden to the wealthy Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), who he plans to seduce, marry, and steal from after having her committed to an asylum shortly after their nuptials. Sook-Hee travels to the estate of Hideko’s Uncle Kouzuki (Jo Jin-woong), where the heiress has resided since she was just a little girl. As Fujiwara’s plan moves forward, Sook-Hee finds herself inexplicably drawn to Hideko, who in turn seemingly shares the same feelings for her servant, and that’s when things get complicated. Very, very complicated—and very erotic.
Told from three different perspectives, The Handmaiden is undoubtedly a masterpiece in every conceivable way—a thematically complex story that explores how earlier societies were often dismissive and cruel towards the female gender and lower-class citizens as well. Hideko is raised by her tyrannical (and perverted) uncle, who basically keeps her hidden away in his estate in hopes of one day marrying his niece (fun!), and over the years, Kouzuki grooms Hideko to be his personal reader so that she can vocally perform passages from his vast collection of rare erotic fiction for him and his sexually-charged buddies. We see Hideko at a young age being tormented by the oppressive Kouzuki, and how he continues to keep his niece on a very short leash for years to come, making Hideko perhaps his most prized possession of all, beyond his collection of bawdy books and other rare items he keeps locked away from the world.
As Hideko starts to take back some of the power in her life in The Handmaiden, and as the well-conceived plans from other characters begin to fall apart, the way Chan-Wook reveals certain layers to Hideko's and other character’s natures and true intentions is absolutely masterful. We begin to see just who has been playing who all along. This is a film built upon a sturdy foundation of deception and the art of the con (where it seems like everyone in this is either working over someone else or trying to get ahead while lying in one way or another), and Chan-Wook cleverly and deftly plays with our perceptions, making this an endlessly engrossing affair filled with unexpected twists and turns (especially once we get to Acts II and III).
Visually, The Handmaiden is easily one of the best looking films of 2016, with every single frame feeling like it could be considered a work of art, with cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon creating a lush and vivid experience that is absolutely transcendent to behold. The performances are universally great in The Handmaiden, but there’s no doubt that this is Tae-ri and Min-hee’s show, as the two actresses deliver performances wrought with a palpable sensuality and tenacity.
An opulent and striking exploration of the oppressive nature of the male gaze, The Handmaiden does feel like it runs about 20 minutes too long, but honestly, the film’s finale is so wickedly satisfying that I didn’t mind Chan-Wook taking a bit longer to tell his story. A film that tackles several sub-genres—crime thriller, dark comedy and sensuous love story—with the greatest of ease, The Handmaiden may not be the most concise effort we’ve seen from Chan-Wook as a director, but it’s still an absolute masterpiece all the same.
Movie Score: 4.5/5
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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