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This is my favourite Korean movie! It's an adaptation from the British Novel Fingersmith.
Let's discuss it! :)
en.wikipedia.org
The Handmaiden (Hangul: 아가씨; RR: Agassi; lit. "Lady") is a 2016 South Korean erotic psychological thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. It is inspired from the novel Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, with the setting changed from Victorian era Britain to Korea under Japanese colonial rule.Let's discuss it! :)
The Handmaiden - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in South Korea on 1 June 2016, to critical acclaim. It grossed over $37 million worldwide.
At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film won the category of Best Film Not in the English Language.
Plot[edit]
Part 1[edit]
In Japanese-occupied Korea, a conman operating under the sobriquet of "Count Fujiwara" plans to seduce a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko, then marry her and commit her to an asylum in order to steal her inheritance. He hires a pickpocket named Sook-hee from a family of con artists to become Hideko's maid and encourage Hideko to marry him.
Hideko lives with her authoritarian Uncle Kouzuki. Kouzuki makes money by selling rare books, and he has Hideko give readings of the books for potential buyers. Sook-hee and Hideko grow closer, and Hideko allows Sook-hee to wear her dresses and jewelry. When Hideko asks Sook-hee what married life will be like, Sook-hee makes passionate love to her, promising her the same pleasures with her new husband. Sook-hee begins expressing reluctance about the plan, but when Hideko herself feels that she cannot go through with the marriage, Sook-hee insists, causing Hideko to slap her and run away in frustration.
When Kouzuki leaves on business for a week, Hideko and Fujiwara elope. After cashing out Hideko's inheritance, it is then revealed that Hideko and Fujiwara double crossed Sook-hee and has convinced the asylum that she is the "Countess," and have her committed in Hideko's stead.
Part 2[edit]
A series of flashbacks show that Kouzuki was abusive to both Hideko and her aunt. The books he sells are sadistic pornography, which he trains and forces his wife to read at private auctions for the books, a practice that he also teaches Hideko during childhood. Hideko's aunt is eventually found hanged from a tree in the yard. When Hideko suspects the death was not suicide, Kouzuki takes Hideko into his basement, where he tells her that he murdered her aunt after she had attempted to run away.
In the more recent past, Hideko has grown up, and Fujiwara plans to seduce her to steal her inheritance. He finds this impossible due to Hideko being desensitized to sex acts and can not be seduced, and he instead makes a deal with her: if they get married, he'll save her from her uncle in exchange for half her inheritance. Hideko agrees under the condition that when they marry, he gives her a vial of poison guaranteed to kill her quickly in the event she is caught by her uncle and taken back to the basement. Hideko further proposes to hire a maid and commit the maid to an asylum in her place.
All the while being instructed by Fujiwara, who takes advantage of Sook-hee's illiteracy, Hideko unexpectedly falls in love with her. Knowing that the woman she loved was planning on betraying her, even with her feelings and their love making, Hideko tries to hang herself. Sook-hee saves her, and confesses her culpability in trying to commit Hideko and steal her inheritance. Hideko admits her plan to commit Sook-hee in her place, and the two vow to get revenge on both Kouzuki and Fujiwara. Hideko shows Sook-hee her uncle's collection of pornography, and Sook-hee destroys the collection in anger. Hideko eventually joins her, calling Sook-hee "her savior" from her uncle's abuse.
Part 3[edit]
Sook-hee's friend Bok-soon sets a fire at the asylum and poses as a firefighter to help rescue Sook-hee. Meanwhile, Hideko poisons Fujiwara's wine, causing him to pass out while she takes the money and leaves. Sook-hee and Hideko reunite and flee together, disguising Hideko as a man to avoid detection.
Kouzuki captures Fujiwara upon receiving a letter from Hideko detailing Fujiwara's deception. He tortures Fujiwara in his cellar with his collection of antique bookmaking tools and presses him for sexual details about his niece. Fujiwara makes up a story about their wedding night, but a flashback shows that Hideko had cut her hand on a knife to stain her sheets, refusing to consummate the marriage. When Kouzuki presses for more details, Fujiwara convinces Kouzuki to give him one of his cigarettes. After smoking for a while, a disgusted Fujiwara refuses to give any further details. Kouzuki notices the cigarettes are producing blue smoke. Fujiwara reveals that his cigarettes had been laced with mercury, and the toxic gas within the smoke kills them both.
On a ferry to Shanghai, China, Sook-hee and Hideko celebrate their newfound freedom by making love once again.
Cast[edit]
- Kim Min-hee as Lady Hideko
- Kim Tae-ri as Sook-hee
- Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara
- Cho Jin-woong as Uncle Kouzuki
- Kim Hae-sook as Butler Madame Sasaki
- Moon So-ri as Hideko's aunt
- Lee Yong-nyeo as Bok-soon
- Lee Dong-hwi as Goo-gai
- Jo Eun-hyung as young Hideko
- Rina Takagi as Hideko's mother
- Han Ha-na as Junko
- Jeong Ha-dam as Housemaid
- Choi Byung-mo as Audience member
