In a time when Japan Occupied Korea, A man hires a pick pocket from a house of maids to get close to a rich Japanese women so he can seduce her then marry her and take her fortune. He never excepted that the two women would fall for each other.
I wanted to watch this film solely because Ha Jung Woo was starring in it. He's a great actor that has many different sides and shades of color to his acting ability. The screenplay is based off a novel titled The Fingersmith by English novelist Sarah Waters making the film be showcased in an alluring fashion. The plot is decided into three parts that tell the story from the point of view of three different characters. You as the viewer is forced to see the plot unfold one way then retold again from a narrative along with new information. Its all kind of like breaking up a puzzle on the floor and the pieces are there for you to try to put back together. The film gives you the pieces to put back in their rightful places thankfully. Each piece brings you closer to the game that being played. Who is in control of this game of emotion? You will never know till the film's conclusion. Some parts of The Handmaiden might be confusing to certain people if you don't know anything about Korean and Japanese culture. Specifically, Japanese culture and their form of entertainment done by women. This is an important part of Japanese culture but they way its used in this film is sad and degrading to women. Korean culture isn't really present besides the language. Another thing is the different parts read like a storybook and made the film feel longer than it was. I'm going to leave that up to you guys to decide if this was a good or bad quality of The Handmaiden. I liked the creativeness of the presentation.
Back to Ha Jung Woo and the cast. He's a side character compared to Kim Min Hee and Kim Tae-ri. This is Tae-ri's first major film debut and you can sense that she's new. Not in the case that her acting was bad but she felt new to films for me. Min Hee is an actress thats always continuing to improve her craft and this role was a new chapter in her career. Both actresses had to get to a place in their acting that created a sexual tension. Tae-ri as the maid who is taken away by Min Hee as the Japanese heiress who has her own problems. I enjoyed watching them act together because I could feel the tension of the happy moments and sad events that unfold. I'm also impressed with them for doing such racy scenes and not being afraid of how the media would perceive the film. Frontal nudity is shown just like in a whole bunch of other adult Korean films. Back to Ha Jung Woo and his performance as the playboy con artists who will do anything to get money. He's the best at roles where he exudes confidence. The way he walks, talks, and looks at you makes anyone think that he's full of himself. I love these characters for him since he makes it look so easy. Cho Jin Woong plays the uncle of Hideko, Min Hee's character. Jin Woong is known for playing devious characters with stone cold hearts and this character pretty much falls into the same category. He can be forgotten about because his character isn't around all the time. When he is around the estate, you know who's running things there. His character makes the biggest impact during part 2 and 3 of the plot. The last thing I would like to praise the cast for it the ability to make this film bilingual. Two languages are spoken by all of the cast and those languages are Japanese and Korean. Japanese is spoken a little bit more than Korean but hangul is there enough to remind you this is a Korea made production. The spoke Japanese sounded very fluent which surprised me on top of Ha Jung Woo's ability to speak the language. A talented cast always grants great performances.
Many of the scenes are either nature based outside the mansion or inside the mansion. The setting is so beautiful that I couldn't take me eyes off on the screen. From the lush green fields to the lavished structure of the mansion, fit the content of the script well. It felt very Japanese at times but then also very Korean. It felt Korean when the scenes had a more harsh undertone. Then more Japanese when the scenes had a hint of polish and class. For example the mansion scenes then the scenes that showed where the poor Korean citizens lived. One of my favorite scenes is where Min hee and Taeri's characters are running in a field with the big sky above them where dawn is about the break.
The Handmaiden was directed by Park Chan Wook who is famous for The Vengeance Trilogy and films such as Thirst. The film received a parental rating for its explicit sex scenes in several countries. All the actors and actresses involved also gained numerous award nominations as well as award wins. I'm up for watching this film a second time because its so artsy visually. I will be honest and say that I don't watch a lot of Lesbian themed films but I liked this one.
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