The master is back
The Handmaiden is the new movie by South Korean director Park Chan-Wook and it is loosely based on the novel Fingersmith. The background was changed from Britain to South Korea in the time under Japanese colonial rule.
Two women and one man, each of them with their own motives and plans, try to deceive each other and gain each others trust, all for their own reasons...
Stylish Visuals
When it comes to Park Chan-Wook's movies the visuals are always superb and play a key part in the storytelling. Every camera angle and every shot is shown for a reason and it always progresses the story somehow. It is also beautiful to look at and extremely stylish. Most of the film is set inside and around a villa that is designed in a mix of Japanese and western styles, which gives the movie a very exotic and unique feel.
An unusual mix of genres
Park Chan-Wook is a director who always likes to incorporate multiple genres in his movies and The Handmaiden also easily shifts between funny, scary, erotic and emotional scenes. Sometimes it is even strangely funny and scary all at the same time. This might be confusing to some viewers but I always really enjoyed Park Chan-Wook's particular style and his originality. There is always something exciting going on and you can never know what happens next, especially since there are plenty of twists and turns in the story. Getting to see each of the characters perspectives is another really interesting aspect of the movie and scenes play out quiet differently through another angle.
Stunning performances
All of the performances were fantastic and especially the chemistry between Kim Min-Hee and Kim Tae-Ri was great. Ha Jung-Woo also provided lots of funny moments and made the movie even more entertaining. I heard this was Kim Tae-Ri's first major role so I was really impressed by her performance and there was a lot of depth to all the characters. The movie also included several erotic moments but I felt they were really emotional as well and not just to show skin. Also those scenes were an important part of the story overall.
Bottom line
Park Chan-Wook is one of my favorite directors and The Handmaiden doesn't disappoint. It is a very emotional thriller that is at times funny and scary as well. It is a beautiful and super stylish movie and if you like to see something a bit different I would definitely recommend it.
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