The Handmaiden

Wow. What do I even say after that. Did not prepare myself at all for how strange this film was gonna be. I can only thank the gods that we didn’t have to see anything to do with the octopus because my word this is an uncomfortable watch as it is. Absolutely unbelievable film though. Loved it so much. Firstly, I just love how the story constantly switches between who is tricking who. Everyone from the main three characters is the one being fooled at some point in the film, or from the viewer POV they are. It begins with Lady Hideko as the victim, with Count Fujirawa and Sook-Hee planning to manipulate her into marrying the count and taking her money. It then switches to Sook-Hee as she is given away to the mental asylum. You are led to believe that Lady Hideko was much more cunning that she let on and had been following count Fujiwara’s plan the whole time. However, the film then flashes back, adding hidden bits of context to reveal that Lady Hideko and Sook-Hee had fallen in love along the way, and were now plotting against the count themselves. Firstly, I couldn’t be more glad it ended with them getting away and the count and the uncle dying because my word there are some evil men in this film. But secondly, the structure, and the way it utilises its structure to reveal the three parts of the story, is just masterful. Not only is there captions, labelling the three parts to the story, symbolising the three different victims at varying points in the story, but how the second part flashes back to scenes you had seen earlier, but now shown in their entirety, rather than cut off, to reveal how Lady Hideko and Sook-Hee had opened up to each other about their plans and were deciding to plot against the count, was just amazing. The storytelling is genuinely unbelievable. The cast are excellent. Kim Min-hee as Lady Hideko in particular, oh my word. What an insane role to play but she is just excellent. One of the most challenging roles you will ever see in cinema - some really strange or difficult scenes to do. But she’s amazing. 10/10 performance. This won’t be for everyone because it’s basically porn at some points. Some really weird scenes in it. It’s hard to completely understand why some of those scenes were needed at such length, but I guess it contributes to the weird and erotic tone of the film (I’m mostly talking about the Lady Hideko and Sook-Hee sex scene). However, that scene isn’t disturbing at all because it’s not forced or to do with any of the weird men, but it’s still quite uncomfortable to watch and very very long. Thankfully, for the most part, you don’t have to see any of the weird and horrible stuff the men do, but the film does a good job of making you feel how disgusting they are, without actually going too far visually. Especially with that Octopus and what it shows you in the book, the film almost uses your own mind to disturb you. It’s very very strange. But as I said, I’m glad the film didn’t actually show us anything because it definitely didn’t need to. I got the message. But anyway, in summary, unbelievable film. I haven’t even mentioned the cinematography, but if you’ve watched a Park Chan-Wook film you’ll know how both beautiful and revolutionary his cinematography is. The story is exquisite, the performances are breathtaking. It’s just a masterclass of a film. So strange and unhinged, but an amazing film. Recommended (p.s will definitely need to rewatch Oldboy now because I can’t tell if this is better)