Although based on an acclaimed book – Fingersmith by Sarah Waters – The Handmaiden really feels like the subject of director Chan-wook Park’s fevered imagination. In 1930s Korea, Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim) takes the job of handmaiden to Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim) who lives with her sinister Uncle Kouzuki (Jin-woong Jo). However, Sook-Hee is actually part of a criminal gang and has got the position as part of an elaborate con by a man posing as Count Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha). He plans to romance and marry Hideko, thus gaining access to her fortune, but wasn’t counting on Sook-Hee and Hideko falling for each other.
With that set-up, the film becomes more convoluted with two major plot twists turning things on their head, and making you view previous events in a different light. This is high drama, with sumptuous production design from Seong-hie Ryu and flamboyant direction by Park. The story is compelling throughout most of the running time, and the twists work within the context of the movie. But at 145 minutes the film does outstay its welcome. The last 20 minutes stretches credibility, and the extended lesbian scenes felt like they were there more for titillation rather than to advance the plot.
Those problems aside, this is a fine piece of film-making with a fine performance from Kim at its centre.
Rating: 8 out of 10