Park Chan Wook’s career is built on pushing borders. His films Oldboy (2003) and Lady Vengeance (2005) are household titles in Korea for this reason: they tackle audacious themes and explicit content, all with an undaunted attitude.
His movies are sexual and violent, and Park leaves us with little room for imagination, for every detail of the sexual and the violent is already fully depicted. The Handmaiden is no different—it revels in its own unequivocal treatment of subjects we typically tread so lightly on.
The Handmaiden consists of three layers of deceit, and within the crevices of these layers sprouts a multitude of issues that range from the exposed perverted male and the abused female, to the immensely political history of the Japanese occupation in Korea. The film is based on Sarah Water’s Fingersmith, but instead of Victorian era Britain, Park fits the story into Korea under the Japanese colonial rule. The dialogue constantly changes back and forth from Japanese to Korean. However, this tension between the two languages is lost in the English subtitles.
The movie is driven by revenge, and the sides are divided between genders: the female heroines come together romantically and as allies to destruct the perversity of their male counterparts. It’s important to note that the two heroines’ revenge does not operate on physical violence, unlike the men. Instead, they use other men to harm their enemy, making men the sole perpetrators of violence. In the realm of this movie, all men are abusive and their sexual desires untameable, while females are clear headed with an instinctual tendency to look out for one another. It explores the natural feminine bond that triumphs over money and societal constrictions.
In Theaters October 21, 2016.
