The Handmaiden
The Handmaiden
R | 21 October 2016 (USA)
The Handmaiden Trailers

In 1930s Korea, a swindler and a young woman pose as a Japanese count and a handmaiden to seduce a Japanese heiress and steal her fortune.

Reviews
Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
philipfalzer Impeccable art direction, looks worthy of great movies. It deserves a high note, but so watch out for the third part that has given a drop in performance. It may have lacked consistency with the previous two. Anyway, great movie!
TheNabOwnzz Chan-wook Park used to be such a great director, being the man behind the success of the fantastic 'Revenge trilogy' and most notably Oldboy (2003) as his ultimate masterpiece. Unfortunately The Handmaiden is not a masterpiece, just a bunch of blatant in your face social commentary.The problem lies not in the cinematography, which is top notch the entire film. It is visually beautiful, with great use of color and indoor cultural Asian scenery, and some fantastic costume design. The music is also a very good emotional piece as is usual in a Park film. However, the best parts end here. You could say that the complex multi layered non linear storyline is well structured narrative, but i disagree. It basically shows the same events two times from different angles and with a couple of scenes added to it that would otherwise have been a spoiler. The story is constantly twisting because of things that we couldn't see but there is not an ounce of refinement in it. ( That person wants to sell that one out for their own gain, now another person wants to sell that one out for their own gain, now two persons pair against another to sell that one out for their own gain ). This entire immoral construct never ends as there is little to none character development.All our four main characters are rotten to the core and this never changes throughout the film, yet somehow Park decides the two women are the good ones and the two guys are the bad ones? Such an incredibly lazy political message which is something that i would never have suspected from an artist such as Park, but it happened. The 'Count' ends up being the fall guy, for being dumb enough to not realize he is being deceived, which is hardly a surprise since men do not seem to realize anything at all in this film. The uncle is just a disgusting sadistic psychopath who also sees his downfall because of his own plain stupidity. The two women are not very likeable either, albeit in a more subtle way since their unlikeable nature is due to the fact that they only seem to care about money but all the while not showing their sadistic sides. The way the final events unfold is not a very subtle way of creating a kind of feministic statement that they cannot be pushed around by men.The erotic part of this film is absolutely utterly useless. There are numerous graphic sex scenes between the two women which do not enhance anything in this pretentious story but only seem to serve as a bunch of pornographic material good enough to get into the minds of those feeble minded and blind enough to like this film. Disgusting sexually oriented pictures and disgusting dialogue are constantly thrown at the viewer in order to gain the thumbs up only because of this pathetic form of pornographic flattery. It is a motion picture, which is supposed to be an artform, yet this is a mere disguise for the mindless pornographic nature of this film. I am fortunate enough to have a brain smart enough to not take the bait.It sure is pretty to look at, and might entertain those who want to see female nudity and simulated sex scenes between females, but for those smarter among us, this really is a poor excuse for a motion picture that is supposed to open our minds or make us better understand the human condition.
HalBanksy A wonderful film. Gorgeous cinematography and set design, and a thrilling plot with endless twists and turns. It's paced to perfection - As the secrets are gradually revealed; the viewer is brought back to key moments with a new point of view. The film is sensual, but never gratuitous. The two lead actresses give brave yet delicate performances. It doesn't quite reach the unique heights of 'Oldboy' - but still another supreme achievement for director Park Chan-wook.
orhan Akdeniz I think this is the best film of 2017. The three-part movie narration is beautiful. The women's story is beautiful.