Park Chan-wook's “The Handmaiden”
represents a Korean re-telling of Sarah Waters' “Fingersmith,”
an erotic, lesbian tale of crime and romance. Full of intrigue and
surprisingly graphic sex scenes, the film represents that rare genre:
a truly erotic movie that actually has a good story.
Tae-ri Kim plays Sook-Hee, a Korean
pickpocket who gets a chance to move up in the world of crime.
Con-artist Count Fujiwara recruits her to become a handmaiden to the
rich, beautiful Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). The plan is for Sook-Hee
to spy on Hideko and help the fake Count seduce her. He will marry
her for her fortune, then have her placed in an insane asylum.
Sook-Hee is happy to go along for a share of the spoils, and Hideko
should be easy enough to lure away from her cruel uncle, who makes
her read rare, erotic books out loud to a kinky cadre of wealthy book
collectors. Complications arise, however, when Sook-Hee and Hideko
fall in love.
Sarah Waters is known for her erotic
stories about women, such as “Tipping the Velvet.” In “The
Handmaiden,” she tells a tale of two women who decide to do an
end-run around a system where they are at the mercy of cruel men.
The Count uses Sook-Hee to try to cheat Hideko out of her fortune and
her freedom. Hideko's Uncle uses her to titillate the old men who
bid on his books. These two women look around and see a world of
men, who will use them up, then toss them away. So they turn to each
other.
“The Handmaiden” is listed as
“Unrated” in the U.S., and it has several beautiful, intense sex
scenes that would probably earn it an NC-17 rating. The film
deserves more, however, than to be known only for its titillation
factor. This is a beautifully filmed, beautifully acted grifter's
tale, full of intrigue and double-crosses that will keep surprising
you all the way to the satisfying end.
4 stars out of 5
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