The Handmaiden | K-Wave
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Tue 10 Nov
Korea, in the 1930s. Pickpocket Sook-hee becomes involved in an elaborate scheme devised by a con man. Posing as a Japanese count, he plans to seduce the wealthy heiress Hideko, marry her and steal her fortune. Sook-hee is sent to Hideko’s secluded estate as her new handmaiden, with instructions to earn her trust and encourage her to accept the count.
But as Sook-hee and Hideko grow closer, the plan becomes increasingly unpredictable. Desires change, roles are reversed and nobody turns out to be exactly who they claim to be. What appears to be the truth takes on an entirely different meaning when the story is viewed from another perspective.
Park Chan-wook loosely based The Handmaiden on Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, moving the story from Victorian England to Korea under Japanese occupation. The result is a lavish and sensual thriller about power, manipulation and two women attempting to escape the men who want to control their lives.
The Handmaiden is part of K-Wave, a series exploring the global impact of Korean cinema. The film is spoken in Korean and Japanese and presented with English subtitles.
- Direction
- Park Chan-wook
- Cast
- Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo en Cho Jin-woong
- Duration
- 144 min
- Year
- 2016
- Country
- South-Korea
- Language
- Korean, Japanese
- Subtitles
- English
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