Just based on who is telling the story, the narrative can completely change. It’s all about perspective. This becomes an important element in THE HANDMAIDEN, Park Chan-wook’s new film inspired by the novel Fingersmith by British author Sarah Waters. The South Korean director’s approach to the material is important. He shows a keen understanding of what the story is essentially about while giving himself a little bit of room to inject his own interpretation of the story. The key word there is little. THE HANDMAIDEN strives to be the erotic fantasy it wants to be, but still delivers as a sumptuous exploration of storytelling.
An orphaned Korean pickpocket (Kim Tae-ri) is hired to serve as the handmaiden to a young and rich Japanese lady living on a private estate. Little does the wealthy Japanese woman know, but the new handmaiden is secretly plotting with a conman to defraud her of a large inheritance.
THE HANDMAIDEN often acts as a pulpy game of cat and mouse where the roles are constantly shifting and you don’t know exactly who to trust. Even the narrator shifts every once in awhile showing previous anecdotes in a new light. However, it also shamelessly enjoys flaunting its 1930’s meets Victorian aesthetic – the result being a lavish assault for the eyes. It’s a twisty tale in the vein of DOUBLE INDEMNITY but with the scope and drama of a Jane Austen novel. There’s the familiar femme fatales and double crosses, but placing them in the Japanese period setting adds an interesting player into the mix. An emphasis is placed on retelling extended backstories, and while some of these details and anecdotes add depth to the characters, there is often moments that feel a bit superfluous.
Maintaining a more plot-driven approach rather than style is somewhat of a departure given Park Chan-wook’s previous films. Even though I’m enamored with STOKER, I can admit that the film takes the director’s aesthetics to a garish level of excess. THE HANDMAIDEN invests quite a bit in its three main players, and the weight of the story seems effortless for the tremendous leads. Kim Tae-ri, especially, is quite charming as she injects a surprising amount of humor in what could have a stuffy character.
Contrary to what the trailers would lead you to believe, the film doesn’t flirt with perversion as much as you would expect. There are moments exploring raw sexuality, but at almost 2 1/2 hours, there’s also a lot of room filled with less sensational sights. Park Chan-wook clearly enjoys the sexual angle, so much so, in fact, that he has an overly extended sequence of just a woman reading from an erotic book for a group of distinguished gentlemen. Earlier a sex scene walks the fine line of being a tasteful and tender moment of self-discovery while invoking just enough tantalizing imagery to allure the viewer. It’s moments like these where you see the director’s passion unfold in front of the camera, but he doesn’t quite pepper in enough of these situations throughout the plot-heavy story.
THE HANDMAIDEN is a unique blend of sensitive and sexual; an absorbing mix of both the dramatic and the absurd. While the opulent sandbox that Park Chan-wook plays his game in is geared towards the highbrow arthouse crowd, I can’t help but think about the fun he might have had if he didn’t feel tied down by the material.
Overall rating: 4 out of 5
THE HANDMAIDEN is now playing in limited release and opens in St. Louis at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre on Nov. 18.
