The Handmaiden

This review may contain spoilers!

Think I just watched the Koreans do their own take on Fifty Shades Of Grey. I would give The Handmaiden a 3.5/10.

When it isn't straying into unusual or explicit territory there's actually the workings of a fairly decent plot at the heart of this film. The narrative is essentially a great heist film in which sudden plot twists are used to reveal shocking new aspects of various characters; handmaidens became thieves, heiresses became sexual deviants and conspirators etc. The cinematography was very artistic and unique to the film, it had a very particular way of constructing shots that made me think of Wes Anderson films.

Kim Min-Hee, who played Lady Hideko, was a very muted character at first with a lot of mystery surrounding her; however when we see her more duplicitous nature her role really develops an intriguing sharp edge. Kim Tae-Ri, who played Sook-Hee, was a brilliant protagonist; her smug persona coupled with her lust for Min-Hee set her apart as one of the more engaging performances. Ha Jung-Woo, who played Count Fujiwara, was a really deplorable scoundrel in this film; his greed and self-centred ego made for an interesting role. Jo Eun-Hyung, who played Hideko (Young), was a brilliant performance by this child actress; a big part of this performance was delivering her sheer blind terror at her unfamiliar setting and rather horrible uncle.

However the best performance came from Moon So-Ri, who played the Aunt. I liked So-Ri's performance the most because she stood out as one of the performers giving a natural performance. Her passion and contempt for her husband and Sasaki was an interesting element of her character. I enjoyed seeing how she became a mentor and guardian of sorts to the young Eun-Hyung, with whom she shared a lot of chemistry onscreen.

So a film like this is a great way to talk about how to use sex scenes in a piece of cinema. When you're utilising a few seconds of a scene to show sex and the relationship between characters then it works, but only if you don't overdo it. Crafting a sex scene that lasts too long or that becomes gratuitous can damage a film, it starts to be about delivering visual pleasure to the audience which is tantamount to pornography. When a film prioritises the visual aspect of sex over it's own narrative then you get a film like 50 Shades Of Grey or The Handmaiden. Because the film focusses more upon showing sex than it's plot the pacing is thrown out the window early on and you grow pretty bored pretty quick. The editing is downright horrid, often cutting abruptly or using an inconsistent style of varying transitions. The score just doesn't match the film, never really bringing much out of the scene nor heightening any moments of the film.

Cho Jin-Woong, who played Uncle Kouzuki, was just a plain odd character; an antagonist who was never really consistent and often played his character a bit too over the top. Kim Hae-Sook, who played Sasaki, was a rather dull performance for most of the film; by the time her character was made an antagonist you'd forgotten that she was even in the film. LeeDong-Hwi, Lee Yong-Nyeo and Yoo Min-Chae, who played Goo-Gai, Bok-Soon and Ggeut-Dan respectively, were a rather ludicrous band within the supporting cast; only ever really there when the plot demanded it they were never really given any depth as characters nor linked to the main cast members all that well. Han Ha-Na, who played Junko, was a rather forgettable minor character; her brief affair with Jung-Woo had my eyes rolling to the back of my head.