Synopsis
The Handmaiden (아가씨, 2016) is a South Korean thriller-drama by Park Chan-wook — watch online on iFILM. The director of Oldboy transplanted the plot of Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith from Victorian England into Japanese-occupied Korea of the 1930s. CJ Entertainment, 145 minutes.
A con man posing as a Japanese count (Ha Jung-woo) recruits a street pickpocket named Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri) to go undercover as maid to the wealthy heiress Hideko (Kim Min-hee). The plan: charm the lady, marry her, have her committed, take the fortune. Hideko is already a prisoner — her uncle Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong) controls every waking hour inside a sprawling estate cut off from the outside world. But Sook-hee is running her own calculation, and so is Hideko.
Park Chan-wook tells the story in three chapters, each one reframing what came before. The film screened in competition at Cannes 2016 and won the FIPRESCI Prize. Stream The Handmaiden (2016) on iFILM.
Starring
Comments 0