An elaborate period piece is the closest thing that many (if not all) of us will ever get to a real-life time machine, transporting audiences into sumptuous worlds of impeccable detail to experience ageless sagas of romance and deception, as well as probably a whole lot of racism, sexism and class warfare. Park Chan-wook is our latest tour guide, and it should come as no surprise that the director of Oldboy and Stoker is inviting us on a journey that is both lovingly opulent and disturbingly twisted.
The Handmaiden is the story of a young Korean thief named Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), who is employed by a con man named Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo) to become the servant of a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee). Together they plan to trick Lady Hideko into eloping with the Count, stealing her money and having her institutionalized.
Sook-hee leaps at the opportunity, seeing only the lifetime of riches that await her. But all is not as it seems. Lady Hideko isn’t the fragile wallflower everyone takes her for, and soon she takes an interest in Sook-hee that goes beyond master and servant, and into the realm of the truly erotic.
Magnolia
As with any film about the confidence game, The Handmaiden has some tricks up its sleeve. But unlike some of those other films The Handmaiden is more than just a stage show. Park Chan-wook may be known for his outrageous violence and kinky sensuality, and yet at the core of his best films you’ll find a potent pulse of real humanity. True cruelty rarely stems from apathy, and only those who genuinely care about one another are able to do the most unthinkable harm.
Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-hee are two of the most appealing lovers in memory, seemingly polar opposites, drawn together by powerful magnetism. They are both powerful women in an environment specifically and quite literally designed by men to keep them as powerless as possible. At the beginning of The Handmaiden they each believe that accepting the manipulations of men is the best that they can strive for, but only after Park Chan-wook’s film reveals its most despicable secrets do they realize that, perhaps, even in an oppressive time, freedom is a possibility. And even a small possibility is worth fighting for, and worth committing egregious acts of betrayal.
Magnolia
Meanwhile, the men waggle their tongues and push their own agendas and write their own, uglier forms of this sort of erotica. That the fantasies of all the men in The Handmaiden ultimately have a reflection in the genuine sexuality of the film’s two lovers isn’t a lack of imagination, it’s an impressive realization of the idea that negativity can be transformed, and that power can be regained.
All of this is wrapped in a sumptuous package, a gorgeously elaborate production of attractive costumes and alluring sets. The Handmaiden is an appealing world which has been built upon the bowels of Hell, a spectacular drama with fierce performances and fiery sensuality. As beautiful as it is disturbing, and one of the best films of the year.
Thirteen Must-See Films at TIFF 2016:
Top Photo: Magnolia
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
TIFF 2016: 12 Films That Should Excite You
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All I See Is You
Blake Lively stars as a blind woman who regains her sight, and discovers that her marriage might not be all it seemed to be. A challenging concept with a great cast, directed by Marc Forster (Monster's Ball).
Photo: LINK Entertainment
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The Bad Batch
Ana Lily Amirpour brought her unique sensibilities to the vampire genre with the acclaimed A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, and for her big follow-up she's tackling community cannibalism. Another impressive cast features Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves.
Photo: Annapurna Pictures
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Colossal
Anne Hathaway stars in a very unusual kaiju story, about a woman who loses everything but discovers she has a connection to a giant monster. Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes) directs, Jason Sudeikis and Dan Stevens co-star.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Elle
Paul Verhoeven may be best known to American audiences as the director of Robocop and Total Recall, but his latest film sounds dark as hell. Isabelle Huppert stars as a successful business woman who is sexually assaulted, and begins stalking her assailant for revenge.
Photo: SBS Productions
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Free Fire
Kill List and High-Rise director Ben Wheatley travels to America for a shoot out movie with a stellar cast, including Cillian Murphy and recent Oscar-winner Brie Larson. Will the horror master who brought us Kill List be able to change the way we look at action?
Photo: Film4 Productions
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The Handmaiden
Shock filmmaker Chan-wook Park has blown our minds with disturbing films like Oldboy and Stoker, but his new film is a classy period piece about a handmaiden (hence the title) conning her new mistress, but falling in love with her anyway. The promise of sumptuous costumes and production design, old school romance and - since it's still Chan-wook Park after all - a few mind-blowing twists make The Handmaiden one of the most enticing films of the year.
Photo: CJ Entertainment
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Jackie
Since winning a Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan, Natalie Portman hasn't really found a high-profile role worthy of her talents. Perhaps this biopic about Jackie Kennedy, which takes place over the course of the JFK assassination, will finally give her the opportunity to shine again.
Photo: Wild Bunch
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La La Land
Damien Chazelle does an about-face after his impossibly dark, award-winning Whiplash for a colorful musical about Hollywood, inspired by European classics like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling reteam for a film that everybody is already raving about after its premiere at other festivals.
Photo: Summit Entertainment
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Loving
One of the most important court cases in American history, dramatized by the great Jeff Nichols (Mud), starring the great Ruth Negga (Preacher) and the great Joel Edgerton (Warrior), as an interracial couple who dared to get married when their love was literally illegal.
Photo: Focus Features
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A Monster Calls
The Orphanage director J.A. Bayona returns to the supernatural genre with an adaptation of the hit novel by Patrick Ness, about a boy who deals with his mother's illness by escaping into a world of the supernatural. A Monster Calls could be one of those rare films that bridges the gap between horror and drama in a way that awards voters find palatable... if it's good enough.
Photo: Focus Features
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Nocturnal Animals
A Single Man director Tom Ford finally - FINALLY - returns with an ambitious dramatic thriller, starring Amy Adams as a woman who gets lost in a novel written by her first husband, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Whatever Tom Ford is doing, we're interested.
Photo: Focus Features
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(re)Assignment
Genre master Walter Hill is back with a premise so audacious, it's downright offensive. Michelle Rodriguez plays a man who is forced to undergo genre reassignment surgery, and sets out to exact revenge. Will (re)Assignment be completely wrongheaded and worthy of scorn, or will Walter Hill prove that he has something worthwhile to say?
Photo: SBS Productions
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The Unknown Girl
The Dardennes Brothers try their hand at the thriller genre with an emotional drama about a doctor at a clinic who ignores a patient's cries for help, and winds up exploring the unknown woman's life out of guilt after she dies. Few filmmakers navigate difficult emotions more beautifully than the Dardennes.
Photo: Diaphana
