Park Chan-wook adapts Sarah Waters' crime novel Fingersmith.
It’s raining. A group of soldiers jog by a small cluster of women huddling under a thin awning, each holding a baby. 1930s colonial Korea, currently under Japanese occupation, looks anything but pleasant. We meet Sook-hee, a seemingly innocent young girl who hands the baby she’s been holding to another set of arms, grabs her suitcase, and heads out into the storm towards a car waiting up the street. Our sympathies are immediately with her as it can only be assumed that her new role as a handmaiden to Lady Hideko, a wealthy Japanese woman, is one that takes Sook-hee away from her home and family. But as the rest of the movie will prove, none of the characters are as they seem.
A film told in three parts, each chapter revealing bits and pieces of the lives of both women, Park Chan-wook’s latest movie The Handmaiden is the story of three people trying to escape the oppressive system they were born into. Lady Hideko, beautifully acted by Kim Min-hee, has been given a confining life of security and isolation. Under the control of her aging uncle, Kouzuki, who she is also engaged to marry, Lady Hideko’s only job is to perform nightly readings from ancient Japanese books to a group of her uncle’s friends. Opposite her is Sook-hee, played fantastically by first-time actor Kim Tae-ri, who has the freedom to speak her mind but lacks the luxury she’s always wanted. Their connection is linked to The Count, a Korean man who has managed to fool the Japanese into believing he’s one of them, but The Count is looking for more than acceptance. It’s The Count who provides these women with an opportunity to escape. But as Sook-hee and Lady Hideko spend their days together, the two women find themselves overcome by unexpected emotions and unable to fulfill their original plans.
Though The Handmaiden is set in the 1930s and aesthetically embodies this time, it’s anything but a typical period piece. The film is inspired by Sarah Waters critically acclaimed novel Fingersmith. Waters, known for her historical fiction, merely uses these periods as a way to create complex female characters. Following suit, Park Chan-wook swapped Victorian England for the Japanese occupation and centered this story on two complex female characters. The heart of the story, like Waters' work, is romance. But true to Park Chan-wook, the film goes beyond love to include suspense and psychosis in controlling, confining environments.
Park Chan-wook places small Easter eggs throughout this story, each discreetly captured by cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung using an anamorphic lens. It’s easy to get swept up in the beauty of each scene as the action takes place in the country, far away from the city, wide shots capturing their environment. As each perspective begins to meet, the camera films this triangular conflict by, at first, looking closely into the faces of each character. Until viewpoints are swapped and we see the scene in its wider context where there is often someone standing on the outskirts, watching. Soon audiences understand that nothing is private and although we may feel the intimacy of the scene, something special occurring between two characters, there’s always the question of whether or not someone else is off in the shadows.
Despite its thrilling nature, the film is surprisingly funny in moments where Sook-hee and Lady Hideko let down their guard. From the beginning we understand that both women want more than the life they were given and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals. When their plans take small but unexpected turns, their genuine emotional responses provide just enough surprise and comic relief to have audiences remain engaged with each character. The small moments of humanity get us to root for them despite their original intentions for one another. At just two and a half hours, this comedy eases the tension and intricacy that has the potential to become exhausting.
The Verdict
Park Chan-wook organized his story in such a way that keeps audiences engaged with the film in its entirety, its Easter eggs an enjoyable challenge to partake in rather than a confusing twist brush-off.
Editors' Choice
→
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire