The Handmaiden

This article is about the 2016 South Korean film. For the servant, see handmaiden. For other uses, see The Handmaid.

The Handmaiden (Korean: 아가씨; RR: Agassi; lit. '"Lady"') is a 2016 South Korean historical psychological thriller film directed, co-written and co-produced by Park Chan-Wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. It is inspired by the 2002 novel Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, with the setting changed from Victorian era Britain to Korea under Japanese colonial rule.

The Handmaiden
Theatrical release poster
Hangul	아가씨
Revised Romanization	Agassi
Directed by	Park Chan-wook
Written by	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong
Based on	Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Produced by	Park Chan-wook Syd Lim
Starring	Kim Min-hee Kim Tae-ri Ha Jung-woo Cho Jin-woong
Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon
Edited by	Kim Jae-bum Kim Sang-bum
Music by	Jo Yeong-wook
Production companies	Moho Film Yong Film
Distributed by	CJ Entertainment
Release dates	14 May 2016 (2016-05-14) (Cannes) 1 June 2016 (2016-06-01) (South Korea)
Running time	144 minutes (theatrical cut)[1] 168 minutes (extended cut)
Country	South Korea
Languages	Korean Japanese
Budget	₩10 billion (c. US$8.8 million)[2]
Box office	US$38.6 million[3][4]

The Handmaiden was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in South Korea on 1 June 2016 to widespread critical acclaim and grossed over US$38 million worldwide. At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film won the category of Best Film Not in the English Language.

Plot

Part 1

In Japanese-occupied Korea, a con man operating under the sobriquet of "Count Fujiwara" plans to seduce a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko, then marry her and commit her to an asylum to steal her inheritance. He hires a pickpocket named Sook-hee to become Hideko's maid and encourage Hideko to marry him.

Hideko lives with her Uncle Kouzuki, a Korean man who helped the Japanese take over his country in exchange for a gold mine. Kouzuki then uses this wealth to feed his obsession with rare books, selling forgeries to accumulate further money and books. Sook-hee's main job is to help Hideko prepare to read for Kouzuki's guests. Returning frustrated from a reading, Hideko demands Sook-hee to sleep next to her. The two end up having sex, under the pretext of preparing Hideko for her married life with the Count. Sook-hee begins expressing reluctance about the plan, but when Hideko suggests she loves someone other than the Count, Sook-hee insists on the marriage. Hideko slaps her and violently throws her out of the room.

When Kouzuki leaves on business for a week, Hideko and Fujiwara elope. After they cash out Hideko's inheritance, it is revealed that Hideko's naïveté was part of the con. She and Fujiwara double-crossed Sook-hee and convinced the asylum that she was the "Countess" to have her committed in Hideko's stead.

Part 2

A series of flashbacks show that Hideko's "reading practice" was Kouzuki teaching her to read sadistic pornography since she was five years old. The flashbacks show a regimen of psychological and physical abuse that gradually degrades the sanity of Hideko's aunt, who is eventually found hanging from a tree in the yard, and so Hideko takes over as the reader for the auctions. When Hideko questions the description of hanging in a book she has to read, Kouzuki tells her that he murdered her aunt using torture devices in the basement after she attempted to run away.

In the more recent past, the Count realizes seducing Hideko would be impossible and instead includes her in the plan to elope and then split her inheritance. When Hideko expresses her fear of her uncle, the Count bribes her with a vial of opium with which to commit suicide so that she can never be taken to the basement alive, calling it a "wedding present". Hideko demands the Count find her a girl to hire as a maid, to commit to an asylum in Hideko's place.

While being instructed by the Count, who takes advantage of Sook-hee's illiteracy, Hideko unexpectedly falls in love with her. Hideko tries to confess her love, but when Sook-hee insists the marriage go forward, Hideko throws her out of the bedroom and then tries to hang herself. Sook-hee saves her, and both admit to their plots. Hideko helps Sook-hee write a letter to her family to say she has teamed up with Hideko, asking for their help in carrying out a plot to get Hideko and Sook-hee away from the men who have been manipulating them. Hideko shows Sook-hee the books she was forced to read, and Sook-hee begins destroying the library. Hideko calls Sook-hee "her savior" and joins in destroying her uncle's collection.

Part 3

After leaving Sook-hee at the asylum, Fujiwara and Hideko eat together at a high-class hotel, where he tells her of his past and asks her to marry him again, this time as Sook-hee, as they have switched identities. He also reveals that Sook-hee will be dead within a few days, causing Hideko to question Fujiwara's desires. Sook-hee's friend Bok-soon sets a fire at the asylum and poses as a firefighter to rescue her. In the pretense of re-creating their wedding night Fujiwara attempts to rape Hideko, however he is rendered unconscious after drinking wine that Hideko earlier dosed with drops from the opium vial. This allows Hideko to leave with her money. The women reunite and flee together, disguising Hideko as a man to avoid detection.

Kouzuki captures Fujiwara after receiving a letter from Hideko detailing Fujiwara's deception. He tortures Fujiwara in his cellar with his collection of antique bookmaking tools and presses him for sexual details about his niece. Fujiwara makes up a story about making love on their wedding night, while a flashback shows that he watched Hideko masturbate before cutting her hand with a knife to stain her sheets with blood, refusing to consummate the marriage. When Kouzuki presses for more details, Fujiwara convinces him to give him one of his cigarettes, after which he disgustedly refuses to give further details. Kouzuki notices the cigarettes are producing blue smoke, and Fujiwara reveals that his cigarettes are laced with mercury, and the toxic gas in the smoke kills them both.

On a ferry to Shanghai, China, Sook-hee and Hideko celebrate their newfound freedom by having sex once again.

Cast

• Kim Min-hee as Lady / Izumi Hideko
• Kim Tae-ri as Maid / Nam Sook-hee
• Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara
• Cho Jin-woong as Uncle Kouzuki
• Kim Hae-sook as Madame Sasaki
• Moon So-ri as Hideko's aunt
• Lee Yong-nyeo as Bok-soon
• Lee Dong-hwi as Goo-gai
• Jo Eun-hyung as young Hideko
• Rina Takagi as Hideko's mother
• Han Hannah as Junko
• Lee Ji-ha as Owner of Ryokan
• Jeong Ha-dam as Housemaid
• Choi Byung-mo as Audience member

Production

Seodaemun Prison is featured in the film as a psychiatric hospital

In December 2014, it was reported that Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong signed on for the film.^[5] Kim Tae-ri was selected from 1,500 candidates to play the role.^[6] Shooting for the film began in June 2015 and concluded in October 2015.^[7][8]

The print The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife and the book Jin Ping Mei feature in the film.^[9]

Locations

The film was shot in both Japan and Korea. Kouzuki's mansion with combined elements of Japanese and British architecture was filmed in Kuwana in Mie prefecture in Japan, using the exterior of the Moroto Seiroku Mansion and CGI to augment exterior details.^[10] Known as Rokkaen (Japanese: 六華苑), it was designed by British architect Josiah Conder and built in 1913.^[11] The interior of the library and the staircase leading to Hideko's bedroom were built as interior sets. The cherry tree from which Hideko's aunt is found hanged was in the gardens of the hospital on Sorok Island in Jeolla, South Korea.

Release

In February 2016, CJ Entertainment announced that The Handmaiden was pre-sold to 116 countries, including to Amazon Studios for the US.^[12] The film premiered in competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation, and Ryu Seong-hee won the Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist for her art direction work on the film.^[13][14][15] The film was also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, where The Playlist named it as one of the 15 best films of the festival.^[16] In South Korea, the film was released on 1 June 2016 and sold more than 4 million tickets.^[17][18][19]

In the United States, the distribution of the film was handled by Amazon Studios and Magnolia Pictures. The film opened in limited release across five cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles,^[20][21] and played in 140 additional cinemas in the following weeks.^[22] Eventually, the film grossed more than US$2 million in the United States theatrically;^[23] the film outgrossed Stoker and became the highest-grossing Park Chan-wook-directed film in the United States.^[24] It was released on DVD in the US on 24 January 2017 and Blu-ray on 28 March 2017.^[25][26]

In the United Kingdom, the distribution of the film was handled by Amazon Studios and Curzon Artificial Eye. The film grossed more than US$1.8 million in the United Kingdom theatrically, and became the highest-grossing foreign-language film in the UK in 2017.^[27]

The original theatrical cut of the film runs 144 minutes. An extended cut, running 168 minutes, was later given a limited theatrical release in the UK and has also been released on home video in some international markets.^[28]

Home media

In the United Kingdom, it was 2017's fifth best-selling foreign language film on home video, and the year's third best-selling Korean film (behind Operation Chromite and Train to Busan).^[29]

Reception

Critical response

The Handmaiden received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96%, based on 225 reviews, and an average score of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Handmaiden uses a Victorian crime novel as the loose inspiration for another visually sumptuous and absorbingly idiosyncratic outing from director Park Chan-wook."^[30] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 40 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[31] The Economist described the film as a masterpiece.^[9] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian ranked it four out of five stars and described it as "a hugely entertaining thriller".^[32]

The film's numerous sexually explicit scenes between the two main female characters were criticized by Laura Miller at Slate, who described the scenes as "disappointingly boilerplate" and featuring "visual clichés of pornographic lesbianism, [the actresses'] bodies offered up for the camera's delectation."^[33] The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino said that "the women know what they look like, it seems—they are consciously performing for each other—and Park is deft at extracting the particular sense of silly freedom that can be found in enacting a sexual cliché."^[34]

Listicles

The Handmaiden was listed on numerous critics' top ten lists.^[35]

Name of publisher, name of critic, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Critic	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
RogerEbert.com	Danny Bowes	Best Film	1st
	Dan Callahan	Best Film	2nd
The A.V. Club	Noel Murray & Katie Rife	Best Film	2nd
Film School Rejects	Rob Hunter	Best Film	2nd
RogerEbert.com	Sean Mulvihill	Best Film	2nd
The Verge	Tasha Robinson	Best Film	2nd
CraveOnline	William Bibbiani	Best Film	2nd
MTV	Amy Nicholson	Best Film	3rd
CraveOnline	Witney Seibold	Best Film	3rd
The Daily Beast	Jen Yamato	Best Film	3rd
Reelviews	James Berardinelli	Best Film	3rd
L.A. Weekly	Bilge Ebiri	Best Film	3rd
The Austin Chronicle	Kimberley Jones	Best Film	4th
Village Voice	Scott Tobias	Best Film	4th	[36]
Chicago Reader	Lean Pickett	Best Film	5th
The Globe and Mail	Kate Taylor	Best Film	5th
The Austin Chronicle	Josh Kupecki	Best Film	5th
Collider	Haleigh Foutch	Best Film	5th
ScreenCrush	Erin Whitney	Best Film	5th
DC Outlook	Peter Freeman	Best Film	5th	[37]
Parallax View	Sean Axmaker	Best Film	6th
Vogue	John Powers	Best Film	6th
TheWrap	Alonso Duralde	Best Film	6th
RogerEbert.com	Christy Lemire and Peter Sobczynski	Best Film	6th
The A.V. Club	Mike D'Angelo & A.A. Dowd	Best Film	6th
The Arizona Republic	Bill Goodykoontz	Best Film	7th
RogerEbert.com	Matt Zoller Seitz & Brian Tallerico	Best Film	7th
The Atlantic	Christopher Orr	Best Film	7th
The Austin Chronicle	Steve Davis	Best Film	7th
ScreenCrush	Matt Singer	Best Film	8th
The Boston Globe	Ty Burr	Best Film	8th
The Hollywood Reporter	Todd McCarthy	Best Film	8th
The New York Times	Manohla Dargis	Best Film	8th
New York Magazine	David Edelstein	Best Film	8th
The Guardian	Reporter	Best Film	9th
The Austin Chronicle	Marc Savlov	Best Film	10th
Paper	Dennis Dermody	Best Film	10th
San Francisco Chronicle	Walter Addiego	Best Film	Top 10(listed alphabetically, not ranked)
The Guardian	Reporter	100 best films of the 21st century list	41st	[38]
	Reporter	the classics of modern South Korean Cinema	1st	[39]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
2016	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Non-English-Language Film	Park Chan-wook	Won	[40][41]
	Austin Film Critics Association	Best Film	The Handmaiden	4th Place	[42][43]
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Kim Min-hee	Nominated
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Nominated
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Won
	Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Film		Nominated
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Min-hee	Won
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Won
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
		Best Music	Jo Yeong-wook	Nominated
		Technical Award	Jo Sang-kyeong (costume design)	Nominated
	Boston Society of Film Critics	Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Won	[44]
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Won
	Buil Film Awards	Best Film	The Handmaiden	Nominated
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Min-hee	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Won
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
		Best Music	Jo Yeong-wook	Nominated
		Buil Readers' Jury Award	Park Chan-wook	Won
	Busan Film Critics Awards	Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Won
	Cannes Film Festival	Palme d'Or	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Queer Palm		Nominated
		Vulcan Award	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Film	The Handmaiden	Nominated	[45]
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Won
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Nominated
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Won
		Best Art Direction		Won
	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[46]
	Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Foreign Language Film		Won	[47]
	Director's Cut Awards	Best Actress	Kim Min-hee	Won
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Won
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Runner-up	[48]
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Runner-up
	Korean Association of Film Critics Awards	Top Ten Films of the Year	The Handmaiden	Won
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Won
	IndieWire Critics Poll	Best Film	The Handmaiden	7th Place	[49]
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	5th Place
		Best Original Score or Soundtrack	The Handmaiden	8th Place
		Best Cinematography		4th Place
		Best Editing		8th Place
	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Production Design	Ryu Seong-hui	Won	[50]
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Won
	Melbourne International Film Festival	Most Popular Feature Film		Runner-up
	New York Film Critics Online	Best Foreign Language Film		Won	[51]
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[52][53]
	San Francisco Film Critics Circle	Best Adapted Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Nominated	[54][55]
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Won
		Best Production Design	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
	St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Production Design	Ryu Seong-hee	Won	[56]
		Best Foreign Language Film	The Handmaiden	Runner-up
	Toronto Film Critics Association	Best Foreign Language Film		Runner-up	[57]
	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[58]
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[59]
	Women Film Critics Circle	Best Foreign Film by or about Women		Won	[60]
2017	Apolo Awards	Best Film		Nominated	[61][62]
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon	Nominated
		Best Editing	Kim Jae-bum, Kim Sang-bum	Nominated
		Best Production Design	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
		Best Sound	Jung Gun, Kim Suk-won	Nominated
		Best Song	"The sound of you coming" (임이 오는 소리) (Gain and Minseo)	Won
		Best Ensemble Cast	Ha Jung-woo, Kim Min-hee, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Tae-ri, Moon So-ri, Kim Hae-sook	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Won
	Asian Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Moon So-ri	Won	[63][64]
		Best Newcomer	Kim Tae-ri	Won
		Best Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Nominated
		Best Production Designer	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
		Best Editor	Kim Jae-bum and Kim Sang-bum	Nominated
		Best Costume Designer	Jo Sang-kyeong	Won
	Baeksang Arts Awards	Grand Prize	Park Chan-wook	Won	[65][66]
		Best Film	The Handmaiden	Nominated
		Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Min-hee	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Cho Jin-woong	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong	Nominated
	Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Director	Park Chan-wook	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Min-hee	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Tae-ri	Nominated
		Technical Award	Ryu Seong-hui	Nominated
			Jung Jung Hoon	Nominated
	Dorian Awards	Director of the Year	Park Chan-wook	Nominated	[67]
		Foreign Language Film of the Year	The Handmaiden	Won
		LGBTQ Film of the Year		Nominated
		Visually Striking Film of the Year		Nominated
	Houston Film Critics Society	Best Picture		Nominated	[68][69]
		Best Foreign Language Film		Won
	National Board of Review	Top 5 Foreign Films	The Handmaiden	Won	[70]
	National Society of Film Critics	Best Foreign Language Film		2nd Place	[71]
	Online Film Critics Society	Best Picture		Nominated	[72]
		Best Foreign Language Film		Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[73]
	Saturn Awards	Best International Film		Won	[74]
		Best Costume Design	Jo Sang-kyeong	Nominated
	Seattle Film Critics Society	Best Picture of the Year	The Handmaiden	Nominated	[75][76]
		Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated
		Best Production Design	Ryu Seong-hui	Won
		Best Costume Design	Jo Sang-kyeong	Won
2018	British Academy Film Awards	Best Film Not in the English Language	Park Chan-wook and Syd Lim	Won	[77]
	Empire Awards	Best Thriller	The Handmaiden	Nominated	[78][79]
	London Film Critics Circle Awards	Foreign Language Film of the Year		Nominated	[80]

See also

• Fingersmith, BBC mini-series that is also based on the book of the same name

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External links

• The Handmaiden at IMDb