FILM & ONLINE REVIEWS
BY RENA BRANNAN (FILM) & ROXY BOURDILLON (ONLINE)
THE HANDMAIDEN
Dir Park Chan-wook
What do you get when you take Sarah Waters’ much-loved Victorian crime novel Fingersmith – a tale of lesbian intrigue – and mix it with the ingenuous and talented Korean director Park Chan-wook’s (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) vision? You get The Handmaiden. A beautifully crafted erotic thriller set in Japanese-occupied Korea. The Handmaiden fits right in with Park’s obsession with scopophobia (the fear of being looked at) and cryptophobia (the fear of secrets). As one can expect from Park, this costume drama isn’t quite what it seems. What may be a subversive tale about power and imperialism slowly becomes a worm-turning caper with as much lunacy and teeth-grinding suspense as the Wachowskis’ Bound. The Handmaiden is incredibly potent viewing, like having 50 bars of dark chocolate – a consuming pleasure. Initially scheduled for a February release, the film now hits UK theatres in April.