The Handmaiden 2016

1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl (Sookee) is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress (Hideko) who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle (Kouzuki). But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to elope with him, rob her of her fortune, and lock her up in a madhouse. The plan seems to proceed according to plan until Sookee and Hideko discover some unexpected emotions.
"The Handmaiden is adapted from Fingersmith, a brilliant, intricately plotted novel set in 19th-century England, initially narrated by Sue, a cockney thief who agrees, as part of a con, to go to work as the heiress’ maid. Her confederate, posing as a nobleman, plans to marry the heiress and then commit her to an asylum, pocketing her fortune and giving Sue a cut. Sue’s role is to insinuate herself into the confidence of the isolated Maud, urging her to elope with the bogus gentleman. Instead, she falls in love with Maud herself. Park doesn’t include all of Waters’ twists and surprises—his film is more glossy melodrama than Dickensian storytelling, but there’s still a good deal of double-crossing." SLATE |
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