'The Handmaiden' Pretty Vacant

Korean director Chan-wook Park's “Mademoiselle (The Handmaiden)” impresses with its eye-catching cinematography, daring sex scenes, and plentiful plot twists. However, it fails in its most fundamental aspect: It possesses no genuine emotion or believable story. Beneath its beautiful veneer, the film is hollow. The characters are not portrayed as real human beings but rather act simply a means of introducing the aforementioned sex scenes and plot twists, lending “The Handmaiden” an air more reminiscent of a role-playing video game than a real film.

Adapted from the novel “Fingersmith,” the film transports the story’s setting from Victorian England to Korea under Japanese occupation in the 1930s. Sook-hee (Tae-ri Kim), an orphan raised by a swindler (Jung-woo Ha), is sent to be the maid of a Japanese heiress (Min-hee Kim) soon to inherit her parents’ assets. At the same time, the swindler himself attempts, using the false identity of Count Fujiwara, to approach the heiress and, with the help of Sook-hee, win her heart to get her money. As the film develops, the swindler’s conspiracy is revealed to be more complex than it first seems, and the relationship between the protagonists changes every minute.

Indeed, the second half of the film consists almost solely of plot twists. Everyone has secrets; everyone has an agenda; and everyone has been secretly aware of each other’s respective secrets and agendas. While at first these developments may seem engaging, they soon prove excessive. Park is so obsessed with designing and explaining conspiracies that he ceases caring whether the characters have any reason to carry them out. Any person can conveniently hate or love another with no foreshadowing at all. The result is that the intricate plans fail to capture interest because the people who benefit or suffer are no longer relatable.

Similarly, the abundant sex scenes in the film not only are unnecessary but also are not supported by the characters’ motivations. They carry a voyeuristic tinge and exploit the female body in the name of revealing humanity’s inner darkness. Despite focusing on female characters, “The Handmaiden” takes no interest in the heiress’s or the titular handmaiden’s emotions and identities, instead putting them on lewd display. The irony underlying these actions is alarming.

“The Handmaiden” does have many strengths, such as its lovely cinematography, gorgeous set designs, and exciting pacing. But all these merits are undermined by the disconnect between the director and the characters, as the former treats the latter as chessmen. No matter how pretty “The Handmaiden” may look, she is vacant inside.

—Staff writer Tianxing V. Lan can be reached at tianxing.lan@thecrimson.com.