Review of The Handmaiden (2016) by Dirigiblepulp — 14 Dec 2016
Breathtakingly gorgeous; every composition, from the settings, designs, costumes, to the music and the actors -- the entirety of the mise en scène -- is absolute perfection.
A film of twists and turns that are earned because the plot works so well from scene to scene. You don't spend the entire film trying to outguess it but instead are so enraptured by it that it can take you by surprise.
It's also a provocation, one that rides the line between exploitation and art quite daringly. You can justify good chunks of what happens in here, but maybe not all of it (or the extent of it). But taken as a cathartic release from the tyranny of a patriarchal society (and also the Japanese occupation of Korea, which is a subtext I won't pretend to completely understand) it is fitting and has its own brazen clarity. Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair...for you don't get to touch.
This review of The Handmaiden (2016) was written by Dirigiblepulp on 14 Dec 2016.
The Handmaiden has generally received very positive reviews.
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