The Handmaiden

Corsets, servants and socialites on an opulent estate might seem like foreign turf for Park Chan-wook, the filmmaker behind the 2003 revenge drama Oldboy, but the idiosyncratic director makes The Handmaiden, adapted from a crime novel set in Victorian England, fit perfectly like a tight glove on a perfumed hand. But, true to the director’s style, this well-told tale becomes more and more violent and sordid as it progresses.

Nominated for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s Palm d’Or, its highest award, The Handmaiden’s setting is switched from Britain to Japanese-occupied Korea during the early 1900s, where both Japanese and Korean are spoken. Subtitled in both languages, the film’s popularity has made it the most widely distributed Korean film in history.

The film begins with a couple of con artists attempting to fleece a lonely, wealthy lady out of her family’s fortune. Sook-he (Kim Tae-ri), the handmaiden, is placed in the sprawling English-meets-Japanese estate by a fake count named Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha) who hopes Sook-he will help him get Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim) “fully ripe” so that he can marry her, drive her crazy, send her to an insane asylum, then take all of her money. But then things get complicated when the young faux servant finds herself unsettled by toying with a woman that she is beginning to have strong feelings for.

At one point, Sook-he says, “Everyone’s performing their roles so damned well.” The same can be said for the cast, which keep you constantly guessing about their characters’ motivations. The two women in the film are multi-dimensional figures, especially Sook-he, who is a disorienting blend of coy and cunning.

The first act ends with a plot twist that throws the nature of all of the main characters into question. From there, the movie gets darker, weirder and kinkier. Through it all, Park is an adept storyteller who juggles flashbacks, voiceovers and a camera that moves like a silent onlooker whether watching the action from above, through peepholes, or while racing down long hallways.

The estate is home to an evil uncle, a mysterious basement, and a cherry tree where Lady Hideko’s aunt hanged herself. It’s as if Park has created a new genre: Asian gothic.

The Handmaiden has elements of erotic thrillers, horror flicks, period pieces, soft porn and bloody Tarantino-style drama that Park effortlessly folds in, with a sprinkling of humor. The film proves Park Chan-wook can mold wholly disparate material into his own vision.

THE HANDMAIDEN (31/2) Directed by Park Chan-wook • Starring Min-hee Kim, Kim Tae-ri, Jung-woo Ha • Not rated • 144 min. • At Osio Theater