dir. Park Chan-Wook
year. 2016
country. South Korea
Language: Korean & Japanese (plus English Subtitles throughout)
run-time. 168
rating. 18
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Doors: 6.30pm
Film: 7.30pm
Deptford Cinema is proud to present Park Chan-Wook's THE HANDMAIDEN [Extended Edition]
With help from an orphaned pickpocket (Kim Tae-ri), a Korean con man (Ha Jung-woo) devises an elaborate plot to seduce and bilk a Japanese woman (Kim Min-hee) out of her inheritance. The Handmaiden is the latest opus from South Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook, renowned for his brutal Vengeance trilogy: Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. Recently, Chan-Wook had his first venturing into english language cinema with Stoker, starring Mia Wasikowska and Nicole Kidman - a similarly seductive domestic drama with an intense mix of horror and thrills which follows a girl whose world comes crashing down when her father dies in a car accident, adding to the emotional turmoil is the sudden arrival of her uncle and unstable mother.
An ambitious and bold three-part noir which unfolds across more than two-and-three quarter hours, there isn't a moment where your eyes won't be focused on the rich cinematography, tranquil settings and not to mention, the gleeful sexual deviance and unfurling Hitchcock-like storytelling. Ultimately, The Handmaiden serves the purpose as a form of historical fantasy in which love conquers all, but not in the ways one might expect. It is greatly inspired by the novel Fingersmith, a historical crime novel set in Victorian Era Britain, by Welsh Writer Sarah Waters. The setting in the film changed from Victorian era Britain to Korea under Japanese colonial rule.
A Very Special Thanks to BFI Distribution for allowing us to screen The Handmaiden: Extended Edition.
Dir: Park Chan-Wook | Starring: Kim Tae-ri, Min-Hee Kim, Ha Jung-Woo, Cho Jin-Woong | Rating: 18 | Running Time: 168 mins
*Doors Open 6.30pm*
*Screening Start 7.30pm*
WARNING: THE HANDMAIDEN: Extended Edition contains sequences of fast flashing images which may affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive.