In 2016, the South Korean director of the popular drama detective Oldboy presented his new work entitled Servant. The premiere of the film took place at the Cannes Film Festival. After the show, there were many positive reviews about the film "The Handmaid", which provided him with several nominations and honorary awards, as well as great financial success at the global box office.
General movie info
The translation of the original name of the painting, 아가씨, can be interpreted as "young woman" or "lady". During the Cannes Film Festival, the film was given the French title Mademoiselle, but at the box office in the English-speaking countries, The Handmaiden was already featured.
As for the actors and roles in the film "The Handmaid", both recognized stars and newcomers lit up here. The rich Count Kozuki was played by Cho Jin Un, Japanese Hideko - Kim Min Hee, the swindler Fujiwara - Ha Jong Woo, and the young actress Kim Tae Ri appeared in the role of poor maidservant Nam Sook Hee.
The plot of the film "The Handmaid" is based on the popular book "Subtle Work" by British writer Sarah Waters. The events of the picture take place in Korea in the 30s, during the Japanese occupation.
Tie
At the beginning of the film, viewers get acquainted with a young poor girl, Ok Chu, who takes a job as a maid to a rich but lonely Japanese woman named Hideko. That's just in fact the name of the young maid is not Okchu Chu, but Nam Sook Hee and she is a thief and a liar. Together with a familiar fraudster, posing as Count Fujiwara, she is involved in seducing Hideko and inducing her to marry Fujiwara.
Hideko's uncle, Kozuki, is a wealthy Korean who married a Japanese girl and is now the only guardian of his niece. Kozuki sells fake old books to various rich people. Fujiwara hopes to marry Hideko in order to get her large inheritance, and then put her in a madhouse.
The plot: the first part
Sook Hee herself begins to feel warm feelings towards her mistress. When Fujiwara arrives at Kozuki's house to charm Hideko, the maid understands that she is jealous and disapproves of the count's actions. After some time, both girls end up in the same bed and spend the night together. Hideko reciprocates the handmaiden, but still decides to accept Fujiwara’s hand and heart. The three of them go to Japan, where the couple marries. After this, Fujiwara, according to the original plan, takes Hideko to a psychiatric clinic, but at the very last moment both spouses leave Nam Sook Hee there.
Plot: Part Two
In the next part of the film, viewers learn about Hideko's childhood and what really happened to her aunt. It turns out that both of them were forced to read publicly pornographic books at special tenders held right on the Kozuki estate. However, many of the read scenes were accompanied by a live performance. The plot also reveals the fact that the young Aunt Hideko actually killed Kozuki for trying to escape from the house.
All this time, Fujiwara participated in counterfeiting books. One night he visited Hideko and offered her help in escaping. The girl agreed and she herself offered to find a naive candidate for the role of a servant, then to leave her under the name Hideko in a mental hospital. Fujiwara promised to give his future wife a bottle of opium.
So in the house of Kozuki, it turned out to be Nam Sook Hee. After some time, Hideko herself fell in love with her maid and, feeling a sympathetic response, told her about Fujiwara's real plans. Sook Hee contacted her accomplices and asked for their help by writing a letter. Before the escape, the girl managed to destroy the valuable books of Kozuki.
Plot: third part
After the couple leaves Sook Hee in the clinic, Fujiwara plans to take Hideko to the city of Vladivostok to make a real marriage. The girl goes to deception and treats Fujiwara with wine with a small dose of opium. She escapes and meets with Suk Hee, whom her accomplices managed to free from imprisonment. The heroines change their tickets and go to Shanghai, while Suk Hee has to play the role of a man, so as not to get caught by the people of Kozuki.
Hideko also sends his uncle a letter revealing Fujiwara’s true identity. At the end of the film, he comes across the people of Kozuki and they deliver him back to the estate. The viewer realizes that terrible torture awaits Fujiwara. Before proceeding to the most important thing, Kozuki allows his captive to smoke and gives him his own cigarettes, which, as it turns out later, contain mercury. Due to the fact that the basement is practically not aired, smoke quickly fills the room and poisons both men.
Reviews about the film "Maid" and the results of the rental
The picture without a doubt became one of the most talked about in 2016. Most viewers left positive reviews for the film "The Handmaid." Basically, the worthy work of the scriptwriter and director was noted, while the unsurpassed acting game did not go unnoticed. Park Chan Uk received the Golden Palm Branch Award nomination at the Cannes Film Festival. The film "Maid" in 2016 was awarded a nomination for "Queer Palm". The production designer, Ryu Song-hee, was awarded the independent Vulcan Award for Technical Merit. In the same year, the film "The Handmaid" from the Republic of Korea received its well-deserved "Saturn", becoming the best film in a foreign language.
At the box office, the picture also proved worthy, having received an impressive amount of positive reviews. The film “Servant” was able to raise more than $ 37 million worldwide, and about 35 billion Korean won in the homeland. In many countries, the film was given a rating of +18, and cinemas, for obvious reasons, released a version with cut out especially shocking scenes and scenes of erotic content. In Russia, the number of tickets sold for the sessions amounted to about 40 thousand.