Prior to writing this article, I re-watched Oldboy (2003) and The Handmaiden (2016) on the same day to see how that felt, before I write about the double bill at Lighthouse Cinema on January 18th. Both movies being so intense, you might need a cup of chamomile tea afterwards.
A thriller/action film directed by Park Chan-wook, Oldboy, a critically acclaimed film, winner of the 2004 Best Foreign Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards and a 2006 nomination for Best Foreign Language film at the Critics Choice Awards, is praised for not only its extraordinary storytelling but for its striking cinematography by Chung Hoon Chung.
Oh De-Su (Choi Min Sik), is on a journey to find out why he was mysteriously kidnapped for 15 years. Upon his release and his first direct contact with the world, he goes to a restaurant and asks for a living thing to eat. Usually, this would be a creepy request, but what do we know? We did not get confined in a room for 15 years with no direct contact with another human. He takes the whole octopus and puts it in his mouth as its tentacles, still moving, drip out of his mouth. This iconic scene is an example of the many graphically explicit scenes present in the film, and despite (or even because of) this, there is a certain absurdity in Oldboy, both narratively and cinematographically.
When interviewed for Letterboxd, Park Chan-wook replies to a comment made about Oldboy of how it makes other horror movies seem like comedies. He expresses that he would’ve rather “it felt like a comedy”. I think this is an interesting way to look at Oldboy. Visually, a lot of the scenes, such as fight sequences, inevitably evokes fear, disgust and many other emotions in the viewer. Cinematographer Chung Hoon Chung and Park Chan Wook experiments with new ways of expressing a character’s inner psychology in visually striking ways. The scene where De-Su hallucinates ants coming out of his body is one example of such hypnotising cinematography. Moreover, De-su and Lee Woo Jin’s (Yoo Ji Tae) journey has elements of revenge and mythicality (with themes of incest in the movie). However, as Park states, we as audience cannot help but laugh (or stare at the screen in shock as in my case) at the ridiculousness of the plot at times. Oldboy is a bold story, and, at the end of the day, it matters little what genre you consider it to be, because the true takeaway of the film lies in learning to look at the world with curiosity and question it.
After making movies such as Oldboy, Park Chan-wook realized that he hasn’t created stories that center around women, as he states in an interview. As a result of this pivot, The Handmaiden was released in 2016, an adaptation of the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Although the novel is set in Britain, Park decided to change the setting to 1930s Japanese occupied Korea, after realising that there already was a BBC drama series.
The story starts as Sook-he (also called Okju/Tamako) (Kim Tae-ri) leaves to be a handmaiden in the Kouziki house. Once again, Cinematographer Chung Hoon Chung beautifully conveys the long way Sook-He has to travel as well as highlights how isolated this house is (with little to no sunlight) from the rest of the world. As director Park mentions in an interview, the story is very much about Uncle Kouziki’s (Cho Jin Woong) obsession with “modern culture” and “technology”, as this ties into the main plot and the cinematography, with overhead and landscape shots, help bring out this theme well. Sook-He is first met with Miss Sasaki (Kim Hae-sook), who disregards her introduction as “Okju” as she shows around the house. Chung, does not hesitate to use dark lighting to emphasize the gory yet captivating story that is about to unfold. The story is filled with twists, betrayals, and manipulations that are much more enjoyable when consumed firsthand.
But, It is impossible to discuss this film without noting the mesmerizing acting of Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min Hee (playing the role of Lady Hideko) in capturing both the emotional and physical intimacy which is the essence of this extraordinary story. Ultimately, it is a story of love, and as cliche as it sounds, it is about the power of deep love and care. How it conquers all. During the film, Hideko and Sook-He will speak their own language at times. They will protect each other and resist a version of the patriarchy. The Handmaiden will, for sure, touch you deeply.
