What filmmaking techniques does The Handmaiden use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Handmaiden (2016): Multiple Resolution Structure, Unreliable Narrator, The Long Reveal, Nested Unreliable Diaries and Earned Catharsis.

Who directed The Handmaiden?

Park Chan-wook directed The Handmaiden, released in 2016. CineCode also covers Joint Security Area (2000), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), Lady Vengeance (2005), I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), Thirst (2009).

What films are similar to The Handmaiden?

Films that share techniques with The Handmaiden include Rashomon (1950), Gone Girl (2014), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Chinatown (1974).

Thriller · Drama · Romance

The Handmaiden

Park Chan-wook, 2016

In colonial Korea, a Korean pickpocket is hired to pose as a handmaiden to a wealthy Japanese heiress. It is part of a con to steal the heiress's fortune. Nevertheless, the con collapses as the 2 women fall in love. Park Chan-wook tells the story in 3 parts, and each part reveals what the one before it hid.

5 Narrative

At a glance

The Handmaiden is a 2016 thriller, drama and romance film directed by Park Chan-wook. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (5 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Rashomon uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Multiple Resolution Structure

Giving the film several endings. They can come one after another to close different emotional threads, or they can conflict and leave you to weigh competing versions.

How this film uses it

The film is divided into 3 parts. The first 2 retell events from Sookee's and then Hideko's point of view, and each reveals what the other held back. Part 3 plays out the consequences. Every apparent ending is undone by the next part, a con within a con within a con. The structure makes the film's point, which is that truth depends completely on who is telling it.

Where to see it

The transition from Part 1 to Part 2. The story restarts from Hideko's point of view. Every scene of Part 1 changes in hindsight once Part 2 reveals what she knew.

Narrative

Unreliable Narrator

Telling the story through a character you can't trust, because they are lying, mentally unwell or fooling themselves. At some point, you have to rethink what you were told.

How this film uses it

The story is told from 2 viewpoints, Sookee's and then Hideko's. Each version leaves things out, and the second changes what the first seemed to show. The suspense comes from slowly rebuilding what really happened out of accounts that each leave things out.

Where to see it

Sookee's confident narration of how the con is going. On the surface, her account sounds complete. It hides everything Hideko was doing at the same time.

Narrative

The Long Reveal

Holding back a key piece of information for a large part of the film, then revealing it in 1 moment. Everything you already watched now means something different.

How this film uses it

The reveal comes at the end of Part 1. Hideko and the Count have betrayed Sookee and committed her to an asylum in Hideko's place. Part 2 then shows Hideko's side. She was part of the Count's plan, but she fell in love with Sookee, and once the 2 women admit their plots they team up against the men. The same scenes that looked like one thing now read as another.

Where to see it

The turn from Part 1 into Part 2. Hideko and the Count commit Sookee to the asylum, then Part 2 shows what Hideko hid. The 2 women admit their plots and join forces. Scenes from Part 1 read differently once you know what Hideko knew.

Narrative

Nested Unreliable Diaries

Telling the story through diaries or accounts that characters read or tell about each other, sometimes one inside another. Each writer has their own memory, bias and motives, so no version is fully reliable.

How this film uses it

The Uncle keeps a library of rare books, including sadistic erotic texts, and Hideko reads them aloud to audiences of men. He also sells forgeries. The texts form a system of control through words, set inside the film's own manipulation through storytelling. The library mirrors the structure of the film. Both are built from texts you can't trust, designed to control their audience.

Where to see it

Hideko's reading sessions in the library. She performs sadistic erotic texts for the Uncle's guests. It is one untrustworthy text placed inside the film's own untrustworthy narration.

Narrative

Earned Catharsis

Building up to a big emotional release slowly, by investing in the characters and giving small bits of hope. When the release comes, it feels deserved after all the suffering.

How this film uses it

The women escape from the Uncle's control and the Count's scheme, and that is the film's emotional release. It is built over 2 and a half hours of captivity, manipulation and secrets. The release is earned because Park made the cage visible and real. The women's freedom feels as large as the imprisonment the film recorded.

Where to see it

Sookee and Hideko's escape. They flee together and celebrate their freedom on a ferry to Shanghai. The release matches the captivity the film spent its runtime setting up.

Questions

The Handmaiden: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does The Handmaiden use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Handmaiden (2016): Multiple Resolution Structure, Unreliable Narrator, The Long Reveal, Nested Unreliable Diaries and Earned Catharsis.
Who directed The Handmaiden?: Park Chan-wook directed The Handmaiden, released in 2016. CineCode also covers Joint Security Area (2000), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), Lady Vengeance (2005), I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), Thirst (2009).
What films are similar to The Handmaiden?: Films that share techniques with The Handmaiden include Rashomon (1950), Gone Girl (2014), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Chinatown (1974).

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