When I watched it for the first time, the whole person was still calm, and I would applaud the subtle transplant of the plot and the large-scale adaptation. I also disliked the erotic drama, which is like a gimmick that uses women's love for the audience to find curiosity and enjoyment (actually a big mistake), In my heart, I always hold the obsession that the BBC version cannot be surpassed. It seems that Xiuzi is not as good as Maude after all, and Shuhee is not as good as Su. However, I wrote a three-star short review with some disappointment in my heart and read several reviews with mixed reviews, but found that it is meaningless to refer to the original book. It's okay to have more respect for it. In this way, when I no longer insist on "loyalty", my desire to carefully review the work itself is greatly awakened. In addition, I couldn't get rid of the young lady's appearance in my mind, so I found various subtitles and read them over and over again. Today is finally going to release the director's cut version, which will probably be on my mind for a long time.
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Hideko's character design really likes it. At the age of five, he got up and lived in a mansion, isolated from the world, and his daily activities were only reading aloud and walking. A life that is calm and still like still water has nothing to do with the safety of the surface. Threats from the uncle and the basement are always hanging over the head: the slightest overstep will be torture like torture. Therefore, from the time when she was a child, when she was punished for her sins, she has always been on guard, not breaking the rules out of self-protection, and at the same time becoming more and more careful and vigilant. She is accustomed to and good at making herself secretly spy on the outside world, from uncle to maid, from earl to Sookie. When she learned that she might take the opportunity to escape, it was actually she, not the count, who came up with the key scenario of using the maid as a substitute to be sent to a mental hospital to avoid future troubles. In the original novel, because of the more complicated family proposition, the mastermind of the whole plan was Maud's biological mother, and the movie abandoned this part of the entanglement, which greatly improved the Miss's initiative and complexity.
However, the sleeping child will be awakened, or even the refined and mature thinking and scheming will not be able to bring the slightest benefit on the psychological and emotional level. Hideko has no mother since she was born. She protects herself because she has no one to protect her, and her heart is built up because she has no one to sue. Instead of attachment and care, she blames herself for killing her biological mother. This kind of guilt is probably also the unintentional complaints or threatening words of the adults around, just like the angry words that adults teach children on weekdays. The only aunt who was close to the childhood Xiuzi was also in the cage, and she was unable to protect herself. Occasionally, during the reading interval, her niece smiled, but she was very sad. Presumably it was Aunt's death that really turned the fear into an entity she saw in the basement, and also prompted her to prepare the rope to die when she was desperate. The lack of childhood is closed and isolated, but it is not healed. The hollow under the shell of indifference is still hollow. Even if the content that I read every day is full of lust, it will not touch Hideko in the slightest.
Until the day Sook Hee came.
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At first, the two were just doing "what to do": the young lady pretended to be a nightmare and ran into Shuji's bed by the way, to test Shuji's character and gain trust, to create her own image of a kind and innocent young lady, and to admonish the maid who teased Shuji Make sure that the plan will not be interrupted, etc.; Sook Hee is trying to get acquainted with the life of a maid, taking care of the young lady with the method of caring for children she learned from her aunt, and also calculating her future income from time to time. However, although the two have their own goals, it is inevitable that they will face each other with real feelings, and they also reveal their sincerity to some extent.
On the day of the official meeting of the master and servant, the film immediately switches to the segment of grinding teeth on the day the earl arrives after the segment where Sook Hee goes to the study to pick up the lady, which is a bit abrupt. But in any case, the relationship between the two has obviously deviated from the planned track before the arrival of the count.
Shu Ji is a warm and sunny person. Although she is a little cautious, she is so kind that she can't do anything self-interested and ruthless. Besides, she is probably a loyal Yangou. She also lost her mother, but she developed a different character due to her bad upbringing. She loves money and loves her children more like a mother. Out of her heart and love for the young lady, she couldn't help showing this side of her character. But the seemingly ordinary care that Sook Hee gave was something she had never experienced before. Gentleness is unavoidable to be attached, and even more inevitable to fall in love. So Hideko, who has always been on guard, took the initiative to bring up the topic of her mother's death, opened her heart to Sook Hee, who came to cheat her property, and was lucky to receive a face full of love and comfort. In this scene, the eyes of both of them could not be restrained from being wet. Although Shu Ji was still relaying the words of her aunt, her eyes were filled with distress; and the young lady's psychological defense probably began to melt away from this moment.
Next, Sook Hee became the little vinegar king of East Asia who made a loud noise to express her anger, and suddenly got up and sighed when she fell asleep. And all this was seen by Hideko, and the erotic description in the reading also had realistic sustenance for the first time.
"So that's how it feels," Hideko said, shaking slightly after the kiss.
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In the process of mutual affection, Xiuzi seems to be more active, and Shuji is more to convince herself to "retire" than the "advance" of the young lady. Even when the young lady asked with tears in her eyes, "If I love someone else, do you still want me to marry that person?" Sook Hee still reluctantly pretended to answer yes without any hesitation. Fortunately, when Xiuzi fell back into the mood of guilt and self-blame again, and she was desperate, Shuji, who had been retreating, rushed forward to rescue her.
Confession of crime becomes reconciliation, apology is confession.
To put it vulgarly, love finally gave Shuji the courage to destroy everything that had besieged Xiuzi for more than ten years, and to rescue and protect the besieged lover. The film's change of the book destroyer to a maid is balanced by its changes to the lady's image. In most cases, Hideko, who is shrewd, intelligent and assertive, is the only one who is deeply persecuted in this study, and is always worried and hesitant that he does not have the courage to resist. She was determined to take Sook Hee to see the truth of what she read aloud, maybe she just wanted to tell the pain that was suppressed in her heart. And Sook Hee did not hesitate to tear up these prisons for her: not only the violent and arrogant patriarchy, but also the deepest fear in Hideko's heart since childhood. So far, the daughter of the former thief has completely grown into the savior of her lover. Miss's monologue makes my heart warm every time I hear it.
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From the overall point of view of the film, the before and after the plot is done very carefully, the frame of the picture is conscientious, and the soundtrack is impeccable. Although Park Chan-wook is a bit of an "old man who likes dirty stories", he is very discerning in casting. Having seen Kim Min Hee's Miss, it's hard to imagine any Korean actress who is more suitable than her. As Park puts it: She has a subtle yet captivating charisma that is a perfect match for the character.
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Dakin come back soon.
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