“You’re asking me about how I think? You think that all I’m interested in is your body? Is that so? You definitely have been reading too many of those erotic writings! If there’s anything I do want from you it’s not your eyes, hands, or ass, but your money. You having the first is money. Talking and teasing an aristocrat like you is so fun!”

‘The Handmaiden’, directed by Park Chan-wook in 2016, is a South Korean historical drama based on the novel ‘Fingersmith’ by Sarah Waters. Kim Tae-ri plays Sook-hee, a pickpocket hired to pose as a maid to Lady Hideko, played by Kim Min-hee. Sook-hee’s role is part of a con in which Count Fujiwara plans to seduce and marry Hideko, inherit her money and then commit her to an asylum. As the film progresses, Hideko and Sook-hee apparently form an emotional and sexual bond, but revelation and twist pile on each other as characters are revealed to be more complex and more manipulative that first appeared. It’s a complex film, but one that has a clean and clinical look to it. Chan-wook’s direction and design is precise and laden with symbolism, from the weird mansion house that Hideko lives in (a labyrinthine fusion of western gothic and eastern minimalism) to a preoccupation with book making and binding. This reminded me of early medieval references to manuscript making that played with the idea of marked velum and scarred human skin. There is a strong thread of sadomasochism and twisted body-modification in this film that is unravelled through Chan-wook focus on the tools and results of book construction.

Would I recommend it? Yes – it’s a twisty and, at times, difficult to watch film. There are plenty of flinch-inducing moments, but also a cascade of beautifully photographed scenes and elegant camera movements. Watch in a double bill with a Fellini – maybe ‘City of Women’.