Travel with Angela Lansbury: Marvellous Movie, The Handmaiden (and similar sounding The Handmaid's Tale)

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Marvellous Movie, The Handmaiden (and similar sounding The Handmaid's Tale)

On a Singapore Airlines plane I watched a film (movie) called The Handmaiden.

The girl lower centre is the heiress, Sook Hee, played by Kim Tae-Ri. (Kim is the family name which comes first in Asia. Two of the commonest surnames are Kim and Park.)

Kim Tae-Ri

Kim Minhe

On the left of the group picture is her handmaiden who is sent to deceive.

The role of the handmaiden is to deceive.

The movie, The Handmaiden

Korean - The Handmaiden

I watched The Handmaiden, set in Japan-controlled Korea in the 1930s. The actresses playing the two females leads are stunning. It is a marvellous, mesmerizing movie.

The Handmaiden's plot indeed has twists. Emotional conversations. Revelations.

Mostly the first half builds up slowly. In the second half it also has the most pornographic material I have ever seen on a family flight. Lesbian scenes include full nakedness of both women entwined, and orgasms, and sex toys.

Plus readings of Sadistic stories with pornographic passages. And acted out violent scenes showing blood.

Plus a snake as a barrier to escape.

And a nasty, multi-armed octopus.

I went back onto Wikipedia to clarify the plots of the two books. This film (Americans say movie) had some flashback memory scenes which confused me. I did not know what was real and what was fear or wishful thinking.

I managed to watch through to the end. The two lead actresses are so watchable that I could watch it all over again. I can see why it won awards, although I am surprised it was not censored for a plane.

The Korean film, which I watched on board, was based on the book, Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters, set in Victorian England. The Koreans switched it to their country.

Cover of the book, The Fingersmith, the origin of the film The Handmaiden.

What extra did I gain from checking up on the book which inspired the film?

1 I sorted out which of the girls switched at birth had which mother.

2 I read the plot of the second book.

3 I discovered why one girl visited the woman due to be hanged and the other did not. Both were saved by the 'mother'. The one who visited the older women in prison was the real daughter, making up for lost time, had a blood tie, as well as having her life saved. The girl who did not visit her adopted mother in prison had suffered a childhood of abuse.

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The Handmaid's Tale

I thought it was going to be a different, similarly titled, The Handmaid's Tale, written by a Canadian author. The plot is set in the future where women in special clothing are breeding for a dominant male class. Characters are obliged to wear clothes based on Dutch bonnets, as Wikipedia reveals with a photo.