Park Chan-wook's The HANDMAIDEN

The Handmaiden stars Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri, Jo Jin-woong, and is directed by Park Chan-wook. Director Park Chan-wook is one of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in Korea and was the winner of the Cannes’ Grand Prix for OLDBOY (2003) and the Jury Prize for THIRST (2009). He is also known for his breakthrough film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) which script was written in 24 hours and Stoker (2013) which starred Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.

His latest work, The Handmaiden was nominated for the Palme d’Or award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and has been sold to 176 countries for release – a record for a Korean film. As expected from the renowned director, Park Chan-wook has added another honour to his extensive reputation as ‘The Handmaiden’ has set a new record in its opening week with 1.8 million viewers in Korea, making it the No.1 rated-R film with the most opening week viewers. In addition, latest news from Korea reported that The Handmaiden has so far earned a total of $13 million and ranked No.1 in Box Office, topping ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/south-korea-box-office-cannes-900292).

Based on Sarah Water’s Fingersmith, a historical crime and Man Booker prize-nominated novel, ‘The Handmaiden’ movie follows a con man, Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), who hires a pickpocket named Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri) to become the maid of a mysterious and fragile heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min Hee), in an attempt to seize her wealth. But the story takes a twist when the lady falls in love with her maid…

The Handmaiden opens in theatres 7 July 2016.