Park Chan-wook has carved a niche for himself as South Korea’s most prominent provocateur, from the twisty hammer-fighting thrills of Oldboy to the gothic stylistics of Stoker. More recently, he’s been picking up rave reviews for The Handmaiden, a new erotic psychological thriller and his first period piece. We’ve got our hands on an exclusive new trailer – take a look below.
The Handmaiden has had a curious journey to screen, starting life as Fingersmith, a 2002 historical novel of Victorian mores and crime, by Welsh novelist Sarah Waters. It was then adapted into a BBC TV mini-series starring Sally Hawkins, before gaining the attention of Park, who has loosely adapted it and transposed the setting to 1930s Korea, at a time when the country was under Japanese colonial rule.
After premiering at last year's Cannes Film Festival, the film has steadily gathered a wave of buzz, appearing on a clutch of critic's end-of-year top 10 lists. (It was notable from its absence in the Best Foreign Language category at this year's Oscars – South Korea chose to submit the slightly less racy thriller The Age Of Shadows.)
The Handmaiden is finally released in the UK on 14 April, and by the strength of this trailer, will be worth your time.