Ah-ga-ssi - Die Taschendiebin

Korea in the 1930s, under Japanese occupation. Pickpocket Sook-hee is hired as a handmaiden to Hideko, a wealthy Japanese heiress who lives secluded on a country estate with her domineering uncle Kouzuki. But Sook-hee is part of an elaborate scheme: a swindler posing as Count Fujiwara plans to seduce Hideko, steal her fortune and have her confined to an asylum. The plan begins to unravel when unexpected feelings develop between Sook-hee and Hideko. Park Chan-wook divides the story into shifting perspectives, returning to events from different angles and repeatedly overturning what seemed certain. Desire, betrayal and struggles for control transform the intricate con into something far more unpredictable. Adapted from Sarah Waters's novel Fingersmith, THE HANDMAIDEN relocates its Victorian story to Japanese-occupied Korea. Park surrounds the characters with an equally elaborate visual world, while the changing viewpoints make deception part of the film's very structure. THE HANDMAIDEN premiered in Competition at Cannes 2016 and later won the BAFTA for Film Not in the English Language.