Ah-ga-ssi (2016)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 144 minuten / 167 minuten (director's cut)
Alternative titles: The Handmaiden / 아가씨
Country:
South Korea
Directed by: Park Chan-wook
Starst: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri and Ha Jung-woo
IMDb score:
8,1 (185.702)
Releasedate: 1 June 2016
Ah-ga-ssi plot
"Never did they expect to get into a controversial relationship..."
In 1930s Japan-occupied Korea, a con man sets out to take the fortune of a well-bred woman. To achieve this, he hires a young female pickpocket. The pickpocket infiltrates the rich woman by working as a maid. The plan is that she will seduce the woman. But the pickpocket's intentions are darker than anyone thinks.
Social Media
Actors and actresses
Lady Hideko
Sookee
Count Fujiwara
Uncle Kouzuki
Ms. Sasaki
Aunt of Noble Lady
Bok-soon
Kkeut-dan
Goo-gai
Young Hideko
Reviews & comments
Onderhond
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- 87426 messages
- 12454 votes
New Park.
In recent years he does take his time for new films, but you can see that in the end. 140 minutes is a solid sandwich, yet the film is taken care of down to the last detail, from the first to the last minute. Now that is also typical of South Korean cinema, but Park is a few steps higher in terms of finish than his compatriots nowadays.
I really liked the first hour. A fascinating story unfolds, which is slowly but surely pushed in a certain direction. As a viewer you get an indication in the beginning that there are several parts to the story, unfortunately it goes in the wrong direction with the second part.
Instead of Park continuing his story, we go back to the beginning and get to see the whole thing again, but with some extra footage that sheds a different light on the events each time. That can be nice if it's written subtly and/or ingeniously, but Park cut so brutally in the first passage that it feels rather blunt and clumsy. His script trick just isn't refined enough, so the second pass takes way too long.
Fortunately, the ending is a lot better, but then the film has already lost its chance of being a masterpiece. It's a shame because the film looks nice and the acting is more than decent, but a little fiddling with the plot takes the sting out of this Ah-ga-ssi. It's certainly not bad, but it could easily have been much better.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Dievegge
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- 3093 messages
- 7994 votes
Sarah Waters' thriller Fingersmith is set in Victorian England. Here it was moved to Korea during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945). That too was a culture in which passion was hidden behind closed doors. (Sliding) doors symbolize secrets. The cherry tree is a beautiful tree, but also a memory of a suicide. Nature, the rain and the building provide visual delights.
The same events are shown twice from a different point of view. In the first part, Fujiwara's plan seems to succeed, in the second part it goes in a different direction. He is the cool manipulator who eventually loses out to the two women, who have some explicit but stylish sex scenes. String instruments provide a warm atmosphere; timpani roll announces a threat. The sequel should be called Sam-ph'ras.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Duke Nukem
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- 1635 messages
- 1892 votes
Beautiful cinematography, costumes and setting (beautiful green and lush trees). Handsome South Korean beauties, especially Kim Tae-Ri. An intriguing erotically charged story with intrigue, passion and betrayal. The film is a bit too long and the middle part is also the weakest part for me. The repetitions from a different perspective and the accompanying twists do not shock because the way of filming is too confusing and the editing too chaotic for that. The viewer doesn't get an aha moment either. In other films, The Usual Suspects to name but one example, the surprising denouement is much more impactful. Or, for example, in any episode of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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