♫ Spellbindingly Beautiful Intensifies! ♫

…even better than last night!!!!

Dear Readers, I don’t think I am going to stop watching this movie in the cinema! I think I am in dire need of hel-

Wait a minute…I have Unlimited Membership, which means I can watch this movie any time I damn want, as many times, in a single day, as I damn can! I don’t need no help!

 

Indeed, finally dishing out 20 bucks a month for something I rarely use, is beginning to show value returns! And really, if it is not Ahgassi, then what movie am I going to use it on? The Force Awakens and BvS came close (TFA at five times and BvS at a mere 9) and those two were IMAX showings (meaning I have to pay extra) and really, they were spread out over the period that those movies were showing, which was weeks and weeks!

With The Handmaiden time is limited. Today is just the 2^nd day and there are already less showings than yesterday! I might have to watch this movie every single day, even if I have to go at the very first showing in the mornings (which is going to have to happen tomorrow. I have yet to see show times for tomorrow)!

Two different showings, at different times, and two totally different reactions, both from me and other people! You all, if you get the chance, you have to watch this movie in theatres! Experiencing it with other people gives a different feeling every time!

Last night the whole cinema was quiet and the only noises you could hear were people laughing at the funny parts (this movie is actually pretty funny without even trying) but the rest of the time, for two full hours and about 30 minutes all was quiet! I am pretty sure people got popcorn but I did not hear a single person eating theirs! No one made a sound even during the intimate scenes, well, with the exception of Hideko and Sook-hee of course!

Today was a different story! Maybe it was because of the crowd. Unlike last night, this time there were actually elder people in the cinema. There were many couples and friends and this time there most definitely was noises, especially during the WTF scenes! From last night one would think that this was just your typical PG13 movie. Typical but awesome, since they gave it all their attention. Today though, people lost their shit during sex scenes, there were reactions during the ‘torture’ scene, during Young Hideko scenes, during the intimate scenes, and the laughter was louder and also more distracting this time around!

As for me, I too was different today from last night! I am not sure if the time of day had anything to do with it, or if it was the privacy I had last night, but today I only cried in one scene, ‘My Tamako, My Sook-hee’ library scene. This is nothing compared to the endless river of tears last night after a certain point. I just completely lost it last night! Maybe it was the ‘first experience syndrome’ but then, how come today was more enjoyable than last night? Whereas I came away with heavy feelings last night, today I had a big stupid grin on my face! It’s like I watched two completely different movies!

Two completely different movies it was not, only The Handmaiden!

I had actually planned to watch it twice today, since I had an early shift, but then I saw that French ‘RAW’ movie was also out so I had to settle for one viewing of our girls!

The lasting impact from today’s viewing is what I am going to talk about now. There are three things; Kim Min-hee, the sex scenes and the music!

Since I already touched upon it, let’s talk sex, I mean the intimate scenes! I am going to mention something that is bound to shock you all! In both viewings, from last night and from today, I was not affected by those scenes as I had originally thought I would be! Especially when in crowds of other people! What I expected was complete embarrassment at being so turned on in front of all those people! I thought I would have to hide myself and close my eyes lest people around me see the beastie within!

Nothing of the sort happened! Never, never in any of those sex scenes did I even remotely feel even a milli percentage rise in temperature! I can’t even explain it well, it is as if I was a medical student, watching a naked corpse, and I don’t mean that is a disgusting kind of way, I mean in the way that I was not sexually affected at all! At all! And no, it is not that I had switched off everything, which is not even remotely possible, because I did get riled up, my cheeks hurting from blushing so hard and yes, my friendly Readers who know me, it is indeed that scene that managed to do it…

Stupid Awesome Tooth Scene!

I just want to thank Mr park for just putting out that scene like he decided to do! The book was good, but it was not this good! I only got that scene during the second reading. I missed it the first time! Here though, na uh! Even if I was blind there is no way I would have missed that scene! The sound of Sook-hee’s heavy and thirsty breathing as she drinks in Hideko’s beauty in all its naked glory! The sound of Hideko as she stares mesmerizingly into Sook-hee’s eyes, seducing her like there was no tomorrow…

Oh God, there I go again!

This is not even remotely all I have to say about the sex scenes and that heavenly tooth scene. There will be dedicated posts about the movie in general coming later. For now though, let’s move onto the other impactful impression and that was the performances, most importantly, Kim Min-hee and Hideko! I have mentioned how I was a mess last night? Well, Hideko is mostly the reason for that! Or should I say Kim Min-hee’s take on Hideko!

Oh Lord, I don’t remember if I mentioned it but in the book I always thought that Maud/The Miss/The Ahgassi was the most complex character in that story! You just knew that whomever took on that character would have their skills stretched to infinity and beyond! Well dear Readers, Kim Min-hee just slaughtered that role like there was no tomorrow! Add in the fact that Mr Park actually made the character even more complex for his take on The Fingersmith and really, the fact that Kim Min-hee managed to pull it off is nothing short of a miracle!

Seriously, how many personas was Min-hee playing in this movie? The Reader, the Niece, the Naïve Mistress, the Cunning Countess, the Innocent Lover (after she fell for Sook-hee she totally was a completely different person from before), and all these roles, these roles that are not so clear cut like McAvoy’s totally different personalities in ‘Split’, but rather different sides of the same person, and yet Min-hee totally pulled it off!

She deserves all the awards for Best Leading Actress of 2016! And as such it is such a pity what happened to her right after The Handmaiden released! But it is also why it brings me such joy that despite that, she still won the awards she was nominated for, even if she deserved to be nominated for more! If Tae-ri won all the New Comer Awards, then Min-hee had all those Leading awards with her name on them!

Really, such a pity!

Like I said, Hideko is most responsible for why I was such a mess last night, and the one sorely responsible for today’s tears too! The main culprit of scenes is of course the library ‘My Tamako, My Sook-hee’. Again like I said, in that scene we got a new Hideko! Not the cunning Countess, not the fake Reader, not the Babe in the Woods front for Tamako, but rather, a new Hideko, a Hideko that is finally free and open and has found love, love in this saviour of hers, who is currently trying to erase all this sin that has haunted her whole existence up to now as she messes up the hellish library!

The emotions in Hideko’s whole face, her actions as she looks so innocent and vulnerable as she watched her Tamako, her Sook-hee try to get rid of this hell!

Dammit, I am wetting up again just thinking of it! I already have another reason to hurry up and this this movie again tomorrow!

Next, trailing not far behind, is the ‘Foot Massage’ scene as Sook-hee tries to course Hideko into marrying the Count, Hideko, who currently only has eyes for Sook-hee, Hideko, who tries hard to get Sook-hee to steer the subject away from the Count, Hideko, who is giving Sook-hee a chance to not lie to her, they made a promise the morning they met, that Sook-hee should never lie to her again…

Ah crap

I am so glad I am not writing this on paper because I would have to begin all over again from the spoiled wet paper! Stupid tears!

Of course when it comes to body language, all actors were perfect! And Mr Park is a genius in framing because he made sure that no one would miss an emotion displayed! You felt that fear within the Count when he was being tortured, you felt the conflicting emotions within Sook-hee when she realised that she had fallen for Hideko and still had to play her part, Hideko is a no brainer, to all who know the guy who played the Uncle, really, his mere existence is a mystery as the Uncle, God, even Little Hideko was out of this world!

But that is a post for another day, today is about lasting impact from 2^nd viewing! This brings me to the third but not least point, the music! I am blown away by the fact that not only is Ahgassi lacking in Soundtrack nominations but that it has not won anything for it! My mentioning how many times I have listened to ‘The Footsteps of my Dear Love’, ‘My Tamako, My Sook-hee’, ‘Wedding’, ‘Spellbindingly Beautiful’ and ‘The Tree from Mount Fuji’ totally has nothing to do with this post!

I was already dead but Ahgassi had to chop me up into small pieces with ‘My Tamako, My Sook-hee’ during the library scene, totally putting the halo on the overloading emotions on Hideko’s face! ‘Wedding’ accompanying our girls as they ran off into the distance, to their freedom, to their new life, to their future, a future that did not exist for either one, like how can one even cope?! I sat through the credits both times so I could savour ‘The Footsteps of my Dear Love’, played it both right after and right before the screenings, and I am listening to all songs on a loop as I write this! Oh, and let’s not forget ‘Spellbindingly Beautiful’, that put a Hideko spell on us too through Sook-hee’s eyes that were mesmerised by her beauty on the way to the dinner with the Count and the Uncle!

Freaking madness!

Out of time I am afraid so I have to run here. More to come of course, par viewing, because there is still infinite things to talk about with Ahgassi!

Good night everyone