The last time he did so was six years ago with the rivetingThe Handmaiden.
Now is the perfect time to revisit just how incredible this film remains.
The former plays Sook-Hee, a talented pickpocket, and the latter plays a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko.
Image via CJ Entertainment
Instead, it creates something both oddly whimsical and deeply intense.
The scene that strikes this balance the most comprehensively iswhere Sook-Hee is giving Hideko a bath.
It begins with wide shots and goes increasingly into extreme closeups.
Image via Amazon Studios
Of course, upend everything it does.
This does create a sense of tension though in a way that is fascinating rather than fractured.
It is all part of howThe Handmaidenendures as the director’s best work.
If his newest film is anything like this one, then we are in for a real treat.
