Its thoughtful and complex while also being immensely entertaining, funny, dark, and disturbing.
Its the kind of masterful work weve come to expect from Park Chan-wook.
If youd like to know more about the film,watch the trailer.
Shortly after seeing the film at this yearsToronto International Film FestivalI landed an extended interview with director Park.
Check out what he had to say below.
COLLIDER: What kind of camera is that?
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
PARK CHAN-WOOK: Leica Q.
Thats funny, Michael Bay uses a Leica as a well.
I see that I need to get a Leica.
I am probably the first one to mention Michael Bay and your name together.
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
PARK: Thats funny.
First of all, thank you so much for giving me your time.
Big fan of your work.
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
Im sure you hear that everyday.
I would imagine with your track record whatever film you wanted to make afterStokeryou could get the financing for.
So what was it about this story and this movie that said I have to make it?
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
PARK: Well, its not necessarily true.
He wasnt able to get this film that he wanted to do financed.
From when you started developingHandmaidento what people see on screen, how much changed along the way?
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
In that case, it will be repetitive to set it in the same Victorian England era.
I havent said yet, but I love the movie.
Which wasnt really a question I just wanted to say it.
Image via Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
PARK: His wife and his daughter.
So they are the first ones to see it?
PARK: Outside of the crew that are involved, yes.
Image via Magnolia Pictures
PARK: Well, there are small details, so Im not sure if its worth mentioning.
Now, that kind of change is something that he had implemented after friends and family feedback.
But now that he has finished working on an extended edition…
Really?
Image via Amazon Studios/Magnolia
PARK: The timing of the flashback went back to how he had originally written in the screenplay.
I did not know about this extreme fandom but Im in America.
So Ill ask you how long was your first cut of the movie?
Image via the Cannes Film Festival
So this persons job is to be on set and with every take that had been shot.
So on the last day of shooting onThe Handmaidenher finished assemblage was 3 hours and 3 minutes long.
Oh, so after the extended cut its very close.
PARK: Well, twenty minutes out.
Yeah, only about twenty minutes less than the final assembly.
Im gonna jump back in time and talk about some of your previous films.
PARK: Not very many.
He tends to create a storyboard before going in to shoot and shoots according to the storyboard.
In the case ofThirsthe definitely prefers the longer version.
Are you still shooting on film or have you switched to digital?
PARK: Well in Korea, you cant shoot on film anymore the labs have all shut down.
So what cameras do you like to use?
PARK: He used the Alexa this time.
And what he did was to use the 1970s Hawk lenses.
Who did you get the idea to do this from?
Is this something that you wanted to do?
Had you seen this in other films?
Ah its spreading like a virus.
Im gonna ask a fun question or two and then were gonna get back to movies.
What do you collect?
PARK: Cameras and lenses.
Do you have a big collection of just a few?
PARK: A medium size collection.
Just to talk about cameras twenty-five, six, cameras and then a host of lenses.
Right now television has never been better than it is right now.
Are there certain TV shows that you love?
And is TV something that youre interested in?
Those are all very good.
Have you seenBreaking Bad?
PARK: Everyone says that he needs to go and see it but he hasnt got around to it.
It is very good, but then again everyone says that.
How much for you changes on set or are you very meticulous to those storyboards?
PARK: He stays almost true to the storyboard.
It varies from film to film.
He remembersI’m a Cyborg, But That’s OKto be the film that he took the most liberty.
Stokeris probably the film where he veered off the most from what he originally storyboarded.
Well theres so little of shooting days to play with in America.
Im curious how long do you typically spend developing your storyboards?
Lets start with that.
He also has a DP sitting in on these sessions everyday and they will work together.
They will inform and make more detailed storyboard.
How long was the shoot forTheHandmaiden?
PARK: Sixty-seven days.
Do you guys shoot five-day weeks or six-day weeks?
PARK: Thats a big difference.
and that sort of thing.
So its not out of the order to expect sort of irregular movements.
Did you enjoy the American system or did you find it constricting compared to what youve been used to?
PARK: Well, its really a matter of budget.
So the restrictions that come are part and parcel to doing a smaller budget film.
He could understand, and knew it was something that he had to contend with.
For the future, do you want to do more American movies?
And then when the project is done, they go to the next thing.
So these midsize films are getting less and less financing.
The superhero genre seems to be the most popular on the planet right now.
Is that a genre that youre interested in?
Do you even like super heroes?
PARK: He has enjoyed quite a few.
He doesnt just write them off altogether.
He thinks that the first two installments of theX-Menseries by Brian Singer were absolutely superb.
Those were quite good.
Do you enjoy being anonymous in Toronto?
I would imagine less people know who you are here.
Nevertheless he finds that in Korea he has to wear baseball caps so people wont recognize him.
PARK: But then there is the other side of that too.
The meter guy was writing a ticket it seemed so Adam rushed over to talk to the parking attendant.
Adam then proceeded to sign the ticket and returned it to the parking attendant.
So we walking over and said, Well how did it go?
So there are good sides to being recognized.
Very much, especially at restaurants.
He would also recommend the island of Jeju thats the best place to be in all of Korea.
Jeju Island he would like to recommend.
I did not go there I was in Seoul but no one told me.
Jeju deserves its own at least three or four days.
When did you find out thatHandmaidengot into Tiff?
What does this film festival mean to you?
Now, with Toronto film festival…so Toronto its a big festival.
Thats kind of more how it feels.
Some directors like the David Fincher method of fifty takes or more just keep on going.
What do you like to do as a director?
PARK: He thinks hes somewhere in the middle.
He does less than ten takes in any case, around seven takes on average.
What is the most youve ever done?
PARK: Sook-hee is supposed to flip a coin toward the camera.
So to get it right there was 160 takes.
But he wasnt even there for it because it was a second unit shot.
So what is the most takes youve done with actors?
PARK: So it was inOldboy,when the villain, the character of Lee Woo-jin.
Okay so my last question.
I have to ask as a fan, what are you doing next?
The X or The Ax?
PARK:The Axas in you get axed.
Yeah, a-x-e.
PARK: Its based on a Donald Westlake novel of the same title.
I will leave it there and say, thank you.
PARK: Thank you.
