The Handmaiden (2016)
Kim Tae-ri: Sook-Hee
Photos
Quotes
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Sook-Hee : [thinking] I need to think. I need to become rich, sail off to a distant harbor, eat food I scarcely recognize, buy my fill of glittering baubles, and... not think of Hideko. Never think of Hideko.
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Sook-Hee : My aunt, when she heard a guest was coming, she dropped everything and bathed her Baby Miss. Nothing made her happier than when guests praised her baby's scent. You are my Baby Miss. Auntie gave the babies candy during baths to teach them that bath time is sweet.
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Sook-Hee : Where I come from, it's illegal to be naive.
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Lady Hideko : [whispering] What does a man really want?
Sook-Hee : What?
Lady Hideko : What I mean is... the wedding night. How would I know? I grew up without a mother to teach me. I have no idea about any of this.
[pause]
Lady Hideko : Probably kissing first?
Sook-Hee : [thinking] Alright. Let's try to put her to sleep. So adorable. In a foreign country and without a mother. Alone in this giant mansion. Reading useless books. And learning nothing of value.
Lady Hideko : [thinking] Why did the taste change? Sour and bitter. Within the bitterness changes to sweetness. Sweet with a nice scent.
Lady Hideko : How do you know? Have you done this before?
Sook-Hee : Nope, not at all, my friend showed me this.
Lady Hideko : Showed you? By describing?
Sook-Hee : Yes, by describing.
Lady Hideko : So this is the felling!
Sook-Hee : This is what the Count wants!
Lady Hideko : Really?
Sook-Hee : The Count...
Lady Hideko : Would it be like being with a corpse? You know, my hands and legs cold?
Sook-Hee : Is that so?
Lady Hideko : Do you want to feel it?
Sook-Hee : I just feel relieved!
Lady Hideko : Relief? Do it to me. I want to personally know if it's relieving.
Sook-Hee : The Count will want to do this too. And also... So cute! If the Count sees this...
Lady Hideko : Will he be as gentle as you?
Sook-Hee : Of course! The Count will also... also...
Lady Hideko : Continue! Just like that! As if the Count was doing it!
Sook-Hee : After that, he would say "How soft and warm." So... so wet. Your beauty leaves me breathless!
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Sook-Hee : [For Lady Hideko] She's so naive, even if a man pulls on her nipples she won't know what he wants!
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[From the extended cut]
Lady Hideko : [With eyes closed] The Count kept pushing wine on me.
[Sook-hee walks up from behind and starts to unbutton the back of of Hideko's dress. Hideko immediately opens her eyes]
Lady Hideko : [Scene changes to Hideko dresses up Sook-hee. Sook-hee looks in a mirror, with Hideko behind her; tying the back of Sook-hee's bra]
Lady Hideko : Does it feel okay?
Sook-Hee : It's suffocating. How do ladies wear such things?
Lady Hideko : You think that's suffocating?
[Scene cuts to where Sook-hee is now trying on a corset. She screams whilst Hideko, with a sadistic grin on her face and her foot on Sook-hee's back, is tying the corset as tight as she can]
Sook-Hee : [screaming] Miss, you are killing me!
[Scene cuts to where Sook-hee is now fully dressed, like a real lady. She looks in the mirror while Hideko walks around it from the back, with admiration on her face]
Lady Hideko : Dressed up, you look like a lady, too. I think I know what the Count meant. Your face... Each night in bed, I think of your face.
Sook-Hee : [shyly, with her head down] Don't be silly, Miss.
[Sook-hee steps away from the mirror and walks toward Hideko, who is facing away from her. Sook-hee starts to unbutton Hideko's dress]
Sook-Hee : [thinking] Ladies truly are the dolls of maids. All these buttons are for my amusement. If I undo the buttons and pull out the cords, then, the sweet things within, those sweet and soft things...
[Hideko's dress falls; then, Sook-hee turns so Hideko in return can unbutton her dress]
Sook-Hee : If I were still a pickpocket, I'd slip my hand inside...
[Hideko removes Sook-hee's dress. She then suggestively strokes Sook-hee's back, causing her to shudder, before Hideko slowly moves her hand downward to undo Sook-hee's corset. Sook-hee turns to face Hideko again once the corset is removed]
Sook-Hee : Miss, are you truly going to marry your uncle?
Lady Hideko : [turns away from Sook-hee so her corset can be removed] That's what he raised me for, knowing he'd need my fortune. There's a famous collector in France. He'll be putting his entire library up for auction. The gold mine's proceeds won't cover the cost.
Sook-Hee : [She removes Hideko's corset; then, she begins to remove Hideko's strapless slip] If it were me, I'd sell books to buy gold, not the opposite. Have you ever considered marrying someone else? Maybe Count Fujiwara...
Lady Hideko : Hey! For a maid, you sure are meddlesome!
[Hideko pushes Sook-hee to turn and quickly undoes her bra, all while annoyed]
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[From the extended cut]
Lady Hideko : Tell me... what is it that men want?
Sook-Hee : Pardon?
Lady Hideko : I mean, after getting married, at night...
[pause]
Lady Hideko : How would I know? I'm practically a child with no mother. There's no one here to...
[Sook-hee moves back a bit, surprised]
Lady Hideko : First... I guess we'd kiss?
[Sook-hee nods]
Lady Hideko : And then?
Sook-Hee : You make love.
Lady Hideko : Standing up?
Sook-Hee : Only if you've nowhere to lie down, or are in a hurry. Usually you lie on a bed. Just jump into it and you'll figure it out. Just like drinking.
Lady Hideko : Jump into it?
[Sook-hee nods]
Lady Hideko : Are there people who just can't feel it, like the blind can't see?
Sook-Hee : [thinking] What the hell. I'll show her one thing then put her to bed.
[Sook-hee reaches over Hideko for her night-stand. After searching a couple of drawers, she finds a lollipop. She gets back in bed, and coats her mouth and lips by sucking on the lollipop for a few seconds]
Sook-Hee : [thinking] Poor thing, alone in a strange country, reading those useless books, without learning a single useful skill.
[Sook-hee turns around to place the lollipop from her side of the bed on the night-stand; then, she turns back and leans in to kiss Hideko]
Lady Hideko : [thinking] Why does the candy taste different? The bitterness turns sour, the sourness turns sweet, the sweetness turns savoury...
[speaking]
Lady Hideko : How do you know all this? Do you have experience?
Sook-Hee : [smiling] My friend Kutan taught me.
Lady Hideko : Taught you? With words?
Sook-Hee : Yes, only with words.
[Sook-hee breaks contact and retreats. Without skipping a beat, Hideko grabs Sook-hee by the nape and pulls her back in for a more passionate kiss before Sook-hee again eventually breaks it]
Lady Hideko : [placing hand on her chest] So this is how it feels.
Sook-Hee : That's what you will feel for the Count.
Lady Hideko : Really?
Sook-Hee : The Count, truly...
[caresses Hideko's face]
Lady Hideko : He won't think he's making love to a corpse?
Sook-Hee : [quietly] Huh?
Lady Hideko : You know about my cold hands and feet.
Sook-Hee : Really?
Lady Hideko : Here.
[places her hand in Sook-hee's gown]
Sook-Hee : Feels just fine.
Lady Hideko : You like it? Do it to me. I want to know how it feels.
Sook-Hee : [places hand on Hideko's bosom] I'm sure he'll want to do this too. And then...
[removes part of Hideko's gown from the shoulder, and then lays her on her back]
Sook-Hee : It's so cute. If the Count sees this...
[Sook-hee gives in to her desires and sucks on Hideko's bosom]
Lady Hideko : Will he really be so tender as this?
Sook-Hee : Of course. And he'll touch you like this. And like this...
[lifts Hideko's gown upward; Hideko zealously removes Sook-hee's gown; Sook-hee knocks the doll off the bed]
Lady Hideko : Keep doing it like the Count would.
Sook-Hee : And this is what he'll say: It's so soft, warm, wet, and... s... s... spellbindingly beautiful!
[Sook-hee briefly looks up at Hideko whilst below her; then, her tongue slowly snakes out. A moan is heard]
Sook-Hee : [End Scene]
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[repeated line]
Sook-Hee : Fucking hell!