The Handmaiden - crew, film crew

The entire team, the film crew of the film "The Handmaiden"
아가씨 (2016)
Timing: 2:25 (145 min)
The Handmaiden - TMDB rating
8.189/10
4257
The Handmaiden - Kinopoisk rating
7.706/10
197967
The Handmaiden - IMDB rating
8.1/10
201000

Film crew

Director

Producer

Photo Syd Lim #4377
Syd Lim
Producer

Executive Producer

Photo Park Chan-wook #23175Photo Park Chan-wook #23176Photo Park Chan-wook #23177Photo Park Chan-wook #23178

Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook
Executive Producer
Photo Miky Lee #16191
Miky Lee
Executive Producer

Writer

Editor

Special Effects Supervisor

Jung Do-ahn
Special Effects Supervisor
Kim Tae-eui
Special Effects Supervisor
Yoon Hyung-tae
Special Effects Supervisor

Art Direction

Yoon Sung-hye
Art Direction

Costume Design

Photo Cho Sang-kyung #23189
Cho Sang-kyung
Costume Design

Stunts

Song Min-seok
Stunts

Production Design

Photo Ryu Seong-hie #23183
Ryu Seong-hie
Production Design

Set Decoration

Kwon Soo-yeon
Set Decoration
Lee Gi-seok
Set Decoration

Original Music Composer

Photo Cho Young-wuk #23186Photo Cho Young-wuk #23187

Cho Young-wuk

Cho Young-wuk
Original Music Composer

Co-Producer

Jeong Won-jo
Co-Producer
Yoon Suk-chan
Co-Producer
Kim Jong-dae
Co-Producer

Production Supervisor

Kim Kyeong-taek
Production Supervisor

Associate Producer

Jay Lee
Associate Producer

Fight Choreographer

Photo Yoo Sang-seob #16207
Yoo Sang-seob
Fight Choreographer

Director of Photography

Photo Jeong Jeong-hun #1180

Jeong Jeong-hun

Jeong Jeong-hun
Director of Photography

Camera Operator

Photo Kim Yong-seong #23193
Kim Yong-seong
Camera Operator

Sound Effects Editor

Lee Jung-ho
Sound Effects Editor

Visual Effects Supervisor

Photo Lee Jeon-hyoung #23191
Lee Jeon-hyoung
Visual Effects Supervisor

Supervising Sound Editor

Moon Chul-woo
Supervising Sound Editor

Supervising Dialogue Editor

Choi Eun-ah
Supervising Dialogue Editor

Still Photographer

Lee Jae-hyeok
Still Photographer

Cinematography

Graphic Designer

Christian Thanh Nguyen
Graphic Designer

Novel

Set Designer

Lee Eun-jin
Set Designer

Foley Artist

Kim Eun-jung
Foley Artist
Kim Eun-jeong
Foley Artist

Dialogue Editor

Cho Min-kyung
Dialogue Editor
Hong Yoon-sung
Dialogue Editor

Foley Editor

Kim Eun-jung
Foley Editor

Props

Shin Bo-ra
Props

Key Grip

Matthew Bulleri
Key Grip
Jung Il-seo
Key Grip

Grip

Hong Eue-su
Grip

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Kwak Tae-yong
Special Effects Makeup Artist
Lee Hee-eun
Special Effects Makeup Artist
Kim Ka-ryoon
Special Effects Makeup Artist

Casting Associate

Kumiko Hosokawa
Casting Associate

Assistant Director

Shinsuke Fujimoto
Assistant Director
Bae Seon-ok
Assistant Director

Production Sound Mixer

Jung Gun
Production Sound Mixer

Makeup & Hair

Song Jong-hee
Makeup & Hair

Co-Executive Producer

Photo Jeong Tae-sung #23192
Jeong Tae-sung
Co-Executive Producer

Additional Music

Jan Morgenstern
Additional Music
Kai Engel
Additional Music

VFX Artist

Shon Byeong-su
VFX Artist
Jo Gyeong-hun
VFX Artist

Assistant Director Trainee

Jahye Lee
Assistant Director Trainee

Sound

Fabrizio Cheloni
Sound

Line Producer

Yoon Seo-young
Line Producer

VFX Supervisor

Cho Yong-seok
VFX Supervisor

Sound Recordist

Tom Russbueldt
Sound Recordist

Lighting Artist

Chang-bae Kang
Lighting Artist

Music Producer

Lighting Director

Bae Il-hyuck
Lighting Director

Special Props

Park Choul-yong
Special Props

Digital Intermediate

Emily Eddey
Digital Intermediate
Ryan McKeague
Digital Intermediate

Assistant Camera

Danny Park
Assistant Camera
Danny Park
Assistant Camera

CGI Supervisor

Park Min-su
CGI Supervisor

What's left behind the scenes

  • An adaptation of the novel "Fingersmith" by British writer Sarah Waters. The film's setting has been moved from the Victorian era to Korea under Japanese occupation.
  • The director's cut of the film has a runtime of 167 minutes.
  • The film features two main characters – a lady and her maid. The original title of the film is "The Lady" (Agasshi – a respectful term for an unmarried woman), while its international title is The Handmaiden.
  • Kim Tae-ri was chosen for the role from 1500 applicants. According to Park Chan-wook, he immediately remembered Kang Hye-jung, who played the female lead in his "Oldboy" (2003) when he first saw the actress. Kim Tae-ri was approved for the role after a 15-minute audition.
  • The film's characters speak Korean and Japanese. Before filming began, Japanese teachers were assigned to all the actors. After the film was shown at Cannes, Japanese journalists gave actress Kim Min-hee a standing ovation, applauding her mastery of the Japanese language.
  • Kim Tae-ri is a big fan of Kim Min-hee's talent. During auditions and casting, she had no idea that Kim Min-hee would be playing Lady Hideko. After approving Kim Tae-ri, the film's director Park Chan-wook asked her who her favorite actors and actresses were and was pleasantly surprised by her answer. Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-hee met and became friends back in 2014 during the preparation for filming. At the Buil Film Awards ceremony in 2016, established by the Korean newspaper Busal Ilbo, Kim Tae-ri dedicated her award for Best New Actress to Kim Min-hee, saying in her acceptance speech that she "fell in love with her at first sight".
  • Lady Hideko was named after the Japanese actress Hideko Takamine (1924-2010). Suk-hee is named after Sue, or Susan Trinder, the heroine of Sarah Waters' novel 'Fingersmith'.
  • The rights to show the film were sold to 116 countries even before its premiere.
  • Before filming began, Park Chan-wook sent a finished screenplay to Sarah Waters. The author of 'Fingersmith' liked the script. She made only one comment: in her opinion, it would be more correct to state in the credits that the film was made 'based on' the novel, rather than 'inspired by'.
  • Filming began on June 15, 2015, in Kuwana (Mie Prefecture, Japan) and ended on October 31. Filming took place in various locations in Japan and South Korea.
  • Although Cho Jin-woong played the role of the old man Kodzuki in the film, in real life he is only two years older than Ha Jung-woo, who played Fujiwara, and only six years older than Kim Min-hee, who played the role of his niece.
  • While working on the English subtitles for the film, American film critic Darcy Paquet, living in Korea, received instructions from director Park Chan-wook not to translate certain lines, but to take them from Sarah Waters' novel, as they had been translated into Korean and Japanese as closely as possible to the original.
  • The pornographic depiction of a woman and an octopus in the first part of the film is a woodcut print, "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife," by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the Edo period. The pornographic story read by Hideko's aunt in the second part is an excerpt from the erotic novel in vernacular Chinese, "Plum Blossoms in a Golden Vase," known since 1617.
  • While working on the script, director Park Chan-wook and Jeon So-gyeong repeatedly sought advice from a lesbian acquaintance.
  • Even before finishing Sarah Waters' novel "Tipping the Velvet", Park Chan-wook decided to make a film based on it with a happy ending.
  • During the erotic scenes, all members of the film crew were asked to leave, so only women with microphones on booms remained on set. Filming was done with remotely controlled cameras. Outsiders were prohibited from visiting the set on those days, and the men working on the film were simply given the day off. The erotic scenes were shot first: the director decided it was the most difficult part and needed to be finished as soon as possible. Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-hee first discussed all the nuances of these scenes with the director.
  • In Singapore, the erotic scene with Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri was cut from the theatrical version of the film due to censorship concerns.
  • Lady Hideko was named after the Japanese actress Hideko Takamine. Suk-hee is named after Sue, or Susan Trinder, a character from Sarah Waters' novel "Tipping the Velvet".
  • Before filming began, Park Chan-wook sent the completed screenplay to Sarah Waters. The author of "Tipping the Velvet" liked the screenplay.
  • Filming began on June 15, 2015, in Kuwana (Mie Prefecture, Japan) and ended on October 31. Filming took place in various locations in Japan and South Korea.
  • While working on the English subtitles for the film, American film critic Darcy Paquet, living in Korea, received instructions from director Park Chan-wook not to translate certain lines, but to take them from Sarah Waters’ novel, as they had been translated as closely as possible to the original for Korean and Japanese.
  • The pornographic depiction of a woman and an octopus in the first part of the film is a woodcut print, "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife," by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the Edo period. The pornographic story read by Hideko’s aunt in the second part is an excerpt from the Chinese erotic novel "Plum Blossoms in a Golden Vase,” known since 1617.
  • The film features two main female characters – a lady and her maid. The original title of the film is "The Lady" (Agasshi – a respectful term for an unmarried young woman), while its international title is The Handmaiden.
  • Kim Tae-ri was chosen for the role from 1500 candidates. According to Park Chan-wook, when he first saw the actress, he immediately remembered Kang Hye-jung, who starred in his "Oldboy." Kim Tae-ri was approved for the role after a 15-minute audition.
  • Kim Tae-ri is a big fan of Kim Min-hee's talent. During the auditions and casting, she had no idea that the latter would play Lady Hideko. After approving Kim Tae-ri, the film's director Park Chan-wook asked her which actors and actresses she liked the most and was pleasantly surprised by her answer. Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-hee met and became friends back in 2014 during preparations for filming. At the Buil Film Awards ceremony, established by the Korean newspaper Busal Ilbo, in 2016, Kim Tae-ri dedicated her award as Best New Actress to Kim Min-hee, saying in her acceptance speech that she “fell in love with her at first sight.”
  • Lady Hideko was named after the Japanese actress Hideko Takamine. Suk-hee was named after Sue, or Susan Trinder, the heroine of Sarah Waters’ novel ‘Fingersmith’.
  • Before filming began, Park Chan-wook sent the completed screenplay to Sarah Waters. The author of ‘Fingersmith’ liked the screenplay.
  • The pornographic depiction of a woman and an octopus in the first part of the film is a woodcut print, 'The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife,' by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the Edo period. The pornographic story read by Hideko’s aunt in the second part is an excerpt from the Chinese erotic novel ‘The Plum in the Golden Vase,’ known since 1617.
  • Even before finishing Sarah Waters’ novel ‘Fingersmith,’ Park Chan-wook decided to make a film based on it with a happy ending.
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