The Handmaiden (아가씨)

You little brats, beat it!

Hey...!

It should have been me!

You'll miss the train

Hurry

PART ONE

'Kouzuki Noriaki

Go back to sleep

We're still far from the house

Pleased to meet you I am Okju.

A Western-style wing by an English architect

Not even in Japan is there a building combining two styles

It reflects lVlaster's admiration for Japan and England

Next is the annex

which lVlaster had furnished as a library

Last, the ser\/ants' quarters

As the Lady's handmaiden you won't sleep there.

You may eat her leftover food

but tea leaves go to the kitchen girls

Used soap is for the steward

l'm sure you wouldn't dare Tamako.

Among the richest men, lVlaster is the greatest book lover

And among book lovers he is the richest.

His ties to the colonial government even let us use electricity.

ln such a home

you know what's expected of a maid like you?

Don't be alarmed at the blackouts

I sleep in here?

lVliss Hideko wakes easily on account of her ner\/es.

She's behind this door?

IVlother!

IVlother!

IVlother!

lVliss!

lVliss, are you alright?

Junko! ls that you?

Junko was kicked out, lVliss l'm the new girl.

Seems you had a bad dream

You see that big cherry tree?

I\/ly aunt went mad and hanged herself there

Sometimes on moonless nights

my aunt's ghost

dangles from that branch

Here, drink up

When babies cry, my auntie feeds them a spoonful of sake

Sweet bird, sweet bird

You think l'm Tamako, a poor Korean handmaiden

But my rea/ name 's Nam Sookee.

I was able at age 5 to tel/ a rea/ coin from a fake.

Then /earned to forge stamps from Gugai,

and studied pickpocketing from Kutan,

but these babies will never /earn such useful skills.

Abandoned as newborns

we 'll wash and feed them, then sell them to Japan.

Such meaningful work

Instead of starving, they grow up gentlemen and ladies.

Kutan only breastfeeds her own kid I wou/dn 't be so miser/y.

I wish my breasts gave milk I 'd breastfeed all of them.

l'll tell you the story of an interpreter,

who bribed his way into translating for high officials

After helping Japan annex Korea he got rights to a gold mine.

Now he wants to turn fully Japanese.

So he gets naturalized

marries the daughter of a fallen Japanese noble

and adopts his wife's family name Kouzuki.

BaH.Bas

Bastard builds a mansion, fills it with books and antiques

He invites Japanese collectors to his library,

He loves books and paintings like his own flesh,

but he can't help parting with a few

What to do, when he must sell but can't bear to?

He sells a fake

He seeks out a specialist to create intricate forgeries

Unlike him this specialist

is a real Japanese of noble birth!

Count Fujiwara from Nagoya

So, who is this?

You'll seduce her - ls she pretty?

The Jap wife died ages ago with no children.

But the dead wife's dead sister's living daughter

But is she pretty?

An orphan. Her father was rich

Soon she'll fall in love with me and we'll elope to Japan.

After marrying her there

and inheriting her fortune l'll declare her insane

and lock her up in a madhouse

Right!

Love?

What does a crook know about love?

What of her fortune? She's rich?

Each night in bed I think of her assets.

1.5 million in cash 300,000 in bonds.

The uncle is just a guardian lt's Hideko's fortune.

That's why Kouzuki schemes to marry the girl

To his w...wife's niece?

What a s...sick f...f

Right, a sick fuck

So what's our share?

l'll share 50,000

Sookee gets the dresses and jewellery

l'll do it! Take me!

I\/ly Japanese is better, and I worked as a maid!

On top of the fifty

I get dresses, jewellery and my own 100,000.

She must be crazy

Crazy? Not a bit.

I 'll take my fortune and flee this country.

Endure these country yoke/s a bit longer.

Those fuckers

This is Tamako

I am at your service lVliss...

Bloody hell

He should 've told me she was so pretty.

I 'm completely flummoxed

A reference letter

from Lady lVlinami my last mistress.

Here's the letter Pay attention.

Dear lVliss Izumi Hideko

A maid is like a pair of chopsticks

Her presence is little noted, but her absence causes much distress

The sun scarcely ever shines here

Uncle won't permit it

One could never grow fond of such a dreary place.

Not a good liar, are you?

l'll take my leave

I\lly head aches before every reading practice.

Would you read it to me?

Pardon?

Lady lVlinami said such nice things about me!

Is that so?

You're a Japanese lady, why don't you speak Japanese?

The books he makes me read are all Japanese.

So read that for me

Dear lVliss Izumi Hideko

Count Fujiwara said you're looking for a maid

lVlaids are like

a spoon... no

are like chopsticks

Is it a spoon?

I don't know how to read, lVliss

Not at all? What about Korean?

This is your name Can't you read it?

Reading can be learned

and I don't care if you curse or steal.

But don't ever lie to me Understood?

Yes, lVliss

IVly mum

She's beautiful, quite the charmer!

And me? Am I "quite the charmer?

Everyone says I can't compare to my mother

Count Fujiwara said

So you've met the Count?

I\lly aunt! I heard it from my aunt

She was his nanny

What did the Count say about me?

He said your face

Every night in bed he thinks of your assets... your face.

I've nowhere to go

I've just stayed in this house since coming to Korea at age 5

But in new shoes, even well-trodden paths feel fresh

The ones from here

up to here should fit you

Time for reading practice

l'll go alone

lVliss?

But rain is falling

At noon, come knock on the door. Promise?

See you at

See you later

Why would the lady of such a big house... ?

Did the big house make her go mad?

I\lly new handmaiden

The snake, the snake!

You mustn't pass that point

Be warned!

The snake marks the bounds of knowledge'

A snake!

The Count?

Today?

That's why you insisted on a bath.

I\lly aunt, when she heard a guest was coming,

dropped eveiything and bathed her Baby lVliss.

Nothing made her happier than when guests praised her baby's scent.

You are my Baby lVliss

Auntie gave the babies candy during baths.

To teach them that bath time is sweet.

What's wrong?

One of my teeth is sharp It keeps cutting me.

So this was the scent.

Welcome, sir!

You are too kind to greet me this way upon my arrival,

when the journey has left me so unkempt.

Now your tedium is over

l'll ensure your painting lessons are stimulating.

This must be Okju

At your ser\/ice, milord

You know if you fail, it'll put me in an awkward position?

A decent bone structure for a Korean...

So, are you carrying out your duties faithfully?

Count Fujiwara asks lVliss Hideko to kindly allow her maid Tamako