Casual Person

9th Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Deliberate mistake: In the Extended Cut, when Fujiwara arrives at the mansion, he asks Sook-Hee "So are you carrying out your duties faithfully", then Hideko says "Thank you for introducing her." Later on, when a scene also included in the Extended Cut shows the same scene play a second time, after Fujiwara says "So are you carrying out your duties faithfully" to Sook-Hee, the two share some strange looks that weren't shown the first time. This was done because the moment between them was a scene that was included in the Theatrical Cut, the first time his arrival was shown, but was altered in the Extended Cut to not show this, because their true reason for being at the mansion was not revealed until later and including this brief moment would have given the twist away too early, whereas the Theatrical Cut included a scene that established their intentions much earlier on. The Extended Cut included these brief glances when shown the second time, but still makes for an inconsistency between the two scenes. (00:23:35 - 01:52:00)

Casual Person

9th Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When the scene between Sook-Hee, Hideko and Fujiwara after his arrival is shown again from Hideko's perspective, just after he says "A decent bone structure for a Korean", he winks at Hideko and turns back to Sook-Hee, standing mostly upright when he does so. Hideko is then shown watching them and in the reflection of the mirror, Fujiwara can now be seen leaning forwards to be more face to face with Sook-Hee. (Extended Cut). (01:51:58)

Casual Person

9th Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When Hideko runs into the bathroom to throw up, she places her hands on the counter and starts vomiting into the sink. It then cuts to a close-up of Hideko, where she is now holding onto the frame of the sink whilst vomiting. (Extended Cut). (00:19:15)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Stupidity: Sook-Hee and Hideko manage to escape Japan with the money by disguising Hideko as a man named Go Pan-dol, including forging a passport with Hideko in the disguise, then getting onto a ship headed for Shanghai. Once on the ship, Sook-Hee removes the moustache Hideko was wearing as part of the disguise and then throws it into the ocean. Even if they have escaped all trace of Kouzuki and plan on creating new identities once they have settled in Shanghai, they still need to prove that she is the man in the forged passport that she is posing as if they are to enter the country when they arrive in it. Getting rid of the moustache could potentially ruin the disguise and give away her real gender. Surely it would be a smarter idea to get rid of the moustache once in Shanghai. (02:14:40)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Stupidity: When Sook-Hee walks into Hideko's bedroom before the two of them have sex, she slides the door open when going into the room and never closes it behind her. Once the two of them are in bed together and when they have sex, the door is left the way it is and never closed. Considering a sexual relationship between the two would have been completely forbidden, and, if they were caught, would likely ruin the plot to steal the inheritance money, it seems very foolish of them to ignore the open door, especially taking into account there are other people inside the mansion who could walk by at any moment. (00:41:30)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Kouzuki begins to notice the blue smoke after cutting off Fujiwara's underwear, he is first shown facing Fujiwara and begins to turn around whilst he says "It's odd. Your smoke." After finishing the line, just before the shot cuts, he is turned completely away from Fujiwara. We are then shown a wide shot of the room where Kouzuki has suddenly turned around more towards Fujiwara's position. (02:15:24)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Kouzuki finishes cutting off Fujiwara's underwear with a pair of scissors, he is shown holding the scissors in his left hand by the blades whilst pulling the underwear off with an object in his right hand. A close-up shot of the scissors is then shown where he is now holding the scissors by the handle. (02:15:08)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When Sook-Hee and Hideko are on the ship headed for Shanghai, Sook-Hee turns to face towards the railings of the ship. In the wider shot, her body is positioned mostly towards the railings, but rotated a couple of degrees to the right. A close-up shot of Sook-Hee sticking the moustache to the gloves is then shown where her body is completely facing the railings with no rotated angle. The camera then cuts back to the wider shot again and Sook-Hee is suddenly turned to the right again. (02:14:44)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Fujiwara is explaining to Kouzuki about his wedding night, it cuts to Hideko and Fujiwara in bed on that night. Hideko unfolds a tissue she had in the bed and removes a knife from it. The tissue is positioned right next to the bed, but when Hideko starts to make moaning noises, the tissue is suddenly a few inches further away from the bed. (02:11:40 - 02:12:25)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: In the basement, when Kouzuki asks Fujiwara about his wedding night with Hideko, Fujiwara asks for a cigarette, to which Kouzuki takes one of the blue cigarettes out of Fujiwara's case and places it in his mouth. When he lights the cigarette and asks "So how was Hideko", Fujiwara can be seen in the corner of shot holding onto the cigarette using only his mouth. The shot then cuts to Fujiwara, suddenly holding onto the cigarette with two fingers. (02:10:17)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Sook-Hee and Hideko are standing at the counter at the station to get tickets, in a close-up shot of their passports, the man behind the counter is holding the passports in his left hand and their tickets in the right hand. The man goes to look over some papers with his left hand and he is suddenly holding both the passports and tickets with his right hand. (02:08:58)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When Fujiwara takes off his trousers whilst he is trying to have sex with Hideko, he throws them on the ground beside him. The trousers land on the floor off-screen around a foot or two away from him. When the two men find Fujiwara the next morning, the trousers are much further away from him. (02:02:56 - 02:04:50)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Revealing mistake: When Fujiwara is about to have sex with Hideko, there is a shot with Hideko in the foreground of the shot, kneeling on her hands and knees and Fujiwara behind her kneeling down on his knees whilst holding onto her with his left arm. Fujiwara is shown removing his trousers using only his right hand, but it is apparent that he is just miming the actions of removing his trousers before throwing them on the floor. Attempting to remove a pair of trousers with only one hand would be extremely difficult and if he is kneeling on the floor, it would require him to lower the trousers down to his knees, lift his knees off the ground, pull the trousers around the knees and then fully pull them off his lower legs. While not impossible, this would be very hard to do, but he manages to do this in just a few seconds with almost little to no struggle. (02:02:53)

Casual Person

3rd Aug 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Handmaiden mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Hideko and Fujiwara are in the hotel room, as they are kissing, Hideko puts her hand around the back of Fujiwara's neck, but in the next shot, the hand is no longer there. (02:01:10)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: The second time the scene where Sook-Hee catches Hideko and Fujiwara kissing is shown, whilst we hear Hideko say over voiceover "The lady's emotions lay deep inside", the wind blows some of Hideko's hair over the back of her shoulder, but when the shot cuts, no hair is behind her. (01:38:43)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: Just after Sook-Hee goes back to the house to get the oil paints, she runs back through the forest to find Hideko and Fujiwara kissing. When she finds them, without saying anything, the two turn to see that she is standing there. Later on, when the scene is shown from Hideko's perspective, Sook-Hee says "Lady" when she sees them, which is what lets Hideko and Fujiwara know she is there, even though she didn't say this the first time. There is a scene in the Extended Cut that shows Sook-Hee saying "Lady" when the scene is shown the first time, but this never happens in the Theatrical Cut. (00:40:20 - 01:38:35)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When Hideko and Fujiwara are talking about men being single-minded, as Fujiwara starts saying "You read too many of those books", he moves his head up and down slightly. An over the shoulder shot focusing on Hideko, shot behind Fujiwara is then shown, where Fujiwara's head is completely still. (01:37:08)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: When Sook-Hee walks up to the window to watch a conversation between Fujiwara and Hideko, Fujiwara is shown sitting in a chair and then moves onto a different chair to be beside Hideko. This same scene is shown again later on, including the moment where Sook-Hee first approaches the window, but this time, Fujiwara is already sitting in the chair beside Hideko when the scene starts. (00:38:45 - 01:36:49)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Continuity mistake: The second time Sook-Hee is shown listening in on a conversation between Hideko and Fujiwara, she is shown pressing her fingers against the window, positioned in a mostly upright angle. We then see Hideko and Fujiwara talking, and Sook-Hee in the background of shot, her fingers are rotated. (01:36:49)

Casual Person

29th Jul 2020

The Handmaiden (2016)

Deliberate mistake: When Sook-Hee is first shown her bed chamber, just after Sasaki leaves, she slides open the door to Hideko's room to look inside. After a 5-6 second silence, a thump sound is heard and Sook-Hee quickly closes the door. Later in the movie, when this same scene is shown a second time from Hideko's perspective, the thump sound, which is revealed to be Hideko banging her doll against the wall, occurs 11-12 seconds after Sook-Hee slides the door open. (00:06:38 - 01:32:33)

Casual Person

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