영화 <아가씨>의 각색 - 원작소설 『핑거스미스』와의 서사적 거리를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Director Park Chan-wook's film, The Handmaiden(2016) is adapted from British writer Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith(2002). Fingersmith deals with popular themes of love, intrigue, and betrayal in the Victorian era(1860s) Britain while the film The Handmaiden adapts the original novel's plot and story but sets different backgrounds(time and space), characters, and the ending, showing narrative distance from the original novel. Such narrative distance brings transformation and reinterpretation on an original work and is involved with issues such as difference of media, intention of adapter, style and perspective of director, and communication with audiences. The Handmaiden provides very fascinating points as a chance to review director Park Chan-wook's self-narrative and direction by his own works. The Handmaiden, based on the common motif of lesbianism with the original novel, transforms time(the Japanese colonial period in the 1930's) and space(Chosun) to cover class difference(lady and maid), and relationship between two ethnicities(Korean and Japanese). These create the atmosphere different from London, England in the Victorian era, and forms the meaning and recontextualization of The Handmaiden ‘here and now’. It also affects the film's characterization and ending. In addition, the film the Handmaiden escapes the cliché of popular narrative such as secret of birth through character transformation of reduction and deletion of one character from the original work(Mrs. Sucksby) and strengthens solidarity and subjective cooperation between its own two characters(Hideko and Sook-hee). Therefore, while the original works focuses on catastrophes and love affair between both women(Maud and Susan), the film emphasizes confident and passionate lesbian love and hope. As a result, showing narrative distance different from the original work, an adaption becomes the key for reinterpretation and re-creation on its original work. The adaption is to reveal its own meaning of existence with critical interpretation and creative transformation on the achievement of the original work.