What is the giant octopus in the torture chamber for?
In The Handmaiden (2016), Kouzuki is a sadistic pervert who controls Hideko's and her aunt's lives. His most powerful secret weapon is the basement, later revealed to be a torture chamber. Hideko is so afraid of it that she makes conman Fujiwara promise to give
her a vial of poison guaranteed to kill her quickly in the event she is caught by her uncle and taken back to the basement.
We later get to see the torture chamber, after Fujiwara is caught by Kouzuki and made to tell him details about Hideko. In that scene, we also see glimpses of a giant octopus moving in a large water tank. You can see it in this scene (not for sensitive viewers):
Why did Kouzuki keep a giant octopus in his torture chamber?
Best Answer
The aunt tried to run away and paid for it with her life, Hideko would rather commit suicide than be brought back into the basement - why?
The octopus is the answer. It tells us, what happened down there, without having to show it on screen.
From Philip Gowman: Park Chan-wook talks about Handmaiden, octopuses and more, London Korean Links, 2016.10.24:
Does Park have an obsession with the octopus?
No. The boneless sea creature that Choi Min-sik ate alive in Oldboy is ??. The writhing object in the basement in Handmaiden is ??. Two different words in Korean. [...] In Handmaiden the Korean audience will associate the octopus in the basement with a famous Japanese erotic print. That means they know what happens in the basement without Park having to film what is depicted in the print.
The Oldboy octopus is the Octopus minor (nakji), a part of Korean cuisine. The Handmaiden octopus is the Giant Pacific octopus.
Miranda Chance wrote in Pleasure / pain and The Handmaiden -- does a film have to be difficult to be good? for thecontentjournal:
But not only is the octopus the director’s personal nod to Oldboy (2003), a cult classic, but it conveniently features heavily in Japanese pornography, the most famous of which, Hokusai’s ‘The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife’, makes an appearance.
According to its wikipedia article,
it depicts a young ama diver entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses.
The picture itself is also featured in the movie, according to the Cannes 2016 Review.
Pictures about "What is the giant octopus in the torture chamber for?"
What does the octopus mean in the handmaiden?
[...] In Handmaiden the Korean audience will associate the octopus in the basement with a famous Japanese erotic print. That means they know what happens in the basement without Park having to film what is depicted in the print. The Oldboy octopus is the Octopus minor (nakji), a part of Korean cuisine.What did the uncle do to the aunt in the handmaiden?
Uncle Kouzuki tells young Izumi that he has murdered the aunt because she tried to run away. That's what he tells her in the basement. Izumi takes over the erotic art reading when she grows older. Izumi is abused for many years.Does the handmaiden have a good ending?
\u201c'The Handmaiden' is a movie with a happy ending, and it will not leave viewers with a sense of awkwardness,\u201d said Park, 52. The straightforwardness in the ending was the reason he was \u201csurprised\u201d to hear \u201cThe Handmaiden\u201d was nominated to Cannes Film Festival.The Brazen Bull. Worst Punishment In Human History
More answers regarding what is the giant octopus in the torture chamber for?
Answer 2
From TV tropes
the octopus in the mansion's basement, just like the significantly smaller edible octopus in Oldboy arguably symbolizes imprisonment.
But it seems more of a nod to Oldboy where actor Choi Min-sik in a famous scene gobbled down alive cephalopod on camera.
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Images: Pia, Stacey Gabrielle Koenitz Rozells, Marta Dzedyshko, Tima Miroshnichenko