Film Reviews

Untold Scandal

• Rating:
• Director: Je-yong Lee.
• Starring: Mi-suk Lee, Do-yeon Jeon, Yong-jun Bae, So-yeon Lee.
• Details: S Korea / 124 mins (18s).

"Temptation and revenge, two things that bring us great joy." A more formal and stylised version of the Stephen Frears-directed Dangerous Liaisons, Untold Scandal updates the 18th Century French setting of Choderlos de Laclos' novel to that of 19th Century Korea. The basic elements remain the same, however: sexual intrigue throbs beneath the exquisitely mannered surface of a society that emulates the Victorian age in its obsession with carnality and its hypocrisy when it comes to engaging in matters of the flesh. Feckless seducer Lord Cho Won (Yong-jun Bae) accepts a wager from his married cousin Lady Cho (Mi-suk Lee) that he cannot bed the notoriously chaste Lady Chung (Do-yeon Jeon) and in doing so sets in train a whole host of betrayals, sexual and otherwise. Those familiar with the original will know that the plot is convoluted and hugely improbable, but the joy here is in the composition. Director Je-yong Lee has a superb eye for detail, from the minute swirls and curlicues of the characters' calligraphy to the virile, sensual use of bold and primal colours: some moments could be frozen, framed and hung in a gallery. The performances are superb throughout, although Do-yeon Jeon just about steals the show given the difficulty of investing her role as a staid and relentlessly prudish Catholic convert with any degree of warmth. All in all, this is a long, languorous seduction of a movie from a director in full command of his tools and materials.

Review by Declan Burke