Untold Scandal (US Version) DVD Region 1

Adapted from the French novel Dangerous Liaisons, Untold Scandal sets the story in ancient Korea. Bae Yong-jun, the acclaimed Korean TV hunk, makes his movie debut as a classic playboy Cho Won who has always had a crush on his married aunt Madam Jo (Lee Mi-sook). The ambiguous relation between these two becomes more complicated when the concubine (Lee So-yeon) and Madam Suk (Jeon Do-youn) come into the scene. In order to attract the attention of Madam Jo, Cho Won seeks to seduce Madam Suk who has always been defending her chastity.

Great expectations have long been cultivated before this movie hit the market mostly because of the surprisingly bold attempt Bae Yong-jun made. Getting rid of his tender love image in the TV drama Winter Sonata, Bae chooses to appear on the silver screen for the first time in an erotic movie where he even has to show his bottom. Sexual as the movie may seem (and there are a number of arousing love scenes), Untold Scandal actually reveals the long buried desires for love among Cho Won, Madam Jo and Madam Suk.

The three leading characters all suffer from the pain derived from forbidden love. Cho Won is a typical good-for-nothing wealthy playboy who spends all of his time and money hanging out with women. His love for his married aunt Madam Jo makes him desperate enough to do anything. His mere lust for Madam Suk later turns out to be his true love but it is just too late when he realizes it. Madam Suk is also a victim of forbidden love. Chastity is what she endeavors to protect but to destroy it results in true love. Madam Jo is manipulative enough to make her men bear all of her love and hatred. She flirts with those pampered sons in the neighborhood, she fools with Cho Won by feigning indifference and she casts evil spells on her husband and the concubine. However, she later loses it all: she stirs up the scandal but in the end she has to lie on the bed she makes. Her too high self-esteem drives her to strive for honor and splendor at the expense of true love. Finally, all she preserves is nothing but her old age and rotten beauty.

Bae Yong-jun expresses his playboy character at great lengths together with the licentious performance given by Lee Mi-sook. The trollop Lee plays is successful to steal the thunder of the other leading actress Jeon Do-youn. Despite appearing in more scenes, Jeon seems to be acting a bit uneasy in her interaction with Bae Yong-jun. Director Lee Jae-young has put a lot of effort on bringing the well-bred circles in 18th-century Korea back to life. With the delicate garden views, the splendid costume and the undisguised dialogues, the high society where scandals and gossips are all around appears right in front of us.

In ancient times, information was mostly spread through written words on papers. The wide circulation of the scandal in this movie however reminds the reviewer of the power of the Internet nowadays. Gossip, which is what media is good at creating, can just be one sharp knife. It can kill the truth and also true feelings. The director of Untold Scandal always has a magical touch on this kind of topics and his productions Asako in Ruby Shoes (2002) and Untold Scandal (2004) even though representing two completely different centuries, carry the same message: Love always means dying for one another and the relationship between love and lust is even more appealing to people leading them to break with conventions and challenge taboos.

Reviewed by garden (Hong Kong)

Translated by Holly (Hong Kong)