directed by: Je-yong Lee
starring: Mi-suk Lee, Do-yeon Jeon; Yong-jun Bae
| Untold
Scandal (South Korea;
124 min.) directed by: Je-yong Lee starring: Mi-suk Lee, Do-yeon Jeon; Yong-jun Bae |
|
| Diane says: "I read that this is the 10th iteration
of Les liaisons dangereuses to hit the screen. In this very
erotic Korean version, set in the 18th century with its sumptuous trappings,
director Je-yong Lee uses a subplot
of
underground Catholics to add to the flavor of risk and repressed
sensuality.
"Bae Yong-joon outdoes John Malkovich in the role of the seducer of young chaste women who takes so much pleasure in his art--it helps that Yong-joon actually has sex appeal. (His previous experience is as clean-cut characters on TV dramas; he was not expected to do well in this nasty and complex role.) "Folks who share my physiognomy-recognition impairment will face a challenge here: everyone wears the same costume, has the same facial hair and hairstyles. So stay on your toes! "I don't want to lump all my two Korean movies of this year together,
but there are a number of images reminiscent of SPRING,
SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... AND SPRING. There is even some martial artistry.
Especially if you've seen other versions of Liaisons dangereuses,
I encourage you to see this one. Oh, and stay to the end of the
credits for a short epilogue. A beautiful overlay of Korean culture
on a French story. Best actor nom coming. 4 cats." |