Untold Scandal

Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th-century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses has proven to be as adaptable as Shakespeare, and just as wickedly entertaining as any of the Bard's tales of duplicitous intrigue. Already familiar to filmgoers as Dangerous Liaisons with Glenn Close and John Malkovich, Valmont with Colin Firth and Annette Bening, and Cruel Intentions with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, director E-J-yong's South Korean adaptation Untold Scandal may just be the most sumptuous of the bunch. An elegant unveiling of hypocrisy in Korea's 19th-century Chosun dynasty, the film follows scheming, sexually voracious bachelor Lord Jo-won (Bae Yong-jun) as he accepts a challenge from the equally debauched Lady Cho (Lee Mi-sook) to seduce a teenaged virgin (Lee Soh-yeon) who poses a threat to Lady Cho's domestic dominion, until the plot goes awry when Jo-won falls in love with the pious widow Lady Sook (Jeon Do-yeon). Absolutely gorgeous to look at, with richly detailed sets and costumes, Untold Scandal is a lushly erotic (with scenes of brief and not-so-brief nudity) and very entertaining film that benefits from sly direction and uniformly excellent performances. Recommended. (J. Shannon)