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Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   1,091 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Je-yong Lee

Writers:

Dae-woo Kim (writer)
Hyeon-jeong Kim (writer)
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Contact:

View company contact information for The Scandal on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

2 October 2003 (South Korea) more

Genre:

Drama more

Plot:

Based on the novel 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' this film is set in aristocratic 18th-century Korea at the end of the Chosun Dynasty... more | add synopsis

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations more

User Comments:

A story about beauty and vice more (16 total)


Cast

  (Credited cast)
Mi-suk Lee ... Madam Jo
Do-yeon Jeon ... Suk

Yong-jun Bae ... Jo-won
Hyeon-jae Jo ... Kwon In-ho
So-yeon Lee ... So-ok
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Ban-ya Choi ... Chu-wol
Ha-kyeong Kim
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Scandal - Chosun nam nyo sang yeol jisa (South Korea) (alternative transliteration)
The Scandal (International: English title)
Untold Scandal (International: English title)
more

Runtime:

124 min (25 fps)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Replaced 2046 (2004) as the closing film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. more

Movie Connections:

Version of Valmont (1989) more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
A story about beauty and vice, 3 February 2007
8/10
Author: J Chang from United States

This film is an interesting one. The story is adapted from the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liasans). It's an 18th (maybe 17th?)century French novel of intrigue and scandal and the movie is set in... 18th century Korea, during the Chosun period. If you've seen Dangerous Liasans or a modern-day adaptation, Cruel Intentions, you've basically got the plot down. Male womanizer and scheming female near relative make a bet that womanizer can't seduce a pure woman. And stuff goes crazy from there.

So I decided to watch this film because it was a massive box-office opener in Korea, beating out all of its competition at the time. A few things that I noticed: 1) I like watching Korean period films, especially those of older Korea because the costumes and set design tend to be very aesthetically pleasing. The art direction is beautiful.

2) The acting was actually quite impressive--certainly better than Cruel Intentions, which is the only other version of this film that I've seen.

3) There are a few graphic sex scenes (and many suggested ones), so if you can't handle that, don't watch the film.

4) The tragedy is tragic and the love story is surprising. The ending was quite moving and was tragic because the flaws of the characters led to their own demise and loss of the things that they love.

5) Cinematography and direction are very strong and the primary actresses are particularly strong.

In the end, this was a well rendered adaptation, so much that I'm curious as to what the original source material is like. I really like the plot lines and the story because it converges so many different themes into a tragic tale of human weakness and yet manages to paint the weak, fallible and sometimes wicked characters in such a way that you still have some sympathy for them, showing that there is something in everyone that was or is beautiful, but it can get buried under the vices of this world.

All the actors are not strong and the film suffers a little from slow pacing, but in the end, it's a very watchable film that has a lot of strengths, even if the film isn't one of the great films of all time. If you can handle the content, I recommend this film. 8/10.

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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Scandal - Joseon namnyeo sangyeoljisa (2003)
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Surprise scene after credits??? john-1816
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Bae Yong Jun... mhuynh0226
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Related Links

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