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Kino International opens UNTOLD SCANDAL on October 15th, 2004, in New York

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Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of UNTOLD SCANDAL, a masterful re-telling of the famed French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, here transposed to Korea at the end of the 18th century. Selected for the 2004 edition of the prestigious New Directors / New Films annual showcase––a joint presentation between The Film Society of the Lincoln Center and MOMA–––UNTOLD SCANDAL will hit commercial theatres nationwide, starting with a New York premiere on October 15th, 2004, at Quad Cinemas.

Having inspired cinematic adaptations like Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons (starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich), Milos Forman’s Valmont and more recently, the Reese Witherspoon starrer Cruel Intentions, Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a celebrated depiction of betrayal and aristocratic debauchery set in the high salons of France, prior to the Revolution of 1789. Originally published in 1782, de Laclos’ novel was blacklisted by French officials and remained a literary outcast until mid-19th century.

Following the novel’s incendiary history, director E. J-yong sets UNTOLD SCANDAL at the end of the 18th century––years prior to the crumbling of Korea’s Chosun dynasty, whose 500 year reign ended in 1910. This transposition allows E. J-yong to gracefully export de Laclos’ observations on aristocratic misdemeanor to Korea’s upper class and brilliantly turn a tale of European moral decadence into a Korean tragedy of manners.

Anchored upon the project of dissecting the hypocrisy of a small circle of men and women who use seduction and gossip as tools of social exchange, UNTOLD SCANDAL brings to a new level the language of sly glances also seen in other films adapted from this novel. Korean TV idol Bae Yong-jun makes his big screen debut as the philandering aristocrat, the stunning Lee Mi-Suk is charming and chilling as his royal cousin and arch manipulator, and Jeon Do-yeon evokes integrity and earnestness as the pure young widow who is the object of his scheming.

With one of South Korea’s highest production budgets ever, UNTOLD SCANDAL is a complete “feast of lacquered interiors, ornate food presentations, and multi-hued silk costumes” (Dennis Lim, Village Voice).