Juhong geulshi

The Scarlet Letter is an excellent film for fans of unique cinema. Part erotic thriller, part murder mystery, part police procedure, part extreme cinema, but somehow masterfully pieced together into a single cohesive, disturbing, tragic, emotional and intellectually stimulating film experience.

The cinematography, sound, music, acting, direction and script are all first rate. Although special mention must go to Lee Eun-ju, who steals every scene in a breathtaking performance, which was tragically her last as she committed suicide shortly after completing this project. Obviously she was in some serious emotional pain in her personal life at the time of filming, which she has used to add a raw and real emotional depth to her character.

The storyline is deceptively simple, at first appearing to be a routine murder investigation plot, based on a fairly mundane murder, however as we get deeper into the film this plot takes a back seat to the real story which is a dissection of the investigating officer's (Han Suk-kyu)complicated personal life and his relationships with his wife and his girlfriend (Lee Eun-ju).

It is in the complexities of this love triangle that the films true power and force really take place as the characters try to manage their lives as they slowly unravel. This leads to a climax that is emotionally overpowering and disturbing, and totally unique.

This is very intelligent, artistic, mature, dark, thriller.

i've seen many love stories, this story also resembles in many ways to rest of them especially in dealing with the theme"Ex-marital affair". It's a story of a police officer who has complicated relation with two women in his life. But the difference in this movie is along with this, the story unfolds the tragic death of a studio owner. Two parallel stories, but connected in some ways- the presence of a third person in married life.

I suggest this movie to those who are tangled in two love relations at a time. The scene in trunk of the car is unexpected and gruesome evidence human frailties. Feelings such as despair,struggle for survival, shame, repentance and all the frustrating feelings crossing through the minds of both actors is a wonderful drawing of human life. That scenes are outstanding and unique from rest of the movie.

At first I wasn't sure whether I should watch the movie because of some negative comments, but I decided to give it a try. Bearing in mind that I could always turn it off if I didn't liked it. But I was pleasantly surprised. The story was something I never saw before. Very original. The movie has quite a few twists and surprises that makes sure you are never bored and after every new discovery you want to see how it all turns out.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone I know. And if you are lucky enough to obtain a copy or can buy the DVD, don't hesitate.

8 out of 10.

An entirely misrepresented film (lesbian cover, Reeeeeeely?) with truly Tarantino level twists bogged down by Desperate Housewives style plot minus the laughs.

First of all, this film's pacing is a mess. Over developed scenes stretch on for a quarter hour while an entire opportunity for a superb subplot is squeezed into 45 seconds.

Moreover, characters are built up steadily only to end up all but irrelevant while important relationships are glossed over.

Furthermore, the cynical poster shot of the two naked women in bed leads to nothing more than a minor footnote in the entire tale...

The token lesbian moment looked quite literally as if it were tacked on just to rake in a few extra sales... Pretty poor showing... Seriously, what the hell were the marketing people thinking? Oh yes, they were probably cynically thinking of sales...

OK, with the bad out of the way...

This film had its glorious moments....

The acting and characterisation were first rate, all the major characters were excellently portrayed with top rank performances. Special props to the portrayal of the detective: equal parts charismatic and total shitbag.

The sound editing was excellent.. Clear vocals with excellent ambience in every scene. Additionally, the classical music score and incidental BGM were without fault.

But best of all, the camerawork and editing: Top notch... The cinematography is some of the best I've seen at this budget level and really played to the strengths of the storyline... Intimate closeups; dreamy, floaty vistas, Jagged, claustrophobic macros.... 10/10 and worthy of note for students of the genre.

And THE SCENE... You'll know it when you watch it: Visceral enough to give Tarantino a hard-on.

All in all, a worthwhile watch.... Just don't go in there for the lesbian scenes.

This is one of those films where you can't help but improvise. It has those scenes where you shout out brilliant, but then proceed to make a few alterations to the already produced script to make the thing workable, if not believable.

There are many awful south Korean films out there (for whatever reason, most of them seem to be romantic comedies)-- this is not one of them. Unfortunately this is no "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" or "Sorum" either. There are a handful of brilliant scenes in this film, including one particularly claustrophobic segment that reminded me of a permutation of Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 2. Unfortunately, these moments are mired in irrelevance, overacting, and implausibility.

By all means, have a drink, take the film in -- but be prepared to throw a huge amount of constructive criticism at your TV. Be prepared to start writing a screen play, maybe take up non-linear editing as a hobby.