Untold Scandal (2004)

The thorny erotic triangle (or is it a rectangle? or maybe even a hexagon?) at the center of Choderlos de Laclos' novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses is such an elaborate and satisfying structure of deceit and salaciousness that every attempt I have seen to adapt it on film — Dangerous Liaisons, Cruel Intentions, even the trashy 1959 Roger Vadim version — has resulted in an entertainment of agreeable nasty elegance. Until now. Untold Scandal transplants the story to 19th-century Korea, where Jo-won (Bae Yong-jun), the lascivious cad in the middle of all the scheming, attempts to seduce the pious Lady Sook (Jeon Do-yeon), only to surprise himself by falling in love — and becoming every bit as placid and dull as she is.