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The Scarlet Letter (2004 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = The Scarlet Letter
| image = The Scarlet Letter 2004 poster.jpg
| caption =
| writer = Byun Hyuk
Kang Hyeon-joo
| starring = Han Suk-kyu
Lee Eun-ju
Sung Hyun-ah
Uhm Ji-won
| director = Byun Hyuk
| producer = Lee Seung-jae
| cinematography = Choe Hyeon-gi
| editing = Hahm Sung-won
| music = Lee Jae-jin
| distributor = Showbox
| released =
| country = South Korea
| runtime = 118 minutes
| language = Korean
| budget =
| native_name =
}}
'The Scarlet Letter' is a 2004 South Korean erotic thriller film about a police detective who investigates a murder case while struggling to hang onto his relationships with his wife and mistress. It is the second film by 'La Femis'-graduate and academic Byun Hyuk (Daniel H. Byun), and starred Han Suk-kyu, Lee Eun-ju, Sung Hyun-ah and Uhm Ji-won. The film debuted as the closing film of the Pusan International Film Festival in 2004. The film is based on novelist Kim Young-ha's short stories 'A Meditation On Mirror' and 'Photo Shop Murder'.
Despite Lee Eun-ju's prior experience with depicting sex and nudity in 'Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors' (2000), she came under the scrutiny of Korean press and netizens, for the highly emotional sex scenes and the notorious "trunk scene" in 'The Scarlet Letter' which is regarded as "one of the most shocking and intense scenes in the history of Korean film." It is speculated her demanding role and its public scrutiny, had compounded and overlapped with an existing variety of family, financial, career, and insomnia issues. Her severe depression ended in suicide in February 2005, and the tragic conclusion has since become the central focus in popular perception and interpretation of the film, this particular one being her last.
Director Kim Ki-duk, no stranger to controversy over his own films, is quoted by Chinese film magazine "Movie Watch" () in singling out 'The Scarlet Letter' as among the key Korean dramas from recent years. He subsequently cast Sung Hyun-ah, who rose to prominence with her role in 'The Scarlet Letter', as the heroine in his 'Time'.
At the film's premiere in Japan, veteran actress Kumiko Akiyoshi praised the lead performances and likened the film to a landmark in erotic thrillers after 'Basic Instinct' and 'Fatal Attraction'.[http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/1144355/ "Introductory dialogue at the Japanese premiere of The Scarlet Letter"]. 'Livedoor. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
Plot
Lee Ki-hoon is an alpha male homicide detective; intelligent and with animal instincts. His wife, classical cellist Han Soo-hyun, is submissive and seemingly perfect. Meanwhile, he is carrying on a passionate affair with his mistress Choi Ga-hee, a sultry jazz singer at a nightclub. Ki-hoon lives a double life by moving back and forth between these two women, who also happen to be schoolmates from high school. One day Ki-hoon goes to a murder scene and there he meets Ji Kyung-hee, a woman accused of murdering her husband.
Cast
*Han Suk-kyu Lee Ki-hoon
*Lee Eun-ju Choi Ga-hee
*Uhm Ji-won Han Soo-hyun
*Sung Hyun-ah Ji Kyung-hee
*Kim Jin-geun Jung Myung-sik
*Kim Min-sung Detective Jo
*Jung In-gi Detective Ahn
*Choi Kyu-hwan Detective Choi
*Kim Hye-jin Oh Yeon-sim
*Do Yong-gu President Han
*Seol Ji-yoon Madam
Awards and nominations
;2004 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards
*Top Ten Films of the Year
;2004 Blue Dragon Film Awards
* Nomination Best Actor Han Suk-kyu
* Nomination Best Actress Lee Eun-ju
* Nomination Best Supporting Actress Uhm Ji-won
* Nomination Best Music Lee Jae-jin
;2005 Baeksang Arts Awards
* Nomination Best Actress Lee Eun-ju
;2005 Grand Bell Awards
* Nomination Best Actress Lee Eun-ju
* Nomination Best Art Direction Kim Ji-soo
* Nomination Best Costume Design Jo Yun-mi
References
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