The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter Review
Ki-hoon is a playboy detective on the trail of a murder mystery involving a photography studio owner. The studio owner was found dead by his wife, Kyung-hee, who's past include other men and an unhappy relationship with her husband. All the while, Ki-hoon is dealing with his wife and mistress, who both happen to be pregnant at the same time!

Although The Scarlet Letter is a mystery/thriller, the majority of the film actually concentrates on the personal life of Ki-hoon while the murder plot is only interwoven as a sub-plot. Ki-hoon's personal life is a mess when he gets two women, his mistress, Ka-hee and his wife, pregnant. The drama between these three lovers, and the sex scenes involved, were a lot more entertaining than the murder mystery. What's weird is that the director seemed to be confused about what he should focus on. Although the main focus is given to the relationships of Ki-hoon, there are large chunks here and there that are mainly about the murder mystery. Personally, I thought the murder plot was interesting and intriguing, but the story never got a chance to really develop.

From the beginning you'll find that it's hard to like the main character Ki-hoon, who is not only an accusatory detective, but also an immoral family-man who suggested that his mistress get an abortion. Even stranger is Ki-hoon's choice to get married to his (ugly-looking) wife when he had a mistress as beautiful as Ka-Hee. Seriously, the story could have been easily resolved if he just divorced the wife (but then there would be no movie, and the actress for Ka-hee, Lee Eun-Ju, might not have killed herself). Although I initially liked Ka-hee's personality because I thought she was an innocent victim to Ki-hoon's devilish charms, she became smuttier and less likeable as the story went along. Still, in comparison with the other leading ladies, it is obvious that Ka-hee stands out in this film.

There are a lot of unexpected twists at the end of the film that will leave most of you in disbelief. Among the Korean films I've seen, this one tops the shock factor. Beware, the end is pretty gory, and I was seriously cringing in disgust because it made me nauseous. What I didn't like about this story was how immoral it was and how Ka-hee can still profess her love to Ki-hoon despite what she knows.

You won't understand why this movie is called the Scarlet Letter until the end, when they make an allusion to Nathaniel Hawthorne's dull book of the same name. I don't really recommend this film although it has a few redeeming qualities. The Scarlet Letter will mostly appeal to horny men that want to see a movie chock full of sex scenes; stay away if you're not one of them.

Written by Lance


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The Scarlet Letter Cast
Lee Eun-Ju as Ka-hee