Deoke (Esom) falls in love with Hak-Kyu (Jung), a university professor turned writing teacher. They have a passionate affair, with major consequences for Deoke's Deaf mother, and Hak-Kyu's wife.
My first film at the Toronto Film Festival 2014, was the world premiere of this erotic thriller, complete with Q+A with the director. I intentionally watched this film without researching about it, and was pleasantly surprised. 'Scarlet Innocence' is an impeccably crafted film, but is not without a few flaws.
First thing I noticed was the cinematography, reminiscent of a Soderbergh thriller, with each character lighted so you can see their every sweat. Light is used impeccably, especially the earlier on outdoor scenes. The cinematography is perhaps too good, (not in a Epic 'Lawrence of Arabia' way, but in a "Can't be filmed any better given the material" sort of way), not only because of the composition and lighting, but because it perfectly fits the mood and tone of the film.
The nice love story that the film begins on quickly takes a dark turn, and continues to get progressively darker. Similar to 'Filth' and 'Wake in Fright', the film chronicles a man's descent into despair, with frightening results. It doesn't just stick to this, by also having a story that includes betrayal, lust and gambling. This film does try and fit too much into the run-time, which helps with the biggest problem for the film that is: there is no clear act structure. The vacancy of any clear middle and end acts make the film hard to enjoy, as I constantly thought the film was wrapping up, only for it to continue for another hour. The film was best during the first 20-30 minutes as you could see clearly what was happening, and was a pretty authentic erotic romance, similar to, and better than, 'Last Tango in Paris', but after this, there is no clear direction where the film is headed making it feel a bit muddled.
Also impressive is the acting, where I could tell each and every emotion from how the characters act on screen. Woo-Sung Jung takes a break from his heartthrob/action films to portray a multi-layered deceitful persona, far different from his roles in 'A Moment to Remember' and 'The Good, the Bad and the Weird'. If the Oscars were more internationally friendly, I would say he could easily win Best Actor. When I think of South Korean films, I think high-paced action, adorable romances and advanced cinematography, but never quality acting. The acting is good in South Korean movies but never before to this high standard. Both the lead actor and actress were incredible, even during the uncomfortable and revealing sex scenes.
The reason why this is not scored higher, is because it's just not my type of film. An erotic thriller, where the characters have no redeeming features, is not the sort of film I like at all (I found 'Last Tango in Paris' to be a horrible experience). This is a sophisticated, high quality film that I definitely recommend, if you like the genre.
TO CONCLUDE
The first-class acting and brilliant lighting outshine the muddled plot and unsympathetic characters.
SCORE
72
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