In South Korean media in the early 2000s, the Joseon era (1392 to 1910) was typically rendered as a paragon of strict moral virtue and female chastity. Then came the 2003 erotic film Untold Scandal, which directly challenged that notion.
Starring top-tier A-listers of the era, including Lee Mi-sook, Bae Yong-joon and Jeon Do-yeon, the feature daringly adapted Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th-century French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) into a Joseon setting, laying bare explicit sexual intrigue and desires hidden in a deeply conservative society.
The result, bold and inventive, was a massive commercial success. Untold Scandal has remained one of the highest-grossing films rated 19+ in South Korean box-office history.
Now, two decades after that ground-breaking adaptation left its mark on Korean pop culture, Netflix is reimagining the classic as an expanded eight-episode series titled The Scandal. It is once again stacked with modern star power, featuring a lead cast of Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and Lim Jin-a, better known as Nana.
Helming the series is star director Jung Ji-woo (Happy End, 1999; Eungyo, 2012), who views the project not as a retread of the 2003 film, but as an adaptation of the original novel from the ground up.
“I found the idea of moving the original story’s setting to Joseon society in 2003 itself very surprising and admirable,” he said at a press event in Seoul on Sept 9.
“The starting point for our work was not the film, but the original novel. We rewrote the characters and their relationships entirely from scratch, so I’m confident that viewers will notice many differences from the film when they watch our series.”
Broadening the initial two-hour runtime, the filmmaker stressed that the episodic format opens up room to depict the unexplored character dynamics.
“The late Joseon period was a much more sophisticated and refined society than we had imagined,” Jung said.
“We wanted to portray that in a compelling way. In particular, the relationship between Lady Cho and Hui-yeon is a new story that has never been explored in the previous narrative. We wanted to bring that relationship to life in a vivid way.”
The Scandal centres on Lady Cho (Son), a brilliant and ambitious noble who orchestrates a wager with Casanova Cho Won (Ji) to seduce Hui-yeon (Nana), a widow dedicated to a life of chastity.
For Son, 44, tackling a story of repressed longing offered a compelling thematic challenge at this stage in her career.
“It was fascinating to explore a story about desire, which is part of human nature, against the backdrop of Joseon, a period when such desires were strictly forbidden,” she said.
“I remembered watching the film years ago, so I was curious to see how the story would unfold as a series. Above all, I thought that perhaps I had reached an age where I could fully express such intense emotions and desires.”
The expanded narrative scope allows the series to peel back the layers of its puppet master, giving Lady Cho a far richer emotional landscape rather than rendering her a simple, calculating antagonist.
“This time, before introducing the differences from the film, we wanted to build a more detailed and multilayered narrative around Lady Cho,” Son said.
The production aims to have The Scandal serve as a showcase for traditional Korean culture on a global platform.
Jung said he anchored the show’s sonic palette in pansori, the classic Korean musical storytelling medium.
“We created a large structure that begins with pansori and ends with pansori. I wanted to introduce how beautiful and fascinating pansori is. When you watch The Scandal, I would encourage you to pay close attention to how pansori functions within the series.”
The visual aesthetic relies heavily on bespoke costuming. Collaborating with hanbok designer Tchai Kim, the production drew inspiration from traditional minhwa (folk paintings) to craft distinct palettes for the cast.
“There was a meticulous plan to study minhwa, examining them closely with a magnifying glass,” Jung said.
“After that, we also left room for creative exploration to find colours and designs that would suit each actor and character.
"So when you look at the teaser poster and various images, they may not seem dramatically different at first glance, but I think you will be able to see hanbok designs that are completely different from one another... I’m extremely happy that this has become an opportunity to showcase hanbok to global viewers.” – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
