Kwon In Ho’s expression upon seeing So Oak the first time. Love at first sight!
Here you have practically all the Jo Hyun Jae scenes in “Untold Scandal”. He plays the young scholar Kwon In Ho, the youngest son of the Vice-Premier.
Their neighbor is Lady Cho (Lee Mi Sook), and it is at her house that he first meets So Oak (Lee So Yeon).
First meeting of Kwon In Ho and Lady Cho at the Kwon residence. This is also JHJ’s first appearance in the movie.
For Kwon In Ho, So Oak is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and it is love at first sight for In-Ho. He has no idea that So-Oak is soon to become the concubine of Lord Yu, Lady Cho’s husband.
The young lovers are manipulated by Lady Cho and her cousin Cho Won (Bae Young Jun) for their own devious ends. First of all, Lady Cho tells In-Ho’s mother: “Why don’t you send your son to my house sometimes? I have a few books to help him study for the state civil exam.” When he does come for the books, Lady Cho sends So Oak to make the delivery, setting them up.
The first time Kwon In Ho and So Oak touch on their first meeting.
When In Ho goes to ask Lady Cho who that beautiful girl is, she tells him: “If you fancy a woman, you should talk to her and not come ask me about her. The bee and the butterfly look for their flowers by nature. A vigorous young man like you shouldn’t talk about propriety. You could at least wait by the wall and give her a letter once she comes near it.”
Kwon In Ho visits Lady Choi to ask about So Oak.
This is the prelude to that famous wall-climbing scene which will be discussed in tomorrow’s post. Suffice to say here that the young lovers are like puppets on strings, pulled by the two scheming aristocrats, Lady Cho and Cho Won.
First the 16-year-old So Oak is deflowered and impregnated by Cho Won — his wedding present for Lord Yu (Lady Cho’s husband) who is to take her as his concubine.
Then the innocent In Ho is seduced by Lady Cho in revenge against Cho Won whom she secretly loves and who has fallen in love with the virtuous Lady Jung (Jeon Do Yeon) whom he has finally conquered. Very complicated — everybody goes to bed with everybody, including the servants.
Lady Cho best sums up the irony of the situation when she says to So Oak: “This is a catastrophe. Your heart is with Master Kwon, your body with Cho Won, but you’ll be marrying Lord Yu.” And this: “Since you are to be a concubine anyway, and you already have a man to love, then why not another man to sleep with?” Sounds logical?
Lady Cho manipulates Kwon In Ho one last time. She writes In Ho a letter in So Oak’s name: “I must confess that I have deceived you for some time. Soon after coming to this home, it so happened that I fell into the arms of Sir Cho Won. But after I saw you, I had a change of heart. Having accepted him first, my body had become used to him, and my suffering has grown ever since. And so, I was going to confess to you, and stop our letters, but Sir Cho Won found it amusing, and made me keep writing to you. I knew it was wrong but I could not refuse the command of the one I love. Only recently, I discovered Sir Cho Won had been sleeping with Lady Jung. And so in my grief I write this letter in tears.”
Kwon In Ho cries at So Oak’s betrayal after reading So Oak’s letter (actually written by Lady Cho).
In Ho writes an anonymous letter to Lady Jung’s brother-in-law revealing the affair between Lady Jung and Cho Won, and of Cho Won’s deceit. The man confronts Cho Won, and stabs him, which causes his death later.
There are JHJ fans who do not want to watch “Untold Scandal” due to the explicit sex scenes. If you are one of those who do not like watching sexually explicit movies, the above summary will be enough to understand the movie.
But for those who want to watch the movie in full, you may be able to watch it with English subtitles on youtube through this link: http://www.youtube.com/channel/HCwYTIe22aqbU.
I cannot post the link to the video directly here on my blog for copyright reasons. Also, I cannot assure you that the video will be there all the time. They keep removing it, then someone keeps re-posting it. You will have to take your chances. Good luck!
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Credit: Screencaps from “Untold Scandal”; video as labelled.
Simply JO HYUN JAE 