Untold Scandal & Born into Brothels

Untold Scandal is actually a pretty strong version of Dangerous Liaisons, set in 19th century Korea. It's not as good as Valmont, but it's about the same as the Stephen Frears film. Although there's quite a bit more nudity than I was expecting. Who knew that secret Catholics in Korea like the sex? The problem is that it's actually quite good, until the ending, which seems to fall apart. Having the narrator comment on the characters in the film, making their horribleness and accuracy suspect doesn't help the film. It's like he needed to underscore that these are evil people. Or maybe he's mocking the Koreans for being an uptight culture. Either way, the Catholics were deflowered and there was quite a bit of eroticism. I feel funny typing eroticism. It's such a codeword for "it makes me horny". Well, when other people use it, not me. I'm a chaste little boy. The film was gorgeous, and the use of color strong. Plus, the women were attractive. Therefore, it's full of sensuous eroticism.

Born into Brothels is an interesting look at the horrible conditions that the children of prostitutes in Calcutta deal with. That some of them do eventually find people who try to help them is about the only somewhat happy thing, even if they don't actually get as much help as they need. Seriously, Indians are strange. And there are way too many of them. The film was good, though, and a worthy Oscar nod. I'm not sure about the win, but it's definitely better than the other documentaries nominated. I wonder what else should have been nominated though. That's always the more difficult aspect of figuring out what deserves the Oscar.