Jang Sun-woo’s ‘Lies’ Unsealed: Uncut 112-Minute Version to Hit Theaters for the First Time in 27 Years

A provocative film history piece, now seen in its entirety after escaping the shackles of a restricted rating and judicial scrutiny

Director Jang Sun-woo’s controversial film 'Lies' (1999), which sparked some of the sharpest ethical and legal debates in Korean film history, will reach theaters in an 'uncut complete version' for the first time in 27 years, with the traces of censorship removed.

Distributor Film-Ro Brothers announced that 'Lies: 4K Uncut Complete Version' will open officially in theaters nationwide on the 11th. Unlike in the past, when the film screened after some footage had been cut due to censorship, this marks the 'first time in Korea' the full 112-minute uncut version will be shown in domestic theaters.

The film adapts writer 'Jang Jeong-il'’s 1996 novel 'Tell Me a Lie' for the screen. Its provocative mise-en-scène depicts the forbidden relationship between J (played by Lee Sang-hyun), a 38-year-old married sculptor, and Y (played by Kim Tae-yeon), an 18-year-old high school student, along with their sadomasochistic sexual transgressions and psychological breakdown, sending shock waves through society at the time. The film must also have had a profound impact on the lives of its two leads. Lee Sang-hyun, who played sculptor J, pursued his main vocation as an artist after appearing in the film. Kim Tae-yeon, a former model who played Y and graduated from Inha Technical College’s Department of Aviation Operations, worked in film and television until 2007, but there has been no news of her since.

The film was caught in a fierce storm from the early stages of production. It drew the attention of the global film community when it was officially invited to compete at the 56th 'Venice International Film Festival' in 1999, but also caused an international stir when the Vatican issued a statement opposing it around the same time. Resistance at home was even stronger. The Korea Media Rating Board twice deferred its rating, putting the film’s release in jeopardy; it was ultimately able to meet audiences in 2000 with a restricted rating for viewers under 18 only after its most explicit scenes were removed. After its release, complaints by some conservative and civic groups and campaigns to withdraw the film from theaters continued, leaving it as a touchstone for gauging the limits of 'freedom of expression' and the legal definition of obscenity.

The original novel also underwent a grueling legal ordeal. Shortly after its publication in 1997, writer Jang Jeong-il was arrested and indicted on charges of publishing obscene material and sentenced to six months in prison. After an appeals court reduced the sentence to probation, the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2000, making the case one of the worst literary censorship scandals in Korean literary history.

The newly released 'Lies: 4K Uncut Complete Version' is based on a 4K digital restoration led by the 'Korean Film Archive'. Combining the original film, which had never been completed, with a master print made for overseas distribution, the project has maximized the restoration’s completeness. Key sequences cut in 2000 have been restored in high definition, fully reviving the director’s intentions.

A provocative aesthetic that shook its era and a vivid record of Korean cinema’s direct confrontation with the censorship system of the time: after 27 years, the film awaits reassessment through a new critical lens.