Product Description

The late Lee Eun-Joo (GARDEN OF HEAVEN and TAEKUGI: THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN) gave a deeply heartbreaking performance in this cryptic romance directed by acclaimed Korean director Hong Sang-Soo. A love-triangle like relationship between a filmmaker, his enigmatic young female assisstant (Lee) and his friend is told twice, with the second version retelling their affair in a completely different light. Shot in beautiful black and white, VIRGIN STRIPPED BARE BY HER BACHELORS is a raw, unflinching look at our search for companionship and how our innocence is lost over time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106925 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-01-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 126 minutes

Customer Reviews

"One Can't Do Everything One Wants In Life" ~ A Slip Of The Tongue, A Crack In The Ice, Chopsticks Etiquette And Romance
Note: Cantonese with English subtitles.

Judging by the title of this rather obscure little Asian film you are led to expect something entirely different than what is actually presented on the screen. Who wouldn't expect something highly pornographic in nature when they read the title `Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors.' It turns out to be nothing of the kind.

What you find yourself watching instead is a slow moving study in existential longing and alienation presented in a manner that Ingmar Bergman would be proud of. The film is shot in black and white, the season is winter. The trees are barren of foliage, the lake in the park frozen and the sky overcast and gloomy. The mood and atmosphere is so stark and minimal you almost expect to see Sven Nykvists' name in the closing credits.

Synopsis: Two attractive young people meet through a mutual friend which slowly turns into a meaningful relationship. The tale is told twice, first from the male perspective, then the female. This is definitely a love story of the mundane kind. It contains no exhilarating expressions of love or carefree emotional outbursts. The only brief moment of openly affectionate behavior between the two would-be lovers comes late in the film finally adding a brief but positive and uplifting note to an otherwise dreary relationship.

It took me awhile to figure it out the filmmakers intent, but I think I finally did. The message of the film is found in the cinematic mood, not the dialogue. The mood is the message. At two hours and six minutes in length that's an awfully long time to simply bask in the atmosphere of a movie. If not for the presence of the alluring beauty Eun-ju Lee as the female love interest I would've never lasted to the end.