{ "id": "epft3e183j", "slug": "virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors", "title": "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s", "label": "Drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s", "label": "Romantic drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정, Oh! Soo-jung) is Hong Sang-soo's 2000 black-and-white Korean romantic comedy, his third feature, told in five chapters from contradictory viewpoints of a love triangle, screened at Cannes Un Certain Regard 2000.", "snippet": "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정, Oh! Soo-jung) is Hong Sang-soo's 2000 black-and-white Korean romantic comedy, his third feature, told in five chapters from contradictory viewpoints of a love triangle, screened at Cannes Un Certain Regard 2000.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s", "markdown": "# Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정)\n\n**Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors** (오! 수정, *Oh! Soo-jung*) is a 2000 South Korean black-and-white romantic comedy directed and written by [Hong Sang-soo](https://www.edgepedia.org/hong-sang-soo), his third feature film. It follows a love triangle between a young television writer, Soo-jung, and two men, her married boss Young-soo and his wealthy gallery-owner friend Jae-hoon, and retells the same events in five chapters from different points of view, with the characters' memories of what happened disagreeing.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) • [2](https://www.timeout.com/movies/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and screenwriter | Hong Sang-soo (홍상수); his third feature, after *The Day a Pig Fell into the Well* (1996) and *The Power of Kangwon Province* (1998)[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) |\n| Cast | Lee Eun-ju as Soo-jung, Jeong Bo-seok as Jae-hoon, Moon Sung-keun as Young-soo[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026) |\n| Format | Black and white, 126 minutes (some listings give 127), Korean language[4](https://www1.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) • [5](https://cinemadedemain.festival-cannes.com/en/f/oh-soo-jung/) |\n| Structure | Five chapters: the first, third, and fifth cover the day Soo-jung is to surrender her virginity to Jae-hoon in a Seoul hotel; the longer second and fourth chapters reprise the relationship's beginnings, first from his point of view, then from hers[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) |\n| Korean release | May 27, 2000; rated 청소년 관람불가 (not for minors); 90,257 admissions recorded[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026) |\n| Festival honors | Un Certain Regard selection at the 2000 Cannes festival; Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival; Grand Bell Award for Best New Actress[6](https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/download/1056/1201/2488) • [7](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors-26) |\n| Title source | The English title references Marcel Duchamp's work *The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even*[8](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/lifestyle/dvd-reviewslike-the-weather-memories-can-change/10819164) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and structure\n\nThe three central characters are Soo-jung ([Lee Eun-ju](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-eun-ju)), a 24-year-old writer for a cable television production company; Young-soo (Moon Sung-keun), her married boss, an independent filmmaker who attends the art exhibition of his wealthy junior Jae-hoon hoping for financial backing; and Jae-hoon (Jeong Bo-seok), a rich gallery owner who takes an interest in Soo-jung at a drinking party after the exhibition.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) • [3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026) In the synopsis given by the Korean database Cine21, Soo-jung, disappointed by Young-soo's ineffectual behavior, proposes to Jae-hoon that she will be his lover only when they drink together.[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026)\n\nThe film is built on retelling with variation. Chapters one, three, and five chart the fateful day itself: Jae-hoon waits impatiently in a Seoul hotel room, Soo-jung hesitates but finally agrees to join him, and on the way she gets stuck in a stalled cable-car.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) The longer second and fourth chapters reprise how the relationship began and developed, first from Jae-hoon's point of view and then from Soo-jung's. The two agree only that Young-soo introduced them; very little else tallies between their accounts.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\n\nThe divergent memories carry the film's meaning. In one example discussed by the review site Film Inquiry, when Soo-jung stops Jae-hoon from going further, his version has him furious and dismissing her excuse, while her version has him calling her the wrong name in bed, which is why she refuses to continue.[9](https://www.filminquiry.com/virgin-stripped-bare-2000-review/) The festival writer Tony Rayns described the result as reinventing the romantic comedy \"in Cubist terms,\" and the film's Korean title is a pun: the name Su-jeong usually means \"crystal,\" but the word can also mean \"fertilization.\"[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) • [8](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/lifestyle/dvd-reviewslike-the-weather-memories-can-change/10819164)\n\n## Production\n\nHong Sang-soo (born 1960 in Seoul) studied at [Chung-Ang University](https://www.edgepedia.org/chung-ang-university) before earning a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA from the School of the [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-institute-of-chicago); he debuted with *The Day a Pig Fell into the Well* in 1996.[10](https://filmfestival.gr/en/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors/) *Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors* was his first comedy.[4](https://www1.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) It was also, according to a Film Inquiry retrospective, his last film made from a full script; afterward he moved to treatments and then to writing each day's pages the morning they were shot.[9](https://www.filminquiry.com/virgin-stripped-bare-2000-review/)\n\nThe crew included Choi Young-taek (cinematography), Ham Sung-won (editing), and Ok Gil-sung (music); production companies were Miracin Korea (also rendered Mirashin Korea) with investment from Unikorea, and the producer was Lee Yu-jin.[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026) • [4](https://www1.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors) According to IMDb trivia, the bulk of the movie was filmed in sequence, including multiple scenes set at the same location, which would normally be shot together for economy.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253378/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nThe film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes festival.[6](https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/download/1056/1201/2488) Release dates differ between sources: Cine21 and IMDb give the South Korean release as May 27, 2000, while Rotten Tomatoes lists a wide theatrical release of April 28, 2000.[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253378/) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oh-soojung-virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelor) Cine21 records 90,257 admissions in Korea and a rating that barred minors.[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026)\n\nAt the Tokyo International Film Festival the film received a Special Jury Prize and an Asian Film Award Special Mention, and it won Best New Actress at the Grand Bell Awards.[7](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors-26) Derek Malcolm, reviewing for *Screen Daily* in 2000, called it a romantic comedy touched with everyday realism rather than an erotic film, noting that it received a special jury award at Tokyo and was voted best film by the Pusan Film Critics.[13](https://www.screendaily.com/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors/404131.article) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer score of 71% from four reviews.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oh-soojung-virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelor)\n\n## Place in Hong Sang-soo's work\n\nThe film consolidated the reputation Hong had built with his first two features. The Korean Film Archive's retrospective notes states that with *[The Power of Kangwon Province](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-power-of-kangwon-province)* (1998) and *Oh! Soo-jung* (2000) he became an unrivaled auteur in Korean cinema, supported absolutely by critics at home and abroad.[14](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/cinematheque/programs/PI_01631) Later scholarship treats the film as an exercise in deconstructing narrative structure, and critics have connected its contradictory retellings to postmodern readings of Korean cinema alongside [Lee Chang-dong](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-chang-dong)'s *[Peppermint Candy](https://www.edgepedia.org/peppermint-candy)*.[15](https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/panoptikum/issue/download/332/Pan%2022%20caly%20w.3) • [16](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/456086/1/Thesis_Jia_Kang_28618939_.pdf) David Bordwell's *Figures Traced in Light* analyzes the film's staging, noting that Hong presents an entire dinner-table scene in an unmoving take lasting ninety-six seconds.[17](https://content.ucpress.edu/title/9780520241978/9780520241978_one.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, International Film Festival Rotterdam (Tony Rayns note)](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2001/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\n2. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\n3. [오! 수정 상세정보, 씨네21 (Cine21)](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=4026)\n4. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, New Zealand International Film Festival 2001 archive](https://www1.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\n5. [Oh! Soo-jung (Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors), Cinéma de Demain, Festival de Cannes](https://cinemadedemain.festival-cannes.com/en/f/oh-soo-jung/)\n6. [Cannes 2004 Report, KINEMA journal (Un Certain Regard 2000 entry)](https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/download/1056/1201/2488)\n7. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, HKIFF Cine Fan](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors-26)\n8. [DVD review by Mark Russell, The Korea JoongAng Daily](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/lifestyle/dvd-reviewslike-the-weather-memories-can-change/10819164)\n9. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors: Revisiting Hong Sang-soo's Third Feature, Film Inquiry](https://www.filminquiry.com/virgin-stripped-bare-2000-review/)\n10. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Thessaloniki Film Festival](https://filmfestival.gr/en/films/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors/)\n11. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253378/)\n12. [Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oh-soojung-virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelor)\n13. [Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors review by Derek Malcolm, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors/404131.article)\n14. [홍상수 전작전: 인트로덕션, 시네마테크KOFA (Korean Film Archive)](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/cinematheque/programs/PI_01631)\n15. [Terez Vincze, Showing the Complexity of the Simple – The Art-puzzle of Hong Sang-soo, Panoptikum](https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/panoptikum/issue/download/332/Pan%2022%20caly%20w.3)\n16. [Kang Jia, doctoral thesis, University of Southampton](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/456086/1/Thesis_Jia_Kang_28618939_.pdf)\n17. [David Bordwell, Figures Traced in Light, University of California Press](https://content.ucpress.edu/title/9780520241978/9780520241978_one.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s › Romantic drama films 2000s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정)](https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors](https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (오! 수정)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-stripped-bare-by-her-bachelors. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors is Hong Sang-soo's 2000 black-and-white Korean romantic comedy, his third feature, told in five chapters from contradictory viewpoints of a love triangle, screened at Cannes Un Certain Regard 2000." }