The full, uncensored cut of Jang Sun-woo's notorious 1999 film "Lies" is finally coming to Korean theaters. "Lies: 4K Uncut Complete Version" opens nationwide on November 11 — 27 years after censorship forced cuts on its original release.
Newsen reported on October 22 that the distributor has unveiled a second poster and teaser trailer for the restoration, leaning hard into the film's taboo history. The poster is drenched in red, with the English title "LIES" running vertically over intertwined figures and the copy "the more you hide it, the clearer the taboo becomes." It asks: "Are you, the 2026 you, ready to cross this line?" The teaser trailer repeats the words "taboo" and "censorship," declaring that "the 27-year seal is finally broken."
The 112-minute print contains the complete original with not a single scene removed, restored in 4K by the Korean Film Archive from the overseas distribution version. It is the first time the full cut has ever played in domestic theaters. The film has been rated 18 and over.
Few Korean films carry a history like this one. The source novel, Jang Jeong-il's "Tell Me a Lie," was designated an obscene book in 1996, and the author was jailed in 1997. The film was invited to the Venice competition in 1999, but at home the Korea Media Rating Board held it twice, forcing a cut version that opened in January 2000. A civic group then sued some 100 theater owners, and the UN Human Rights Commission recommended halting screenings — before prosecutors cleared the film later that year. It still drew 310,000 viewers in Seoul.
No official statement was available beyond the promotional materials. The re-release will test how today's audiences read the film that once put Korea's freedom of expression on trial.
