“Insadong Scandal,” a 2009 movie, tells the story of people who paint replicas of lost treasures and delusive ambitions against the backdrop of Insadong, once known as a major center for antiques and contemporary art trading in Korea.

The auction house scandal story begins with a grand project of restoring legendary painter Ahn Gyeon(안견)’s masterpiece entitled “Byeonkando” (벽안도), which disappeared 400 years ago and had resurfaced only recently. Bae Tae-jin(배태진), a big shot in the art world, has her eye on the antique painting with an auction-bidding price to hit a record-high of 40 billion won. This cold-blooded, ferocious woman often lobbies politicians and never hesitates to get involved in faking and smuggling art. The successful restoration of the tattered painting would enable her to dominate the local art scene once and for all, so the art mogul finds genius restorer Lee Kang-jun(이강준), suggesting 1 billion won for the year-long project. Accepting the proposal, Lee starts restoring the priceless work of art from the Joseon Dynasty in a restoration lab located in Bae’s gallery. Behind this joint restoration work, however, Bae weaves a plot with a Japanese buyer while Lee hatches his own sophisticated plan. Meanwhile, various other characters spice up the conspiracy. The gallery now turns into a battleground of greed and betrayal. A caption for the movie reads, “Don’t trust what you see. Everything you see may be nothing but a fake.” Viewers figure out exactly what the significant caption means at the end of the film.

The film delves into the relatively fresh theme of the restoration of an art piece and a conspiracy involving the local art scene set in the exotic art hub of Insadong in central Seoul.

In the movie, the legendary painting “Byeonkando” was drawn by 15th-century court artist Ahn Gyeon who wished to devote it to ill-fated prince Anpyeong(안평). In reality, it is said that the painting has yet to be discovered or has already been lost. According to director Park Hee-gon(박희곤), not many people know that the same painter’s famous work, “Mongyu Dowondo”(몽유도원도), meaning “Paradise in a Dream,” which is displayed at the National Museum of Korea, is actually a replica. The original version remains in Japan. Inspired by this, the director produced the movie exploring the line between restoration and replication, and between genuine artistry and skillfully crafted con artistry.

The story is so speedy and tantalizing that few audience members find themselves getting bored throughout the 110-minute movie.

That’s it for today’s Hot Flicks and Soaps. Today, we talked about the stylish and fast-paced crime drama, “Insadong Scandal.” Please tune in again next time for another hit Korean movie or TV series.