Director Jee-woon Kim along with actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi are three of the most talented people in Korean cinema today. Jee-woon has done such films as A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which both starred Byung-hun and Min-sik is most recognized for his performance in Oldboy, but was also fairly impressive in the drama Crying Fist among many others. Oldboy is really the film that made me love Korean cinema. So when word broke that these three marvelous people were getting together to make a film, I knew I was already there. A little thriller called I Saw the Devil came together and became one of the most spectacularly intense thrillers to be released in quite some time.Late one snowy, winter night, a woman named Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh) sits stranded in her car waiting for a tow truck to arrive and help her fix a flat tire. She talks to her fiance, Dae-hoon (Byung-hun), over the phone as she waits. It's Joo-yeon's birthday and Dae-hoon, a secret agent, gets caught up with work and can't be there with her on her special day. A strange man shows up and begins to pester Joo-yeon about fixing the tire himself. After declining his help, the man known as Kyung-chul (Min-sik) attacks Joo-yeon before brutally murdering her. Kyung-chul is actually a notorious serial killer who mostly kills women and young girls. As the investigation unfolds, Dae-hoon swears merciless revenge on Kyung-chul and a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. Does Dae-hoon really know when this game will end or has he already become a bigger monster than the man he now preys upon?
The chemistry between Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi is what really drives the film. Byung-Hun is the broken down shell of a man when he's not in the hunt, so to speak. He has several emotional breakdowns that are incredibly heart wrenching, but the urge he has to make this bloodthirsty maniac pay for taking the love of his life away takes a front seat to any sort of emotion he once had. Byung-hun portrays the struggle his character has between sadness and revenge flawlessly. Min-sik plays the role of a lunatic incredibly well. His character seems to lack that which makes a person who they are; morals, a conscience, and above all a soul. Killing is the only thing that brings out the real Kyung-Chul. His first initial reaction to someone trying to beat him at his own game is agitation and borderline out of control rage, but once he regains control he not only enjoys himself but claims it's the most fun he's ever had. Min-sik acts level headed when his kills go well, but the way he expresses how insane his character really is when things go bad for him is what makes his performance so memorable. While the scenes where Byung-hun and Min-sik fight with each other are great for obvious reasons, there's a scene at the end of the film where they both have a heart to heart conversation that is just spectacular. Every little glimpse you have of that confrontation leading up to that point is fantastic, as well.
Jee-woon Kim certainly knows how to shoot a beautiful looking film. Lush and vibrant colors make grisly murders and spontaneous revenge tactics look much more pleasant than the blood that endlessly splatters all over every wall and floor in the film. Other than the brilliant colors, the cinematography is rather unique as well. There's a scene near the end of the film where Dae-Hoon is walking toward the camera on a deserted road. It's simple and shot like we're basically walking backwards in front of him while staring directly at his face. He eventually begins to cry; an uncontrollable sobbing. The way the scene is shot along with Byung-hun's performance made it one of the more memorable scenes in the film. There's another where Kyung-Chul gets picked up by a taxi. He gets into the front passenger seat while there's another man in the back, so there are three people in the car altogether including the driver. Kyung-Chul realizes he's going to have to beat these guys to the punch, so as their adrenaline escalates the camera rotates around the inside of the car. You get this continuous 360 degree shot of the action occurring inside this cab. It's amazing.
Leave it to another Korean thriller revolving around revenge to make an impression on me. Jee-woon Kim's I Saw the Devil is a superbly acted, exceptionally written, grotesquely gorgeous film that'll make you cringe during some of the more horrific and blood soaked acts in the film while secretly leave you craving so much more. That craving is satisfied thanks to the interactions and chemistry between actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-Sik Choi. The disturbing content in the film is more than enough to satisfy the hungriest gore hounds out there while the captivating story will please anyone looking for something more than someone being chopped to pieces. I Saw the Devil is one of the most morbidly delightful films to be released in recent years.
Buy I Saw the Devil (2011) Now
I knew this was gonna be a good movie but I didn't think it was gonna be this good! "I Saw The Devil" is an awesome serial killer, cat an mouse revenge flick where the good turn evil in order to inflict pain and suffering on a greater evil.The story goes like this, one snowy night a woman who is married to a detective catches a flat tire and calls for a tow, a stranger appears to help but ends up beating her, kidnaps, dismembers and disposes of her remains in a river. The remains are found and the hunt for the killer begins as the police narrow it down to four suspects.
The detective takes time off due to his wifes death but secretly tracks down the four suspects and tortures each one till he finds the one who killed his wife. Once found he exacts revenge over an over in a very cool way I might add at which time a game of cat an mouse occurs that leaves a trail of dead bodies and a once lawful detective no better than the truely psycho killer he's been stalking.
"I Saw The Devil" is a brutal/gory but not to gory film that will lead you down a road with a psychopath and a man who becomes one out of grief and anger in order to get revenge! As far as acting, it was great as was the score which fit the movie perfectly. Every year there is one or two horror movies that really standout, "I Saw The Devil" is 2011's standout horror masterpiece that deserves to be seen!
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Ji-Woon Kim is one of my favorite Asian directors. The movie runs well over two hours and I was left wanting more. You do need a thick stomach for this but if you love the gory revenge movies that Asian Cinema seems to have perfected you will love this one.Acting, cinematography, script, all top notch. I even dare say, better than most American movies out this year.
Want I Saw the Devil (2011) Discount?
I rented this movie from Netflix, largely due to the four-star rating, but fully expected it to be a complete joke. Let's face it, any movie that is about 2 1/2 hours long, in Korean with subtitles, and has a lead character who is a "secret agent" just HAS to be awful. Well, it wasn't. In fact I found it to be one of the most astounding, shocking, suspenseful, disturbing, and entertaining movies I have seen in a long, long time.Other people have delved into the plot and characters, so I won't bother, but I will say that for every second it was on the screen, I was on the edge of my seat, shaking my head in amazement, looking away in horror, and re-running the portions that defied belief the first time I saw them. This is an absolute classic of horror, psychopathic behavior, criminal psychology, and plot development. I honestly can't compare it to anything I have ever seen before, and I strongly recommend this movie to mature adults who think they have seen it all. Trust me, you haven't.....yet.
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