Review of I Saw the Devil (2010) by Brooks C — 30 Sep 2012

The movie I Saw the Devil is a Korean vengeance thriller film directed by Kim Ji-woon (A Bittersweet Life, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Quiet Family). The plot is about a notorious psychopath named Kyung-chul who kidnaps and kills the pregnant fiancee of special agent, Soo-hyun. Upon discovering his fiancee's death, Soo-hyun diligently tracks down the killer. Once he finds Kyung-chul, he decides to force him into a brutal game of cat and mouse in order to make his suffering worse than that of his fiancee. The only question is: Haw far will he be willing to go to meet his means.

I Saw the Devil is a wonderfully crafted, gorgeously choreographed, relentlessly violent, and superbly acted movie. In my eyes, it's arguably one of the best Korean thrillers since Chan-wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy. The movie stars Choi Min-shik (Olboy, Lady Vengeance, Failan) as Kyung-chul. His performance is one of the most believable, menacing, wicked, and expertly acted since Tadonobu Asano in Ichi the Killer and Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Choi Min-shik is one of my favorite actors to come out of South Korea. Having stared as the villain in Lady Vengeance and the anti-hero Oh Dae-su in the classic Oldboy, he has gained much deserved recognition. His performance as Kyung-chul goes to enforce that.

Soo-hyun is played by Lee Byung-hun (The Good, the Bad, the Weird, A Bittersweet Life, Cut segment of Three...Extremes). His performance is also very strong, but it's also one of the more different approaches to characterization in Korean cinema. Unlike Lee Geum-ja from Lady Vengeance who seeks revenge for self-redemption, Soo-hyun's role as the ''protagonist" becomes blurred through the course of the film and tries to show how possibly far a good person can fall. This results in the line of good vs. evil being blurred.

As was stated, this movie is excessively violent. So much so, Kim Ji-woon was forced to cut certain scenes in order to secure a theatrical release in South Korea. This film has been credited as Korea's response to Seven. Which, isn't a bad connection considering that Seven was a great film and was as brutal. I prefer to think of this film as a response to Miike's Ichi the Killer. This is due to the similarities of the line between good and evil being blurred, a ''protagonist" who resorts to violence to deal with his personal struggles, and it being a study on the malevolent nature of the human spirit. Unlike Ichi the Killer, which was darkly cartoonish, I Saw the Devil is more realistic with its content and how it pursues its subject matter. I also think that for what Ichi the Killer tried to do with its story and characters, I Saw the Devil pushes the execution a step further in the right direction.

The plot to this film is very fast paced and intense. It always keeps the viewer guessing what will happen next and how everything will turn out. Much like The Fugitive, except with that film the killer isn't seen until later in the film. The music is also very well done and does a phenomenal job at setting the dark atmosphere of the film.

The only problem with this film is that some viewers may be affected by the gore and cruelty in this film. Some reviewers have gone as far to say that some of it nearly hits the taboo limit. It does in a way, but in this movie's case it helps to benefit the plot and the study of its characters. This film isn't for everyone and it's understandable why some people would be turned away from it. It has such superb direction and cinematography for me to recommend it.

In conclusion, I Saw the Devil is a truly remarkable accomplishment in Korean cinema. While not for everyone, it makes me proud to be a fan of the genre and gets me looking forward to what its directors will do next. Korean cinema has started off strong and I Saw the Devil goes to prove that it's only getting stronger.

*Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween.