Review of I Saw the Devil (2010) by Brian R — 03 Jan 2012

Korean films seem to have some of the most dazzling visuals and realistic violence. This film features beautiful cinematography oozing with atmosphere and foreboding, and I can't remember the last time gore effects caused me to wince, nervously laugh, and look away from the screen. For all of the graphic yet sparely and appropriately used gore effects I liked so much about Drive, I Saw the Devil probably does this a bit better to create grinding tension.

I really enjoyed Kim Jee-Woon's previous film 'The Good, the Bad, the Weird' and it was nice to see his command and deliberation of the frame applied to such a radically different type of movie. The visual and conceptual themes bear a slight resemblance to those of Chan-wook Park's films, particularly his 'Revenge' Trilogy, but whereas Park deals with the idea of vengeance and how it affects the blatant elements of a person's environment, I Saw the Devil deals with the latent, psychological effects of revenge.

My only complaint is that the movie takes a little too long to set up its concept and for the first forty minutes we're treading water trying to figure out what the movie is about. The plot is very unfocused during that first act and part of the second act.