I wish I hadn't seen him. I’m talking about the hero and the movie at the same time. The fact that inhuman is unambiguous, only the devil - that sounds too soft. Erupt, monster, beast, after all, or just a creature - these are the more appropriate words. And the victim also treats him with all courtesy and respect, despite all that she has gone through. That's the difference in parenting. If you look at it from the point of view of belonging to Korean cinema, then yes, this is a kind of breakthrough. But in relation to other world films, it will be dishonest to praise something that falls short of a certain bar. I always say you can't make a live movie, you don't have to take a two-hour movie. But loyal fans of Korean cinema and actors who starred in this film, perhaps, will be pleased.
Personally, the theme of the film is not relevant, not realistic, so it is not interesting. Other characteristics are normal. That is, realistically shot unrealistic story. It's dissonant. Although annoying is already typical for cinema episodes, when marks on the head of a person appear only after the sixth stroke of dumbbells somewhere under 6 kg, etc. miracles. 7 out of 10.
The film is definitely tough, merciless and soul-breaking. It wasn't easy to watch, but all the bloody scenery is important for understanding the choice of protogonost. Many people write about ‘enjoying revenge’, but I don’t see the hero enjoying it, quite the opposite. Nor do I see in him a transition to the side of evil: he simply uses methods that are understandable to the antagonist. There is no story in the film that someone makes a mistake and lynches an innocent person - everything is transparent and clear: only force can defeat. Therefore, there can be no help for condemnation. After all, it is opaquely shown that the society (and the entire police of the district, so to speak) is powerless, cannot catch anyone by legitimate means, and he catches the murderer in a few days, saving several innocent victims. This is predator hunting. Yes, the price is very high, but it does not retreat. For what the grandfather (father of the bride) in General, as a man supports a man.
There is a moment of choice when the protagonist is asked to stop at a certain point, but he sees no possibility. And gets extra punishment, like a mockery, 'and you sure are? Are you ready to go all the way? There is nothing stopping him: he descends into his own hell.
Although Christian symbolism seems to permeate the film, in my opinion, every round of the plot confirms that there can be no place for compassion or humanity. These concepts are simply absent in the world of heroes. They fight for their own hell because they have nothing more.
I think it's all the same reasoning as true detective, about the nature of evil, about our own capabilities and solutions. And all would be fine and unambiguous, but the ending is simply incredible. It basically closes the circle and partially crosses all of the above.
I saw the devil on the surface, before the experience of viewing, it may seem to the careless viewer another cinematic interpretation of the story of necessary, if not natural, revenge. Thematically, the film does not differ from other representatives of this subgenre of action films, but it meaningfully acts as their polar opposite. It is this aspect of Kim Ji-un’s work that awakens in the mass consciousness reactionary beliefs and everyday morality, which tirelessly direct their entire moral and ethical arsenal towards the film. Such criticism deserves special attention, because unlike purely emotional rejection, which is a completely normal reaction, it claims to be more than appeals to emotions, and therefore poses some semantic danger.
Obviously or not, I’ve seen the Devil – it’s entirely authorial, but not genre. And if not for the relatively modest budget of the film, it would be a box office failure, which, for example, the viewer condemned Blade Runner 2049, which is also the author’s work. Perhaps this vague thesis could serve as a warning to the optimistic viewer, to protect him from viewing and subsequent indignation. The guarantee of “authorship” is provided here not by the complexity of the narrative, but by the radicalization of the idea that marks the plot and tone of the narrative. However, this radicalization allows the film to be more honest than the overwhelming number of representatives of the cohort of militants, cultivating a story of righteous revenge, which results in targeted murder. The lamentation of many viewers about the “abnormal” or shocking content of I Saw the Devil should, strange as it may be, puzzle them. After all, they draw a dividing line that divides the morally permissible murder and cruelty from the impossible and unacceptable, as if such a line could exist at all.
The point in this case is that the perception of the masses imposes unconscious restrictions on the method of reprisal that the protagonist applies to the antagonist and hides behind the screen of admissibility the meaningfully identical idea of illegal and unnatural action, in other words, the same murder. The ethical foundation of condemnation is blinded to the point that people who like to accuse the digital entertainment industry, and cinema in particular, of the social aggression that pops up here and there do not notice their own contradictions. After all, the responsibility for the “damage of reality” is shifted to rare representatives of cinema, who are only because they are attacked by the vigilant public, that they absolutize and expose the message characteristic of all representatives of the genre to their detriment. At this time, a legion of thematically identical fighters enjoys an indulgence sanctioned by outside forces. In short, claims of violence in their sequence should be reinforced by any manifestation of violence in the cinema, not by any manifestation of it. The other question is whether it is worth blasphemy for fiction at all when there is a far more terrifying reality.
I have seen the Devil have an interesting feature that eliminates any potential link between the viewer and the hero. Classic, or it would be better to say standard representatives of militants, building a triad - protagonist, revenge, antagonist, smooth out both the image of the protagonist himself, to which we will return, and skillfully hide the viciousness of the antagonist behind the screen. The criminal is often a man, shameful or miserable, but a man. Reflecting the animal beginning of the antagonist, when it comes to mass cinema, is more a privilege of horror films. But the lover of horrors understands in advance what awaits him and what image will look at him from the screen. I saw the devil is also interesting because it doesn’t cut off most of the viewers who probably wanted to see the ordinary action movie. The reason for this misunderstanding lies in the synopsis and plot, which do not allow to anticipate the true nature of the picture.
But a much more interesting and exciting point is clarified by a shallow analysis of the characters. I saw the devil absolutize not only the image of a maniac, who, albeit with difficulty, can be digested and accepted, because he is by definition a “bad person”. Spectator expectations are a personal problem for everyone. Radical transformation is also subject to the protagonist, whose fierce and beastly persistence is much more difficult to accept. If at the beginning of the film, sympathy for the hero is intuitively built by demonstrating a personal tragedy - the loss of a pregnant wife, then during the viewing it can be replaced by total bewilderment. At some point, the viewer realizes that the connection between him and the hero can no longer be maintained. It's bound to collapse. The passive viewer, who wanted to enjoy the “passing action movie” without strain, will not withstand the intense flow of shocking scenes and images. The romantic, eager to identify himself with one of the characters of the work, is also cruelly deprived of this opportunity. The director deliberately rejects the viewer and leaves him alone. Such deprivation is felt by many, for example, in the process of reading Kafka’s novels, which skillfully operate with an identical impossibility for the subject to establish a personal connection and identify himself with an unnamed hero. At the same time, the details and elements of I saw the devil only increase his potency to reject the viewer. Whether it’s a scene from the first half of the film, in which Lee Ben-hon’s character prowls for the culprit, or the killer’s taxi ride – the result is one.
Attunement to a certain pessimistic mood and the finale of the picture. We're used to getting revenge. Usually the hero simply eliminates the opponent and saves a loved one, in extreme cases, the protagonist feels some satisfaction from the very retribution. And the latter is not welcome, and therefore is less common, because such an outcome is still “worse than it could be.” Finding peace and happiness are absolutely normal human desires, understandable and accessible to everyone. And through self-identification with the antagonist, the viewer tries on the results of his work, his success and satisfaction. I saw the devil thwarting this opportunity and in every possible way tells the viewer not to cherish hope for an optimistic conclusion of events. The antagonist is left with nothing. Yes, he pushes the plot and builds situations, serves as a catalyst for action, but his initial powerlessness for happiness cannot be overcome. Both his personality and psychological state remain static. Moreover, as a result of revenge, the situation of the protagonist only worsens, because he wants to keep the possibility of this very revenge, but is forced to lose it.
I saw the devil – unhealthy, uncomfortable, heavy and hopelessly gloomy cinema, which can arouse in the audience extremely risky thoughts, in a normal environment, condemned by both society and himself. The film is the standard of the genre, because it fully actualizes all that other works have the courage to reproduce only from a part. So I saw the devil expose their content inferiority. As a response to the proponents of the corruption of public morality and other critics of excessive cruelty, one should either remind that there is a chasm between cinematic fiction and reality, which can only be filled by a conscious human will, or, with a fair amount of sarcasm, quote the cult Tarantinovsky: “Because it’s so much fun, Jan! Get it?”
Cruel reflection on the revenge of South Korean maestro Kim Ji-un left me positively mixed feelings after watching and sowed a slight dissonance in the soul.
On the one hand, the film has a small number of silly scenes, not much, but affect the final impression of the picture. On the other hand, “I Saw the Devil” keeps all 2.5 hours of timekeeping in great tension and offers an incredibly high-quality psychological attraction that rocks the moral guidelines of the viewer by awakening inhuman hatred for the character of Choi Min Sik, who created the most bastard maniac in the cinema in my memory. And this finely managed balance between acceptable illogicality and a great emotional play completely disarmed my desire to demand meticulous realism from the film and forced me to look at the content, not the form.
Revenge will not bring back loved ones, will not bring peace to the soul. It will tear apart its remnants, make you revel in bitter pain more and more terrible, pushing a person to the most terrible deeds. We all understand that, and it's true. But it's easy to talk about revenge when life is fine. When your pregnant girlfriend doesn't get chopped apart by a rogue freak for fun. To mercy with unbearable truth then?
It is hard to say whether I am for or against Kim Soo Hyun’s choice. One part of me wants a brutal massacre and an incredibly painful finale for a bloodthirsty, distraught scum. Another, more reasonable and sober, rather, too, but something does not give her the opportunity to agree with righteous lynching. I can’t give you an answer to the question above.
But what I will not do is condemn Kim Soo-hyun.
I wish you could feel pain even after you die.
Thriller, action, crime – elements of all these genres successfully intertwined in the film “I saw the devil”. Already by the title you can understand that the horror in the picture of South Korean director Kim Ji-un will be enough.
The central character of the film is the cruel killer maniac Jang Kyung Chol, who brings terror to others. He is incredibly cunning and dodgy, and many years of police attempts to catch him always end in failure.
However, there is nothing perfect in the world, even the most calculating criminal is mistaken. This happened to Jang Kyung Chol, who chose the daughter of a former police officer as his next victim. Moreover, the victim was also the bride of special agent Kim Sung-hyun.
The bridegroom takes an oath to find and punish the murderer, no matter what it costs him. He begins his investigation and his actions are not always within the law. But it doesn’t matter to him anymore – revenge has become the meaning of his life. And Kim Sung-hyun is not enough just to kill a criminal - he wants to make him suffer.
The film is incredibly cruel and realistic. In fact, the creators of the film for two and a half hours plunge the viewer into shock. And this is achieved not only by realistically filmed scenes of violence, the film is very psychological. Amateur, anyway. That's right for me.
This film causes a real storm of emotions, but these emotions are far from happiness and joy, rather disgust and disgust, the film seems to drop you in a barrel of shit. And all because of violence, the level of violence on the screen is twisted to the maximum, it is rather some kind of ultraviolence, and not what was shown in ' Clockwork Orange' - but real, real.
But the film's title perfectly captures its essence - now I've seen the devil. And yet the scenes of violence in the tape are not as frequent as one might think, but they are so perfectly fit into the entire timekeeping, and so it is shown - where it is rigidly naturalistic and where it is veiled - that the film causes a burning disgust. I think many who did not watch the film ' I saw the devil' until the end, and those who watched realized that 'Hostel' Compared to this film, only a children's morning.
It is clear that the director sought this effect, violence is the highlight of this film, its driving force. But all this would not have been achieved without a strong staging and excellent actors, especially I want to note the antagonist - he just masterfully played his role.
Although the film does not shine with incredible visuals and inventive shots, but the production turned out to be smooth and strong, of course the story is a little fantastic and very exaggerated, but what is clearly and clearly traced throughout the story is that revenge will not bring anything good.
Revenge, do not revenge – the dead cannot be returned, and it will not bring joy.
South Korean director Kim Ji-un has good and interesting films, but the tip of his triumph is just this movie called ' I Saw the Devil'. The thriller is incredibly shocking, tough, realistic and tearing the viewer apart.
I once strongly recommended this film to watch an experienced film lover Alexander Machikhin, and at one time I appreciated this cold thriller. What to say: the film surprised, stunned and remained in the memory forever.
It’s not even about the terrible and cruel story, but how the director Kim Ji-un presented it to us, how the actors played – it was unsurpassed. The film is pure in that sense, and it’s like we’ve seen a real horror story. It was scary and it wasn’t easy.
Cruel and insane maniac has killed no girl, and already many, but when he brutally kills the pregnant bride of special agent Kim Soo-hyun, he signs a death sentence. The agent leaves his job and devotes his life to finding the man who took the life of his beloved. Having found a maniac, he is in no hurry to kill him quickly. His plan is sophisticated, and this beast must suffer. . .
Justice is the way to harmony, and revenge is the way to ease your pain.
I haven’t experienced such emotions in a movie in a long time. Here and shock, action, adrenaline, cold horror, constantly watching everything in excitement and anxiety. The picture is really cruel, this hits the psyche and attention of the viewer. Some of the scenes still stand before my eyes.
Watching this movie, and talking to some heroines: say ' run, run '. That's how the movie fills you up and grabs your attention. I wouldn’t recommend everyone to watch this movie. The thriller is really serious and very cruel. The film is psychological, and it is really not for everyone.
The duet of the avenger and maniac is performed here by respected South Korean actors Lee Byung-hon and Choi Min-sik. We remember the first one from the series 'Iris'. In general, he is an international actor, and he is filmed not only in his country, but also in the West.
Agent (the main character) he plays here amazingly. So much pain in his eyes, so much despair. Well, the last scene with him and causes the viewer tears. The director and the actor are so spectacularly and cleanly presented that the viewer feels all the giant pain of this person when watching every cell of his body. He is incredibly sorry, but the revenge he carries out is only to somehow alleviate the pain of loss, but it is not relieved.
Star of the cult film 'Oldboy' Choi Min-sik is playing a crazy maniac here. The actor is so perfect for this role, so perfectly played that he really begins to fear. The real beast, pure evil, madness is the devil. It's scary that people like this exist. This movie makes us as close as possible to them.
Is it possible to forgive the enemy? God forgive! Our goal is to organize their meeting.
The director wraps the viewer in cold horror when we come into contact with this negative hero. The title of the film for this story is perfect. It’s hard to find a movie like this to have so many crazy emotions.
You can call this film a black masterpiece. We are used to seeing American films always with a good ending, happy ending, but there is a movie that immerses in reality, and such films carry cinematic value. The reality shown here is terrible and you do not want to accept it, it is better to never face it, and the film itself is created without a single note of falsehood, everything is very realistic.
The movie takes two and a half hours, and it’s intense. Even the most avid moviegoer, this picture can surprise.
'I Saw the Devil' is a 2010 South Korean crime thriller. The result is a fierce, violent, truly shocking revenge movie that will make you appreciate what you have and also show the true side of evil.
Revenge is a two-headed rat. When you kill an enemy, you kill yourself.
Starting acquaintance with South Korean cinema and flipping through the lists of the best films, everywhere you can see “I Saw the Devil” in the first positions. It was my turn to get acquainted with this creation.
The plot tells us the confrontation of a bloodthirsty killing machine performed by the magnificent Choi Min-sik and a policeman, with a teenage face performed by the equally talented Lee Byung-hon, who, after killing his beloved by the above-mentioned machine, sets off a time bomb called revenge.
Korean films are characterized by their brutality and excessive realism on the screen. Although, if you look at the inhabitants of this small country, you will see a very friendly and funny people (I studied in China for several years and talked with Koreans), who, at first glance, like harmless and kind films. In this contrast, I am even more attracted by Korean films, because they cling to the living with their uniqueness, simplicity of storytelling and a small touch of playfulness in the frame.
I still don’t understand why the genre of this film is defined as a “thriller”. This may lead the viewers astray. This is the purest horror movie. Weak-hearted and highly impressionable look is contraindicated. There's plenty of blood, violence and dismembered bodies in the movie. Be prepared.
The key ideological “hero” is revenge. We can talk about this for a long time, whether it is good or bad, until we are (God forbid) in the place of the avenger. Once in its place, the line between these two concepts blurs, leaving us no choice. The hero of Lee Byung-hong from the very first minutes makes a deal with the devil and begins his journey, stuffed with all sorts of sophisticated methods of justice.
Be prepared for the final climax you will never foresee. After it, your blood will freeze in your veins and goosebumps will run all over your body.
But still the main question, the answer to which, everyone will have their own: did you see the devil in the psychopath standing before you or in yourself?
Horribly Slow Avenger With Extremely Ineffective Techniques
Revenge stories are not uncommon in mass cinema. On revenge in general, you can build some incredible number of plots, and shove them into almost any available genre. The only question is how trivial these stories are. What else can you think of with this concept? Turns out you can. And let there be some nuances that will not allow to elevate the film in a number of really serious things. South Korean director Kim Ji-un, who directed I See the Devil in 2010, succeeded. The film was so popular that at one time on the film adaptation of this story put an eye even in the West. Well, as it was in the case of the same Oldboy. The result is generally known to everyone, because only Asians are able to correctly adapt even the craziest plots, and “I see the devil” flaunts just something like this.
Kim So probably assumed that his life was a success, since he has a great job and a beautiful wife who is waiting for Kim So at home. But, unfortunately, all dreams and hopes of Kim So collapse literally overnight, as an unknown scumbag brutally kills his wife, who is lately stuck in bad weather on a country road. Kim So swears by all he has left that he will find the love killer of his life, and brutally retaliate. And revenge will take place in an incredible number of stages that will turn the life of the killer into an endless hell.
Somewhere I read that before the film was released in South Korea, the creators even had to cut a number of particularly bloody and apparently cruel scenes, despite the fact that the film already has a high age rating. And this may well have been done not without reason, since the picture is really just filled with a huge amount of various cruelty. Broken heads and severed limbs are not all that the work can offer the viewer. All this is emphasized by the very viscous and drenched atmosphere of the film itself, because total hopelessness is present here, it would seem, in almost every scene. But the work manages to highlight also perfectly staged fights of the main characters, which are made, though without frills, but at the same time look in general quite decent. The very confrontation of the main characters of the picture generally looks with some interest, since Lee Byung-hon and Choi Min-sik played their roles simply superbly. You can literally feel all the anger and total anger that their characters feel towards each other on screen. This is certainly achieved by the highest talent of both performers.
At the same time, the picture has a number of plot assumptions, which with each minute viewed turn into huge gaping holes. That is, in this regard, absolutely everything is ambiguous here, starting from the completely absurd plan of revenge of the main character, and ending with the madness that he creates in the course of the achievement. In addition, it seems that the creators deliberately introduced into the plot some incredible number of psychopaths, among which, the main character manages to look no less crazy. So there are certain moments in this particular regard, and the solutions look incredibly pretentious. The film is a real madness that probably won’t fit into the perception of many viewers, and I’m not really talking about scenes of violence or local fights, but about the same plot component. But at the same time, you understand mentally that in the rest it turned out to be very qualitative, and the picture does not let you get bored absolutely, despite its very impressive duration.
The main character avenges the death of a girl, and does it in a sophisticated way. . .
In the game of actors there is no pathos, no playfulness, which invariably pleases.
Unfortunately, some plot decisions leave much to be desired, because pathos crept here, starting with a pathetic oath in the cemetery and ending with a long meaningless final dialogue. In terms of staging hot scenes of confrontation, the film partly resembles an action movie, and, in my opinion, this spoils it, because for greater authenticity in the role of an antagonist, it is better to use not a superhero, but more or less a simple person. This would have given his “deeds” more value. But still acting talent here covers everything, so the result was like a highly artistic newsreel “from the life of one maniac.”
The role of the latter is played by the hero of Oldboy Choi Min-sik, and the character turned out to be very textured. Perhaps such repulsive and insidious scumbags have not been shown in the cinema before. The best shot from the film is when, while looking out of the shelter, the light snatches part of the maniac’s face, and the victim, like a shy deer, does not yet know what strength the danger lies in wait for her, only fearfully shuffles from foot to foot ... A very strong moment!!
All the characters of the film are characterized by emphasized verboseness, especially the main character. And he can be understood, because in the plot he experiences special spiritual suffering and at the same time does not want to show his feelings. The actor skillfully plays the experience of personal tragedy and at the same time emotional restraint, it turned out to be extremely reliable, but with the number of tears, perhaps, too much. In the film, as they say, less words, more action. And you have to be healthy!
I’m not sure, but I thought the filmmakers were trying to lay a moral message: if you behave in this way, maybe the roof will go up. This timidly hints at the last scene, as well as the entire epic with “multi-vengeance”, as having nothing to do with common sense, and looking like this.
Special. With a cut Achilles tendon, it is unlikely that a person would be able to walk like this, except to jump on one leg.
Characters very quickly return "in line" after injuries, which is not typical for a normal living organism.
“Magic pill” and without laxative should not linger in the body.
Conclusion. There are many thrillers about revenge, but this one stands out for the better by the special cynicism and frostbite of the maniac, as well as the naturalism characteristic of South Korean films. Fans of film stories about bloody rapists picture will taste.
I am a person who, until 2010, did not know about the existence of South Korean cinema and did not know its specifics. At the time of 2019, I watched this film 3 times and can give the most objective assessment.
This film makes you turn to the darkest thoughts, to the very devil who lives in man. This film answers a moral dilemma - is the crime commensurate with a similar punishment? And this film is not about revenge, for revenge involves the satisfaction and resolution of injustice for the injured party.
Don’t be afraid of the impressive timing. In this movie, it's definitely a plus. You can see the complete transformation of the main character. Every step has its consequences.
The film is incredibly cruel and realistic. Yes, but we live in a world where there are real monsters who do truly shocking things.
Actors are on top. I didn’t have a second not to believe what was happening on the screen.
Bottom line: I have to admit that the film is not for everyone. A film for a thinking audience. A film about dualism, cruelty, pain and death. And especially for those who in moments of rage try on the mask of the executioner.
10 out of 10
All Hollywood paintings are similar to each other, each extra-Hollywood genre is stamped in its own way. The British shoot a grainy picture about slums and crime, the Indians alternate mustache and mustache superpolice, the Japanese make the jubilee eightieth remake & #39; Godzillas' the Russians are experiencing ' can repeat' in another movie about the war several times a year, the French think that they succeed in funny comedies, the Indonesians make the best quality fights on the market. And the Koreans?
Koreans are filming revenge. Killing girls, investigations, and revenge - 'mix, don't shake' This is their ' feature' you can even say ' fetish'. The difference of this particular film is that the entire ' mandatory program' which is the standard of the genre, the picture rolls back in the first forty-five minutes, leaving the viewer perplexed - what do they do in front of the screen for more than an hour and a half? Actually, only after that and begins ' real ' film, something new and interesting.
The actors, of course, are great. The ones that are the main two. Everyone else could not be hired, but forced to read their lines on a piece of paper, and from the point of view of impression, nothing would change. Therefore, it is good that the main couple takes about 85% of screen time - the confrontation between the maniac and the avenger is very bright, almost at the level of ' Fights' with Al Pacino and De Niro.
The director tried very hard - all the action scenes (and they, surprisingly, there are) are done perfectly. You can see that a lot of effort has been spent on creating beautiful shots, and a few are even remembered, but the impression is spoiled by foam snow and pretentious color correction, which turns blood (of which there is a lot here), into ' just strawberry juice'.
In the remainder - a strong middle peasant, who does not get bored in two and a half hours, thanks to excellent actors, a couple of surprises up his sleeve, and a peculiar picture. If you show remarkable flexibility of imagination, you can even ' classic trilogy of revenge' ('Oldeuboi', 'Sympathy for Lady Revenge', 'Sympathy for the Lord Revenge') replace this picture, whose main drawback - it was just not the first.
6.5 out of 10
Probably the most correct tactical application of this picture would not be familiarity with the genre ' Korean cinema' (for which it would be better to fit 'Memories of the Murder' or the same ' trilogy'), but the satisfaction of the thirst for the new within the framework of the well-known.
It is strictly contraindicated to look at blood intolerance on the screen (it is simply ).
kinobalashow
Definitely a tough movie. It's contraindicated for the faint of heart. As in the case of many Korean thrillers, the maniac is caught, but not in a hurry to arrest. Procrastination is punishable.
The killer, in fact, could not realize himself sexually. Like a lone wolf. He can do everything: kill techniques, details. But he doesn't have brains that are developed at the school level. Here comes into play the subtle mind of the detective, who decided to punish the maniac. The only thing that remains unclear is why the capsule, which the investigator so cherished, eventually turned out to be unnecessary (a very important detail in the whole film).
Now about violence: there's too much of it in the movie. I’m not going to describe how people get killed in this movie, but sex scenes are much more shocking. The director, as it were, specially shows the maniac’s poorness in sex (one pose for the entire film), hinting at physical and mental impotence.
But the philosophy of the film is not sex. This is a struggle between good and evil, in which delay is punished with new victims. The director revealed the method of struggle perfectly, as if putting the maniac higher, slightly hinting at a win on his part. But no one needs such a useless creature after retribution either. As a result, the detective mourns himself.
Asian cinema has at night taught audiences around the world that it can shock the unprepared mind sufficiently. A significant feature is that next to tons of blood, resourceful cruelty and increased levels of violence coexists a peculiar and bizarre beauty. Sometimes it is elusive or inconspicuous, but the general conclusion, mate, is clear: it is often difficult to explain why shocking Asia in its movies deftly hides great beauty and how they, damn it, turn out.
Many sensible people may be indignant and, in addition, object to us, saying that you are rubbing nonsense game for us here. Your narrow-eyed ones have long since gone mad. Not only do they eat everything that gets caught in their eyes, but they also manage to demonstrate an extreme level of senseless violence in their strange tin. So the bash has enough news reports about murders, catastrophes and rapes, saying why back it up with questionable Asians. Well, such comrades will not help the ambulance.
Kim Ji-un, of course, at first glance, seems an unpretentious epic about a super-violent maniac who super-brutally deals with his victims until he stumbles upon the super-violent husband of one of the killed and dismembered. They should have sex if they look like that, but let's get rid of the jokes. Behind the veil of taunts, sniffles and laughs in the side is a bored dramatic thriller, which with its simple plot is able to captivate and not let go until the victorious end.
While on the screen the action rushes behind the action, it is impossible not to think about what we would have done in the place of the protagonist. If you kill people just out of boredom, then the knife is not in our creative style. Now, if you wet all sorts of goats who really deserve all the human pain to the fullest, you will inevitably want to feel the cheerful rush of hunting instinct. The main character, however, managed to make a mistake, but so the plot was required to steer to the end. To catch all these inhumans to shake out their human.
Shake the whole soul, disembowel all the insides, tear out all the roots, so that in the end there are skin and bones that will not be able to do anything worthwhile. To avenge all the innocent and innocent who were once unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Get to the bottom of the monster, so that hell with a dungeon seemed a desirable place for him. South Korean cinema is not about simple revenge, which should be served cold. It's about down with humanism when it's totally inappropriate.
The prefix "artistic", thanks to Hollywood lost its meaning. Films from the West can be called maniprint, or laundering, but not artistic. That’s because the mainstream modern viewer demands spectacles, not meaning and philosophy. He doesn't want to worry, he doesn't want to sympathize, he wants a "fan," and filmmakers from the West feel it subtly. The problem is that cinema itself is slowly dying. Of course, you can find really feature films, but they are like a rarity. How is South Korea doing? Better than everyone else.
Movies like Man From Nowhere, Night of Memories, Oldboy and so on are not movies for entertainment. This is a movie in every sense of the word. They will make you worry, sometimes suffer and be horrified.
"I Saw the Devil" refers to the same films, revealing all the dirt of our modern world. Fighting everything male people think that this way they get rid of violence and crime, but this is certainly not the case. In fact, people, simply put, get rid of the cops that they are being protected and end up getting what they deserve — endless numbers of rapists, murderers and psychopaths. They feel calm, because there is no more that damned patriarchy, in which if you violate the honor of a girl, then they will stand up for her or even worse - kill. There is no need to protect those who consider themselves to be strong and independent, they feel that this world is absolutely safe. And this is exactly the situation that scoundrels take advantage of. After all, nature produces such people, while defenders need to be educated and trained, and no one does this because of an open misandriac campaign.
The problem with the maniac antagonist is that the real men who will come after you if you do something to a woman have not fully degenerated. The problem of the protagonist is that he decided that he knows how to play the game better than the maniac that played this game all his life.
Is it worth watching?
Oddly enough, I never thought there were dramas for men. This movie is one of them. This film can only be understood by men (not soyboys), namely, to feel the sweet sense of revenge that is inherent in men, and on which all the films listed above were built. The film is very heavy, close to realism, and teaches us that everything has consequences that we may regret.
P.S. After reading the negative reviews about the film, I can say that they were written by melancholic personalities, that they do not get out of their wonder world. Ladies and gentlemen, what was shown in the film is not the worst thing that happens in real life.
8 out of 10
I didn’t expect it, but I really liked the movie. I'll probably add it to my collection. Good old revenge, what could be better? It’s as sophisticated as shown in the film. Great, I wouldn't have thought it better. Koreans can do something like that.
The cinema is very dark, cruel, severe and bloody. Oh, yeah, it's gonna be a lot of blood. And I'm more than happy with that. The plot is about a psychopath-maniac who is hunted by a special agent, whose maniac brutally killed a girl. But the investigations in the movie “the cat cried” and if anyone wanted to see the detective, they will be disappointed. The main character very quickly calculates the culprit from several suspects and, I must say, it was easier to do it easily. The criminal does not try to hide his dirty deeds very carefully. Keeps solid evidence at home, for example. But he's crazy, adequacy is not about him. And then, when the main character finds the killer, the most interesting begins. He decides to turn his life into torture and a nightmare. He wants the maniac to experience the most terrible torment in his life and, if possible, to suffer after death. If that were possible. In general, then there is a real confrontation and a perverse game of cat and mouse hero and villain. And it's very interesting to watch. Behind their actions, moves, steps, decisions.
The main villain is shown very well. He's really a crazy, violent psychopath, a moral freak, a sociopath, a pervert and a sadist, for whom there are no values at all, who feels absolutely nothing. After some time, he even begins to like and amuse himself. He is competing with the main character and he does well. Huge merit in the formation of this character belongs to Ch. Min-sik, who just above all praise played this role. He did everything to make the viewer feel the maximum disgust for him and wished him the most painful death. L. Byung-hon also played the role of the main character perfectly and gives drama where it is needed. I don't skimp on tears. And he seems to be the only one who can handle the maniac.
The main character gradually comes to taste, he begins to like this hunt, he likes to cause pain and injury to the maniac. He becomes obsessed with revenge and will not stop, ready to go very far. And I understand. At some point, he himself becomes like a villain and becomes a psychopathic maniac. But I can see the difference. The villain does his black deeds, brutally kills innocent people who can not provide worthy resistance, even without a weighty motive. Well, the main character (and for me he is a hero, no matter what) has motivation and tortures a person who fully deserves this treatment. Yes, it will not help to return the beloved, perhaps not remove the stone from the soul, but this maniac deserved everything that the hero did to him. He deserved to die, too. The main character did everything right. I am totally on his side and support him. There is only one nuance: during the hunt, when a maniac gets his freedom, he kills several innocent people along the way, and I cannot justify this. After all, it is because of such actions of the hero that accidental victims become more and after all, such an option could be foreseen. Sometimes he intervenes when he knows something bad is happening and then it is prevented. But sometimes not and the list of victims of the killer is replenished. The hero even endangers his loved ones, thanks to his plan of revenge. And it's all his fault, too. It seems that the thirst for revenge has completely eclipsed his mind and in his world there is only a maniac and himself. Because of this nuance, I can't put the score higher.
Evil got what it deserved, so revenge made sense. Now the maniac won't kill anyone else. And that's for sure.
8 out of 10
“I will kill you when the pain reaches its limit. When torment and fear become intolerable.”
Soo-hyun just buried his fiancée. A pregnant girl was brutally raped and murdered by an unknown maniac. The young man can not accept the loss and begins to check the police files of all psychopaths nearby. He goes hunting for a night predator. The killer of defenseless girls will face a fate worse than death.
Thanks to Park Chang-uk’s “Trilogy of Revenge,” contemporary South Korean cinema has developed a special relationship with the theme of revenge. Asian color, cruelty and twisted plots helped to declare the world about the existence of a whole cultural phenomenon, which in quality was not inferior to American and European film schools. The fact that one of the compatriots of the creator of the cult “Oldboy” again turned to revenge was only a matter of time. And now, seven years later, the film with the intriguing title “I Saw the Devil” comes out, which with all Asian elegance and sophistication reveals a favorite and multifaceted theme. The successor of this “genre” did not hit his face in the dirt, charging a maximum of philosophical connotations in the shocking story about evil in the flesh.
Despite the impressive timekeeping, time for the viewer flies imperceptibly, since the number of bloody and fatal events on the screen is obscene. Animal cruelty maniac insanely cool correlates with the cold rage of the main character. Choi Min-sik embodies the image of an absolute animal, driven only by a thirst for the blood of the innocent. As for the rest of the caste, I want to note a high level of preparation even for secondary characters. Each victim here gives such a game that you want to cringe at the violence seen on the screen.
I Saw the Devil is a tough, uncompromising film in the best traditions of psychological thrillers. One of the best South Korean films to reach a global audience. Shocking, deep, memorable - only a small part of the well-deserved compliments. Soo-hyun will look into the eyes of the devil himself, but will he be able to remain human after that?
Revenge is the most expensive, useless and self-destructive luxury.
Night. It's a dead place. Snow falls quietly. The girl is talking in the car with her fiancé on the phone, because her car has some problems. But suddenly, a calm conversation is interrupted by a male silhouette that fits the car. The girl is worried, but there's a tow truck waiting. So begins the fateful night, which will mark the beginning of all troubles.
Cinema has long written stories about revenge. Quentin Tarantino's bloody dilogy "Kill Bill", "Law-abiding citizen" is remembered. But without a doubt, the Korean directors showed it in the best possible way, even with some existentiality. Of course, I’m talking about Park Chang-wook with his revenge trilogy and Kim Ji-woon, the director of this film. Oldboy has long been a cult and revered masterpiece that can surprise and impress even after a tenth viewing. And it would seem that making a good movie on the subject of revenge will be quite problematic. Already much in his “Oldboy” the same Park Chan-ook invested, but Kim Ji-un succeeded, incredible, but fact.
And as much as Pak's revenge trilogy is praised, don't admire Tarantino's dilogy, but Kim Ji-un has made a beautiful film that doesn't turn on its predecessors. What can we talk about when the actor Choi Min-sik from “Oldboy” reincarnated in the picture of Kim in a real monster, a maniac who just revels in the blood of his victims, in a completely new way! By the way, the idea for the sabj was planted by actor Choi Min-sik. You don’t often find a well-designed antagonist in the movies. Often villains are unmotivated, clichéd and stupid. But now think about what happens if the villain has no motivation at all? This is exactly what Kim Ji Un has demonstrated. His villain is bad because he wants to be. He does evil only because it gives him real satisfaction. And that's the whole point of his life. And in my opinion, this concept is most suitable for displaying a good villain. They have no masks, they are terrible, they are evil, they are the incarnation of hell. And through the entire screen palette, you feel everything perfectly and are horrified with each time stronger and stronger.
And in my opinion, the actor Choi Min-sik copes with his role by one hundred percent. Many praised him for his role as Ode Su in Oldboy, where he appears as a completely ambiguous character. An anti-hero with a very elaborate character. In I Saw the Devil, it’s definitely a bad character. Just awful. It's a human demon. All the most negative human qualities bloom in it full growth. You hate him, you want him the bitterest retribution for what he did. And at some point, you know, that's what it is! Kim Ji Un has created an unimaginably personal movie for everyone, anyone can test himself, his temper and character, his thirst for revenge. In the film, the role of the avenger is played by Lee Byung-hon, who perfectly portrayed a man who has nothing but anger left. A man willing to do anything to quench his thirst for revenge. And gradually, the director redirects the landmarks, and this becomes even clearer when the policeman says the phrase: "To defeat the monster, you must remain human yourself." But there are already mountains of corpses, you can't change anything. And the game of cat mouse continues.
Separately, I must say about the rating of R. The film uses it one hundred percent. Violence, perversion, liters of blood. Particularly impressive is not worth watching. At some points, the violence on the screen just doesn’t feel right. Everything is very realistic and as shocking as possible. And most of all, blood boils in your veins when you see the dead look of a sick maniac. Because you know, he's not going to stand up, he's not going to let him live, he's got no heart. The picture pumps up a chilling atmosphere literally from the first frames. And from the first seconds you are pierced by a fierce fear. The drama of the film is powerful. Although new topics are raised, such as “Is revenge really good?”, “Are you still a person committing revenge?”, “Revenge will not bring back a loved one.” To all these questions, the director gives his answers. Doing it beautifully, just savoring every moment, with aesthetics and incredible atmosphericity of each frame.
To summarize: Here we have one of the best Korean films. And one of the best about revenge. Shocking, inventive, very interesting, cruel, beautifully played by all the actors, but especially actor Choi Min-sik, who showed the real devil in human form. One of the best and most memorable acting performances in the history of cinema.
Finally, it became clear who else would have to pull the cinema out of the stagnation and almost complete drowning in the soulless computerization of Asian cinema. Koreans in this regard are gaining momentum technically, carefully and with knowledge. And it so happened that Kim Ji-un, whose, among others, the film “The Return of the Hero” with Iron Arnie in 2013 delighted the fans of the latter, three years earlier released his brainchild “I Saw the Devil” into film swimming.
Synopsis reports a certain plot sketch, which sounds tempting, but quite familiar: Special Agent Soo-hyun has a notorious monster and bastard (Chwe Min-sik) kills his wife and even pregnant. After that, the real man and orderman, represented by Lee Byung-hon, will want revenge. The only question is how far this desire will take you. For it promises to grow into something different and more terrible, as well as to overshadow the philosophically balanced desire to perform official duty.
Have you watched Law-abiding Citizen, craved retribution, pulled your nerves to the length of saggy pants, but never waited for a sequel? There. It's a party on your street. But now everything is much more serious, tougher, even more bloody and, paradoxically due to the very cruel visual part, morally deeper.
Asians have always been famous for a rather subtle perception of reality, and in the film language this is also expressed in especially sensitive work with personnel, plans and editing. Even if we are talking about a merciless thriller, the equal of which, in fact, can not even remember. The main character, as well as in "Citizen", will quickly find the killer. But after that, everything will go according to a completely different scenario and with completely different accents. In this movie, the villain is a creature perfect in its demonic impossibility, who is not afraid of anything and murder is needed just for the sake of another dose of endorphins. Revenge of the main character, as before, will be the goal. Only he won't rush to send his wife's killer to the next world any faster. He decides to stretch the moment of revenge on the whole screen time and so that even experienced fans of thrillers will strain. The main character is almost like the Butler father of the family, who, for the cruelty of his actions, does important things - finds time to reflect and balance in thinking between grief and a sense of duty to loved ones. Here, for the special agent, grief becomes the starting point, and then turns into a brutal dose of anabolic, accelerating reflexes, adding strength, speed and power. With amazing determination and good combat training, the talented Korean rushes over obstacles, through the plot space and at some point causes a false feeling that everything will go exclusively in his favor. At the same time, the hero conducts an investigation, trying to better understand the killer. And there are spiritual torments in the soul, but they are presented wiser and somehow more sincerely. His very authentic tears turn into a mirror where his personal purgatory is visible.
"That's already happened!" you might think. Maybe it was, but to play so reliably that to a coma in the throat of the viewer, under the power of few. And all this is filmed with such a heat of passion and causes such a splash of adrenaline that it is impossible to remain indifferent. Even a cynical fan of tin, who, as it seems to him, broke to the next dismemberment, will hold his breath and, clenching his fists, will wait for the end. Psychologicalism here is presented in Asian so convex that you can not see it only if you initially expect from the film a stupid massacre or a banal modern thriller, where you already want to howl from the cliché. The whole film, from beginning to end, is a finished, albeit extremely cruel, play with an obvious morality about the balance of good and evil, where each line is connected with the other and where all the pieces of the puzzle in the end fit exactly.
There is a beast within each of us that can be vented by circumstances and our reactions to them. And the law of Yin and Yang says that every entity, reaching the limit, turns into its opposite. There is a limit to everything. And everything will have to pay. Not only for painkillers in the pharmacy to continue their war, but also for God-honored atrocities, which in this world has long lost count.
10 out of 10
I expected a lot from this film, because it was directed by Kim Ji-un, the director of the magnificent Story of Two Sisters. It was with joy and even a bit of surprise that I became convinced that after seven years Kim did not lose his skill.
Kim Soo-hyun, obsessed with revenge on a thug who deals with his relatives, tries to play with his enemy enough, wanting to make him experience what he tormented all his victims, without heeding the advice and requests of reasonable colleagues. Whether the devil is a criminal or a policeman is controversial. The policeman's game goes unforgivably far, forcing him to pay an incredibly high price for justice. And the main question remaining in the final is who lost and who won? No answer. Both the hunter and the victim lost too much and got what they deserved, but one wants to believe that the final despair is temporary, and that life will gradually improve after it, because it simply cannot be otherwise.
I Saw the Devil is a film with as much meaning as The Story of Two Sisters, but it’s harder to watch. The story of a policeman who is trying to take revenge on a criminal with all his might is not a novelty in thrillers infested with violence, although there are not so many qualitative examples of such films – the first thing that comes to mind is “Expelled by the Devil”. There's not just a lot of violence in these movies, there's a lot of blood. I have to admit that this is the first non-American film in which I encountered true rivers of blood. Anyone who decides to watch this film should bear in mind that the skewed faces, scars, and twisted limbs here in bulk. However, all this looks scary, but not thrashy.
A huge plus in the film are a large scale of events, excellent acting, very successful music, as well as reliable chases with the sounds of sirens and noise from sharp turns on the asphalt. Lee Byung Hong perfectly conveyed the emotions experienced by his hero - excitement, tears, determination and despair. Sometimes he was wrong, but all the time the policeman wanted to feel sorry, because no matter how he behaved, the truth was on his side. Choi Min Shiku is worth applauding for everything he went through to play the butcher killer: it’s hard to imagine how many times he’s had to be smeared in mud and red paint. Of the other characters, it is worth highlighting, perhaps, the chief of police, as well as employee Kim, the rest of the actors played carefree victims, which, it is worth admitting, they also succeeded.
Anyone who likes crime thrillers with strong feelings and violence, I Saw the Devil is recommended to watch.
9 out of 10
After watching about a dozen Korean paintings, I began to notice the formation of a certain stereotype about them, a stereotype expressed in the constant desire to show something “allegedly” shocking. Comparing with Oldboy or Thirst, their common characteristics become visible. And to be honest, for me, all three movies are terribly boring. I’m ready to admit that Kim Ji Un definitely has a directorial talent, but the plot of the film is so boring that neither acting nor cinematography will save him for me.
I’ll probably start with a good acting. She impressed me, especially the main character and all the psychopaths. Sometimes it seemed that some actors overplayed, but it may not be noticed. Images are not quite ordinary, and if the main thing is that they cause disgust and hatred, then they cope well.
What struck me even more was the plausibility of violence in the film. Such blows, blood and dismemberment are rarely seen in Western films. If someone is hit on the head, the impact trail will not disappear in the next frame. And no one is afraid to show the wounds here either.
But here I come to the faintest detail of the film - the plot. It’s so boring that in the 10th or 15th minute I decided to speed up the film by one and a half times and having watched it this way, I never regretted it. The film is simply stuffed with platitudes, starting with the story itself - the revenge of the good guy to the bad, after which the good becomes bad, and ending with the phrases of the characters. The plot is very lacking a bit of common sense, without spoilers: the characters often behave like idiots. There is no message or moral in the film, it is not clear what the writer wanted to say. Because of this, it seems that all the meat that was in the film was needed only to slightly shock the audience.
Asian cinema is still exotic for us. It is not often that Chinese, Japanese or Korean films are shown on wide screens. This is understandable, because before worthy films in Asia almost never shot. There has been a growing interest in Korean cinema. Not Hollywood, of course, but quite worthy.
In 2010, Kim Ji-un’s film I Saw the Devil was released. The role of the devil is a serial maniac who kills women in truly brutal ways in the vicinity of Seoul. He then dismembers the corpses and throws them into a field or river. The police are not able to catch the criminal, because in his actions he is guided by one understandable logic. Don’t even try to find something human about this serial killer or understand the reasons for his actions. Here the maniac is an absolute evil, where there is no place for anything human. He kills just because he likes it so much. In any case, Kim Ji-un did not give the viewer the key to unravel his behavior.
In general, Choi Min Shik is very good at playing negative characters. No wonder it was Luc Besson who invited him to play the mafia boss in his latest film “Lucy”. In the work of Kim, Jim Oona Min Mick, as in the film with Scarlett Johansson, is arrogant, ambitious and does not doubt for a moment his rightness. The film clearly shows how the maniac looks down on everyone and considers himself a creature of a much higher order than ordinary people. He is the God who decides the fate of men. In the context of this picture, it is said, of course, loudly, but Choi Min Shik managed to show a complete disregard for other people’s human life.
Who can catch such a maniac? Just another maniac! They become, oddly enough, a police officer whose fiancée was killed by the hero Choi Min Sik. The policeman, of course, wants revenge. But he needs to not only catch the killer, but also turn him into a victim. Hard task, isn't it? But the Seoul policeman, played by Lee Byung-hon, can't do that. The loss of a loved one made him a monster who would do anything for revenge.
There is more than enough blood in Korean movies, and I Saw the Devil is no exception. Lee Byung-hon could have just brought a maniac to justice or killed him, but it's too easy for Asian cinema. The killer who brought so much grief to the main character must suffer throughout the film. And death? That's right, for a snack. Considering what tests the policeman prepared for the maniac, this is not the worst.
When watching the film, it seems that one in three in Korea is a maniac. The number of perverts per square meter just skyrocketing. Do not think that the case will be limited only to Min Sik, who killed the bride of the main character. We meet an ogre with his half-witted sister, who, oddly enough, is friends with the main maniac, two criminals from the road who killed a taxi driver and stole his car, and several more through-the-road heroes-perverts, with whom policeman Lee Byung-hon deals in the process. He'll hit one egg with a hammer, hit another on a motorcycle. Yeah, Koreans love blood. As for revenge, this is generally their favorite horse.
It is interesting to watch the movie, but not to say that it is pleasant. A lot of blood, enjoying violence, cruelty. But fans of the genre will appreciate it. The classic detective “I saw the devil” can not be called, since the killer is shown from the beginning, but a thriller – easily!
In the picture, Kim Ji-woon is attracted by the lack of templates and clichés. The film can be called truly authorial, and it will appeal to all lovers of Korean cinema and not only. As for the correctness of the actions of the hero-policeman, this question will be left out of brackets. Each viewer will respond to it himself.
From the first minutes of the film, I thought it was a standard thriller about the maniac, but no, the film was exclusively about idiots and only for idiots. Or, as an option, about monsters and for monsters. This happens when you watch a movie brought by friends or acquaintances.
The main character performs his vendetta, pursuing and torturing the maniac, his own methods. For some reason, giving the maniac freedom of action, namely, to rape and kill innocent people. Thus, the main character himself becomes a maniac, and seems to be a noble avenger, but there is no ordinary idiot who puts relatives, relatives and other strangers under attack, presenting them on a platter, sacrificing them - for the bloody massacre of a maniac.
One of the first scenes of the film with a staged play, consisting of a half-witted crowd of police officers and reporters, running in panic to the found remains of the victim and the “celebratory” loss of the head from the box of the hapless criminologist is a vivid example of Asian black humor. Oh, not every European is given to understand what this Asian humor is, and what to say about the Russians. Although we combine both European and Asian cultures, to understand such absurd Asian humor, you probably need to live in an Asian country for a long time. In Korea, where the movie “I Saw the Devil” was made. Or be a connoisseur of Asian cinema. In general, they laugh where we do not even think about laughing.
Why is the movie called “I Saw the Devil”? The title of the film does not fit the narrative. Yes, the diabolical essence is shown in a wide variety of naturalistic bloody scenes and scenes of sexual violence, but the emphasis is not on the devil himself, so to speak. Based on the title, the film was supposed to show a clear contrast between good and evil, and it is not here. The authors try to pass off as a good guy - the main character, but it is impossible to believe, after all that happened on the screen. In fact, the good is not represented by anyone, it is blurred. Evil is on the screen for two and a half hours. Thus, the title does not reflect the essence of the film.
Very often, Asian filmmakers use violence as a tool to draw attention to various problems of modern society, but in the film I Saw the Devil, they rely on violence and murder, reduced to absurdity. Violence for the sake of violence. Murder for murder. In such a bloody way, the director wanted to draw the viewer’s attention to his “genius” work. And to some extent, he succeeded.
The characters of the main characters are not disclosed, only some basic instincts are shown, the audience is not explained the reasons for their actions. They are simply: maiming, raping, killing.
I don’t know who to recommend this film to.
But I did find one plus! “I Saw the Devil” can be recommended for sanity testing!
If you liked this movie and want to review it, then you urgently need to see a doctor! Remember, only a psychiatrist can help you. Precisely, forced inpatient treatment in a specialized institution for many and happy years will protect your relatives and friends from nightmares you!
Bloody massacre, brought to the absurd by the sick imagination of the director.
Who/what is the Devil? Evil incarnation? Angel of revenge? Maybe the devil, like God, is just a part of us. After all, it is possible that each of us needs only a certain catalyst to release the demon.
The film is really scary, for the most part not even that the naturalness of the narrative sometimes makes you turn away from what is happening on the screen (even a person with strong nerves, not the first time dealing with Asian horrors and thrillers). It is terrible that we cannot divide the world into white and black, good and bad. Horrors exist in real life and we are afraid for real people, people close to us.
How many scumbags in the world, people without the slightest moral principles! That's exactly what the movie is about. The main character only excites this underside, the underside of the rotten world.
Dynamic plot, minimal sagging. Chase from beginning to end. Terrible, saturated with stench and tears atmosphere. Great action, although it does not play a special role here.
It is not recommended to view faint-hearted, pregnant and of course children, as the rating (18+) warns. Also be prepared that the painting can cause you moral pain. We all have family and people close to us.
9 out of 10
Throughout the film, I never left deja vu. Yes, I mean the revenge trilogy of Park Chan Wook. His films covered the topic of revenge a little less than completely, so the film Kim Ji-un reeks of some secondary in the study of the topic; however, this does not deprive him of its own value, so although the duration of the film above the standard, empty scenes was not noticed, it was not boring.
In terms of plot, there are no complaints, except for linearity. Source data is a pregnant girl of a police special agent killed by a sexual maniac, she is also the daughter of the head of the police department. The protagonist quite naturally demolishes the roof from loss, and he sets out to take revenge on the killer. He finds it quite quickly, so most of the screen time is devoted to playing cat-and-mouse protagonist with antagonist, although these terms are somewhat arbitrary here - at the end you wonder who was the devil, a sick maniac who is by nature, or a normal person who turned into a monster under the influence of superhuman experiences? This is definitely a plus for this movie.
Watching the consequences of revenge piece by piece is not boring, although I would not recommend the film to pregnant children and lactating animals - too much good old ultraviolence.
Overall, it’s a good Korean revenge movie. But, Imho, to Park Chan Wook Kim does not reach.
7 out of 10
To begin with, I wanted to see this movie for a long time, but I couldn’t. From the first minutes, it snows on the screens, which is very symbolic of snow is always present in dramas or tragedies. This film is frightening from the very first minutes with a heavy dark tension that is sharply replaced by a real horror that causes disgust and bitterness looking at what is happening.
Lee Byung-hon I don’t know why some people call him the devil, for me he is a man who lost his wife and unborn child, he is the one who not only looks for a killer but also protects other innocent people of young girls who may become the next victims of a maniac and not one according to the film. He gets into the taste but still can be justified, the more his methods and actions bear the fruits of success, he managed to neutralize more than one maniac who surrendered or got into the police. He is like an angel of death, bringing salvation and revenge. He made a mistake, cruel and merciless.
Also there shone Choi Min Sik after Oldboy was difficult to perceive his negative role as a maniac who is completely inadequate and rabid, which completely distinguishes him from the hero in Oldboy. He outperformed all the other screen maniacs I've seen before in perversion and sadism, except for Hannibal Lector, performed by the Genius Anthony Hopkins. At one point, he asks, Why? That's ridiculous considering what he's done before. He does not cause sympathy even in the most terrible moments of torture.
About the picture so she is on top, and the plot is bright juicy with a frantic rhythm that began at the very beginning and which lasted until the very end, here merged the bloody mess of cruel killers and the psychology of the hero who wanted the killer to feel pain, fear or regret from what he did. Even American films will not be able to compare with films from Asia in the spectacular and naturalistic of bloody scenes, which are not only dynamic but also atmospheric created and served with taste, so it is impossible to break away, it is only possible for Asian films.
To stop the monster, you have to remain human.
An extremely heavy film, even abnormal or abnormal, seems to me heavier and darker than Oldboy, a film that causes a lot of contradictory emotions and yet the film is worth watching, at least because of Lee Byung-hon, an amazing beauty and talent of the actor. He was able to cry only at the very end, maybe these tears are caused by the fact that he fulfilled a promise made to his beloved or from the realization that he turned into a murderer, and that it changed him, it is sad and sad.
9 out of 10
In general, films that have high-quality soundtracks always appear on my list with the mark “worthy movie”. As often happens, at first I heard the music and it hooked me so much that for a long time I saw the Devil was afraid to watch. I thought everything would be tragic on the screen. I especially like the music of the funeral scene.
The film is very emotional. There is a thriller, and drama and horror and comedy in places too. And as always, this is very different from what the viewer is used to seeing who has no idea about Asian cinema. Perhaps some people may be shocked by this – the undisguised scenes of violence, the murder of innocent girls and girls. But I can’t say that everything is as terrible as it is written by many people – in life there are even more terrible things. Most importantly, before watching be prepared for explicit scenes of violence and do not represent themselves in the place of the heroes.
In many Asian films, I see the focus of directors and screenwriters on psychology, especially in dramas and thrillers. That is, we are gradually chewing why this or that action commits a person. And I like that, because there are no questions left — not just kills, but for some reason, and here is the reason. "I Saw the Devil" also has ulterior motives for crimes, it's not just pieces of human flesh or revenge per se.
What is the movie about and is it scary? I'm sure he's not scary. Who is the killer is clear at the beginning, all the rest of the time we will look for this killer, because he does not hide well. That is, the intrigue dies immediately, because of this it was scary and it was not even interesting in places. So what's the movie about? About anger, about revenge, about how severe pain can make a beast out of a person. I understand the main character, and many would do the same. And in general, the very understanding of the word “justice” is lost, there is no such thing as justice.
Sad movie. I didn’t have enough bright moments, unexpected plot twists like “Memories of a Murder” and it wasn’t scary at all. But the rest is worth it, with a fresh look at important issues. But I never saw the devil.
I saw the Devil in the mirror and he winked at me.
Hate and revenge. So deep that they almost became defining the human race. They are born in Cain blood and have persecuted man since biblical times. Persecuted from TV screens and newspaper strips, on which another individual in enthusiastic euphoria strangled a pregnant woman or raped a child. And my mind is slowly feverish about cramming a scumbag into Spanish boots and squeezing his tibia to the crack of his bones. Grab his head with a neck trap and lead to the garotta, periodically sprinkling bleeding wounds with salt. Sitting the batsman on the crossbar and fixing his skull (maybe I need some scotch...), I will slowly roll the steel bolt into the back of his head until I see in his flashing pupils the death of nerve fibers. But I'll always need more. More pain, more suffering. His. Or my own?
Kim Ji-un embarked on a creepy, alluring journey to explore the depths of hate in human souls. At the same time, the plot is even somewhat banal. A terrible death of a loved one and a desire for revenge, sweet and desperate. Kim himself reminds the viewer of the ironic fact of the everyday life of death that has been fixed in our lives. Predictably placing in the frame pretty avenger performed by Lee Byung-hon and his opponent Choi Min-sik, repeatedly noted in the roles of gloomy North Korean officers and in the legendary “Oldboy”, the director slowly erases the difference between them, contrasting between the external and internal. He saturated the picture with cruelty, making it ordinary, creating a quintessence of samples of Korean cinema, with characteristic hammers and other carpentry equipment to eliminate each other. But even this did not force the authorities to release the film not only in a limited release, but also in an edited format. Kim Ji Un neglected all the principles of cinematic interpretation of the image of the avenger. The neglect is so vivid that even the most sophisticated characters like the classic Count of Monte Cristo or Hollywood’s “Law-abiding Citizen” pale. The director does not put before his hero any moral framework in his revenge. No, familiar to us, sentimental memories, timidly hovering photos of the deceased, noble goals to stop the maniac and other things. The hero selflessly revels in his revenge and he is indifferent to the indirect losses of his plunge into the abyss of his own hell.
Gradually, when the pleasure of physical torment becomes something familiar and unsatisfying, a psychic arsenal of bullying and humiliation is used. At any moment when the victim seems to have broken free and wants, for example, to taste the sweets of oral sex, the avenger will burst into his life with a fire balloon on the head or a sharpened razor on the ankle. The director slowly brings the viewer to the realization of the extremely reasonable fact that revenge is bottomless and insatiable, and hatred cannot be eliminated. And the more you draw strength from these feelings, the sharper they become. And in the end, they're the only ones left. It is these postulates that alienated part of the public from this film, as the mirror repels the young old woman. Calls for reconciliation become not only naive-childish, but also false, because the soul is already poisoned, poisoned by force.
Moreover, Kim Ji-un filled this cruel world with black humor, blowing the chill of the grave. His maniac himself becomes a victim of maniacs, his cannibals and rapists themselves raped and eaten. What could be more prosaic-ironic than a highway killer muttering under his nose about the madness of the modern world? Such social conclusions are natural against the background of total dismemberment. And the more heads roll from the next scaffold, the more the awareness of the hopelessness of the existing system of human relationships is strengthened in the head.
At the same time, despite the indifference of the hero to morality, you catch yourself thinking irrepressible sympathy for him. It is as if the feelings dormant in you have found their idol. They no longer need fig leaflets of social taboos. They looked in the mirror and were not afraid. But it is they who, after the death of the hated object, will flounder along the road to nowhere, washed in tears, like the main character. They will cry like children who have their favorite toy taken away. Who will I see in the mirror? The Devil, gently sheltered in a pile of stamped slogans, public frames and stupid depreciated vows from the series “I never”...
9 out of 10