[Movie 2010] I Saw The Devil, 악마를 보았다

[rubie]

January 26, 2011

R0BTRAIN’s Badass Cinema: 11 in ’11

by Robert Sutton at insidepulse.com

With 2010 in the books I’m looking forward to what we’ve got coming up this year, from Spielberg and Scorsese stretching their muscles a bit, to the next generation of film makers trying to step up and fill their shoes. I’m stoked about more superheroes hitting the big screen, some good old-fashioned movie monsters coming to life, as well as some classic good guys ready to do battle against evil. 2011 could be a really special year for us, and while I’m sure there’ll be some misses along the way, hopefully this year will still bring the goods in a big way. Here’s what I’m most looking forward to.

11 in ’11

11. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

Now before I get started, I’d like to point out that I’ve got no real vested interest in Tintin as a comic strip or as a character, but if Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson love this property so much that they want to make a trilogy of movies, then there has to be something to it right? Tintin solely makes this list because of my love for Steven Spielberg and his ability to make a popcorn picture like nobody’s business. Add in the fact that this will be his first foray into motion capture, and I’ll call myself cautiously optimistic and simply hope for the best.

10. The Thing

Again, I’ve got a lot of questions with this one. I think there is zero chance of this movie being as brilliant as John Carpenter’s classic from 1981, but I also think about how that movie itself was a remake, and if done right, this new Thing prequel could be interesting and hopefully really, really terrifying. Carpenter’s movie is one that I revisit often and I would hate for this new film to be some sort of bad mark on its reputation.

9. X-Men: First Class

There’s a huge battle that’s coming to theaters this year, and I’m not just talking about the war between humans and mutants. What I’m referring to is the decades old war between rival comics companies DC and Marvel, who are bringing their battle to big screens this year, as DC blasts out Green Lantern in hopes of creating a new franchise to compliment known properties such as Superman and Batman, and Marvel strikes back with three movies from their own stable of heroes. While both Thor and Captain American: The First Avenger are certainly intriguing films in their own right, especially when it comes to the build up to 2012’s The Avengers, I think the superhero flick that I’m most looking forward to right now is Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class.

Now this may surprise some that know me considering that I’ve sort of hated the last two films in Fox’s X-Men franchise, but I’ve really got a good feeling about this one. Vaughn’s Kick-richard simmons was one of the best action films to hit theaters in 2010, but what really gets me excited is hearing Vaughn talk about this film, describing the movie as “X-Men­ meets Bond, with a little bit of Thirteen Days thrown in for good measure.” That’s a flick that sounds like it’s worth seeing, and the possibilities that stem from the film’s ’60s setting have me ready to simply forget the name Brett Ratner altogether. I’m hoping that X-Men: First Class is the Batman Begins this franchise has needed for some time and not just the nail in the coffin.

8. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Much like Tintin, the reason I’m most excited about this movie is the man behind it; in this case Martin Scorsese. Even more specifically, I’m excited about the prospect of Scorsese directing a picture in 3D, with the director’s wild camera hopefully let loose like never before. Descriptions about the film are crazy and a bit sketchy, with the plot revolving about a boy living inside the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. With elements involving a toy shop, a robot and, an eccentric girl played by Chloe Moretz, I think we could be in for an insane ride from one of the world’s greatest living film makers.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

While I did very much enjoy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, I’m not sure it worked as well dramatically as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, simply because of the fact that the film’s arc was only half of the book it was originally based on. If Part 1 was all set up, here we get all payoff; which should result in one of the most spectacular fantasy battles ever filmed. I like what director David Yates has brought to the series so far and can only hope he can finish what he started with the same sort of expertise. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 could either be one of the biggest triumphs since Return of the King or a major misstep in the vein of The Matrix Revolutions, killing all the good will that’s been built with this series so far.

6. Sherlock Holmes 2

While I know not everyone loved it, I thought Sherlock Holmes was pretty much an absolute blast from beginning to end. The chemistry between Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law was terrific and the energy infused by director Guy Ritchie was also on the money, giving us his most spirited movie since Snatch. Sherlock Holmes 2 can hopefully take the fun even further, giving us more ridiculous hijinks and banter without dumbing down the property too much. While Iron Man 2 was a success, it wasn’t quite the homerun everyone was hoping for, and with this film it feels like Robert Downey, Jr. might be able to get a second crack at that sort of blockbuster sequel and knock it out of the park this time.

5. I Saw the Devil

When it comes down to it, the film makers in South Korea are making some of the best movies in the world right now, and director Kim Ji-woon might be my favorite director of the whole bunch. With films such as The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Bittersweet Life under his belt, Ji-woon is on fire at the moment, and I Saw the Devil seems to continue that trend. Already getting great notices at Fantastic Fest from this past year, the revenge thriller is one of the most talked about Korean pictures since Oldboy and even stars that film’s Choi Min-sik as a sadistic serial killer with the director’s go-to actor Lee Byung-hun as the cop out to stop him. The movie is apparently not for the faint of heart, but with this pedigree, it’s going to be tough for me not to love this thing when it finally hits U.S. theaters. (Suggested reading: Robert Saucedo’s review from Fantastic Fest ’10.)

4. Battle: Los Angeles

For a while now, I’ve dreamed of a science fiction war movie where troops fight aliens or robots in a Black Hawk Down-type picture that takes itself completely seriously. What I’ve been looking for is something similar to the end of District 9 only much bigger, like the kind of movie we envisioned when Terminator: Salvation was first announced or the parts of Star Wars: Episode II that just showed battalions clone troopers on the ground laying waste to the alien armies around them. That’s the movie I want Battle: Los Angeles to end up being. The footage shown so far as has been gritty and evokes the movie I’ve wanted in my head, but there’s always the fear that this will just be another Skyline or Independence Day, especially with director Jonathan Liebesman being largely unproven so far in his career. Then again, before The Terminator, who was James Cameron? I’m not say Liebesman is destined for greatness, but if this movie can live up to what we’ve seen so far, maybe we can at least get one great picture out of him.

3. Super 8

Much like the hype before Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams hasn’t been terribly forthcoming with details about his new project, Super 8. All we know is that the movie will feature aliens, and seems to have the style of an early Spielberg film, circa Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This suits me just fine as long as the payoff ends up being worth it, and considering the work J.J. Abrams has done so far, that might be about as safe a bet as there is right now. I honestly can’t think of a summer blockbuster from the last few years more satisfying than Abrams’ Star Trek, and if Super 8 can keep up that kind of momentum we could be entering a sort of “golden period” for the film maker. Hollywood has been looking for the next Spielberg for some time, and if J.J. Abrams can deliver here and then with Star Trek II, they may have just found their man.

2. Sucker Punch

You know what looks awesome about Sucker Punch?

Everything.

The new flick from Watchman’s Zack Snyder is either the movie of my dreams or a total disaster in the making. Packed with every fanboy fetish I can think of, including hot girls, samurais, robots, dragons, Nazi zombies, and tons of amazing action, we could be looking at the next geek classic. I’m a huge fan of Snyder’s work so far and with the next Superman film on the horizon for him, I hope this movie further exemplifies the potential of what the man is capable of behind the camera. The only thing I worry about is Snyder perhaps being too focused on bringing you amazing visuals that the movie’s story ends up lacking as a result. Sure, the picture looks amazing in a two minute trailer, but if you don’t care about what’s going on, and the visual assault isn’t enough to make up that ground, this could be a giant step backward. Thankfully, I think Snyder is a director that has managed to meld his style with just enough substance in his pictures to work so far, and Sucker Punch will likely continue that trend.

1. Cowboys and Aliens

Where do you begin with this movie? First off, the combination of Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones) onscreen together fighting aliens is some sort of match made in geek heaven, but then put this movie in the hands of Jon Favreau, and what you’ve possibly got is plain old movie magic. Iron Man showed us that Favreau has the goods when it comes to giving us a great screen adventure, and if this can widen his onscreen repertoire even further then I’m all for it.

At Comic-con this year, the director discussed his love for the sort of John Ford tradition of westerns, and how much he really wanted this to feel like that kind of film first and foremost. I know adding sci-fi elements to westerns have been disastrous in the past (Wild, Wild West or Jonah Hex anyone?), but I think Favreau has the right sensibility for this type of movie to make it work. Mixing the feel of John Ford and Steven Spielberg (a producer on this film) could make Cowboys and Aliens the most exciting adventure 2011 has to offer audiences, but I’d be happy if it was just one of the most fun.

[rubie]

January 24, 2011

Sundance 2011

"I Saw The Devil" has an explosive immediacy and a persistent afterlife

Posted by Ricky D soundonsight.org

Korea has produced some of the greatest entries in the serial killer sub-genre over the past ten years, with Memories of Murder and The Chaser being the two prime examples. Kim Ji-woon’s latest epic I Saw the Devil, starring award-winning actors Lee Byung-hun (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) in the lead roles, clearly sets a new benchmark with its exceptionally graphic violence. The film had to undergo extensive re-editing before its premiere in order to get a theatrical release in Korea. The result is still a shockingly violent, disturbing, dark, brutal and painful film, that pushes the concept of revenge to some extreme limits.

Korean genre master Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) has once again proven the versatility of his talent, effortlessly switching genres to craft a uniquely terrifying experience. Part police procedural and part serial killer, Kim finds surprising and exciting new ways to tell his story. As a crafty thriller and as a brutal horror film, I Saw The Devil will surely become a staple of late night festival strands, but as an epic battle between good and evil, Devil is unfortunately mostly style over substance.

Choi Min-sik plays Kyung-chul, a psychopath who kills simply for pleasure. The embodiment of pure evil, he has committed countless murders on helpless victims while successfully eluding capture by the police. His latest victim is the beautiful daughter of a retired police chief and the pregnant fiancée of a special agent named Soo-hyun. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun decides to track down the man who murdered his wife-to-be and enact his own form of revenge—by teasing and torturing the killer as much as humanly possible.

I Saw The Devil certainly has an interesting premise. In attempting to sidestep the conventional revenge story, Kim delivers a story of a once-good man taking his revenge while examining the effect it has on him. But the difference here is that our protagonist allows the serial killer to escape so he can find him again and repeat the punishment. The second aspect that makes Devil so unique, is how it shows the perspective of the serial killer as both predator and prey. The hunter becomes the hunted, reverts to the hunter, and back again. It’s an increasingly bizarre and twisted game of cat-and-mouse that spins out of control, resulting in a series of blood-thirsty showdowns.

Our hero becomes instantly infected by the malicious evil he’s trying to destroy, bringing new meaning to Nietzsche’s assertion that “when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” As the film proceeds, its fundamental concerns about the nature of revenge becomes undermined by the nihilistic vigor of the excessive carnage, and thus the problem with setting the violence levels so high and refusing to let them drop means that any emotions other than anger and revenge are quickly abandoned. So as much as we try to sympathize with Dae-Hoon, and as much as we enjoy watching Kyung-Chul’s suffering, the characters are defined simply by their actions, preventing us from feeling terribly invested. Exploring the main characters’ psychological motivations to violence in any meaningful way is brushed aside in order to make way for the next depraved set-piece.

Still, while the overall examination of the dangers and effects of revenge seemed a bit vacuous (or at least lightweight), fans of ultra violent thrillers will most likely be pleased. As expected, I Saw The Devil shows all the hallmarks of the South Korean filmmaker: gorgeous camera work, whip-smart editorial control, several intriguing set pieces, beautiful cinematography, a brooding atmosphere, a nerve-wracking score set to maximum, some surprisingly interesting narrative twists, and stunning lead performances. The direction, writing, production, editing, music and acting are all top-notch. Devil also features what is possibly the best scene from any film released in 2009, which involves a cab driver and two homicidal maniacs. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but I will say that the choreography in this one scene alone is ingenious both in the camera work, and in the execution of the actors spiraling out of control.

In between moments of chisel-hacking horror, there is some impressively dark humour and top-notch acting. But be warned: even by Asian extreme standards, Kim Ji-woon’s I Saw the Devil is exceptionally graphic. Rape, decapitation/dismemberment, and cannibalism are all shown with glee, and blood and gore populate the frames. Emotionally, this movie will reach deep into the pit of your stomach and stab your guts repeatedly before tearing them out.

At 144 minutes, I Saw The Devil could stand to trim ten to fifteen minutes to improve the pacing, but it is still quite an achievement -a movie full of visceral shocks and aesthetic pleasures: it has an explosive immediacy and a persistent afterlife. It is something you will never forget.

[rubie]

January 28, 2011

Sundance '11 REVIEW: A Second Look at 'I Saw the Devil'

By: Ryan Daley at bloody-disgusting.com

One of my top 10 films of 2010 was Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil, which opens in limited theaters March 4 from Magnet Releasing.

A hard-boiled thriller, I Saw The Devil stars Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) as a psychopathic serial killer up against Lee Byung-hun as a special agent whose fiancée becomes one of his victims. Lee’s cool-headed and intelligent character in turn becomes a monster in order to avenge the killing.

Ryan Daley has chimed in with a review of his own and can be read by going beyond the break. Just how good is this thriller? Read on to find out. Don't forget to catch up on all of our previous Sundance Film Festival reviews, interviews and news here.

I Saw the Devil is the textbook definition of an instant cult classic. It's a cat-and-mouse thriller in the vein of Insomnia or Seven, but in this case, the serial killer is the prey. I was eager to see I Saw the Devil after reading Mr. Disgusting's rave review last year, but I purposely avoided reading any other coverage; I wanted to be able to go into the movie fairly blind. It’s the best way to experience this stunning revenge flick. Don't read about it, don‘t do any research, just see it as soon as you get the chance.

When Soo-Hyeon's pregnant fiance is murdered and dismembered by Kyung-Chul, a cold-blooded serial killer, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Initially he confronts anyone of police interest (applying hammer to genitals, when necessary), but before long the trail leads to Kyung-Chul, and Soo-hyeon knows that he's found his man.

But rather than merely killing the heinous psychopath, Soo-hyeon decides to toy with him. He watches as Kyung-Chul stalks his prey, preparing to kill an innocent victim, and then Soo-hyeon intervenes, beating the living s*** out of Kyung-Chul before letting him go, and then beginning the cycle all over again. What’s truly remarkable about I Saw the Devil is that it retains a charcoal black sense of humor even as it pushes its brutality to the grimmest of extremes. Kyung-Chul's increasing incredulity–– a look that reads what is this guy's DEAL?––is particularly funny, as he gets attacked over and over again. These are witty, contemplative characters that you want to spend two and half hours with, even if you’re watching them through a blood mist of graphic violence.

Credit is due to the sharp script by Hoon-jung Park and near perfect casting. Min-Sik Choi from Oldboy plays Kyung-Chul with a laconic edge, a serial killer who knows he’s crazy and simply doesn’t give a s***. Byung-hun Lee (Three..Extremes) plays the vengeful fiance with the glowering stoicism of a schoolboy who has been bullied to the breaking point. Onscreen, they make for a potent combination.

Speaking of Oldboy, many comparisons are going to be made to Chan Wook-park’s much-loved revenge tale from 2003. In this reviewer’s opinion, I Saw the Devil is the superior film, with director Ji-Woon Kim creating a more immersive and involving experience, an escalating ballet of tension and gore that completely sucks you in. Don’t miss this one.

4/5 Skulls

[rubie]

January 31, 2011

I Saw the Devil: True blood

By Nofil Naqvi tribune.com.pk Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 30th, 2011.

I Saw the Devil is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

I Saw the Devil is the fourth Ji-woon Kim film I have seen and loved, and amazingly, each one is vastly different from the next.

A Tale of Two Sisters was a horror flick, A Bittersweet Life became one of my favourite action movies, and The Good, the Bad and the Weird was a hilarious comedy-western. Which brings us to I Saw the Devil, a nail-biting crime thriller. Kim’s versatility and his ability to excel in each genre he explores reminds me of my all-time favourite director Stanley Kubrick.

I believe this is the third consecutive Ji-woon Kim movie starring Byung-hun Lee, and here he plays Kim Soo-hyeon, an agent working for a South Korean intelligence agency. His fiancée is brutally murdered by a serial killer Kyung-chul (played by Choi Min-sik from Oldboy), and Soo-hyeon makes it his life’s purpose to track down the killer and exact a revenge that truly, and I mean truly, makes the killer feel the pain that he inflicted on his victims.

Every time Soo-hyeon catches Kyung-chul he tortures him, then proceeds to have him treated for the injuries that he has inflicted on him, so that he can feel the pain all over again the next time he catches him. Perversely, not only does Kyung-chul start enjoying this cat-and-mouse game with his hunter, but Soo-hyeon also begins to cross the line, slowly becoming a monster himself, The ensuing internal conflict the protagonist suffers after realising this makes the movie psychologically so much more interesting than a straight-up revenge thriller like, say, Taken. Indeed, the question is: how easy is it to become a ‘monster’? If a ‘normal’ person was pushed beyond a certain point, could he or she do something as horrible as what Soo-hyeon does?

Byung-hun Lee is absolutely brilliant in the film, reminiscent of his role in A Bittersweet Life. He is unbelievably tough and resilient, yet emotionally vulnerable. And Min-sik Choi plays his character superbly: he is menacing, chaotic, and a slave to his wanton desires. Anything is possible with Kyung-chul, he has no limits, and that is a reality that Soo-hyeon has to face and pay for dearly when he messes with him.

Along the way, Soo-hyeon also meets some pretty messed up friends of Kyung-chul’s and these encounters are some of the best parts of the movie, a darkly comic celebration of madness and murder. In fact, we go through a directory of psychopaths, and one begins to see that there is a kind of hierarchy amongst them, with Kyung-chul undoubtedly coming out on top. Oh yes, I Saw the Devil is certainly not for the faint-hearted, there is much blood-gushing severing of limbs that goes on throughout the movie. And I won’t say that it isn’t indulgent, because what else should a director do if not indulge his audience?

[rubie]

January 31, 2011

I Saw the Devil (2011)

Reviewed by Kalebson at dreadcentral.com

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Closing out this year’s Sundance Film Festival with a bang from Magnet Releasing is Ji-woon Kim’s I Saw the Devil. Having heard such good things in my walks around Park City, I could not resist the temptation to venture back out into the cold and get on the wait list for this two-plus-hour revenge thriller. I am so glad I did. Kim takes revenge to a whole new level as the two leads are so equal in both intelligence and skill that in the end neither has an advantage over the other.

Packed as it is with gratuitous violence, torture and enough body parts to fill a dump truck one can understand why South Korean censors are demanding some major cuts in I Saw the Devil. It is my understanding, however, that Magnet is releasing it Stateside, and we will have the pleasure of the director’s cut in all its gruesome glory.

Warning -- Mild spoilers follow so if you're not into learning the details of the plot, you may want to skip the next four paragraphs.

The film is centered on Korean secret agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee), who is seeking revenge for the death of his pregnant fiancée, Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh). Kim wastes no time getting into the thick of it as this occurs just moments from the start. We find Joo-yeon sitting in her car on the side of the road with a flat tire talking to Soo-hyeon on the phone. A man, Kyung-chul (Oldboy's Min-sik Choi), driving a school van (seriously, he drives children for a living) stops to ask if she needs assistance. She informs him she already has a tow truck on the way, but he takes it upon himself to check the flat tire against her wishes. After telling him repeatedly that she would rather wait for the tow truck, the strange man heads back to his van, only to return seconds later wielding a hammer. After bashing her in the skull repeatedly, he takes her to a makeshift torture chamber that resembles a small slaughterhouse.

She awakens in a body bag, naked of course, to find her assailant preparing to disassemble her in the proper order of dismemberment: arms, legs and then head. She pleads with the maniac to spare her life, telling him she is pregnant. Kyung-chul gives her the blankest of stares for what seems like an eternity and then slams the cleaver into her bare flesh. Once finished with his bloody mutilation, he dumps her parts in a nearby river. The following day two kids walking in a field near the river find a plastic bag revealing an ear.

Joo-yeon, being the daughter of retired Squad Chief Jang (Gook-hwan Jeon), spawns a huge search of the river by what appears to be the entire police squad. During the search a head is discovered, causing undeniable grief to both Soo-hyeon and Jang. Following the funeral Soo-hyeon announces that he will be taking two weeks off in order to properly mourn her passing, but he has ulterior motives. With the help of a fellow agent he acquires a “capsule-like” GPS tracking pill and receiver unit and from Jang a list of probable suspects to seek out from previous murder cases. After torturing and questioning the first two and then beating them to a bloody pulp, he sets out to find the third suspect. BINGO! Once he knows that Kyung-chul is the man responsible, he sets forth to keep his promise to his dead fiancée to inflict 10,000 times more suffering on him than she went through.

After inflicting some serious damage to Kyung-chul, Soo-hyeon forces the tracking device down his throat, throws him in a hole and gives him, of all things, an envelope full of money ... WHAT?!?! Soo-hyeon keeps track of Kyung-chul, constantly making sure that he is ready any time Kyung-chul is up to no good, just for the sake of delivering more punishment in pure twisted catch-and-release style. But will he be able to keep the upper hand?

Director Kim does a fantastic job of mixing all the emotion and horror together. Every performance in this masterpiece is outstanding, if not perfect. There is definitely no limit in Kim’s mind when it comes to brutality in any fashion as this no-holds-barred battle of good vs. evil rears its ugly head from the very start. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the editing is flawless.

The fight choreography is very well done and includes everything from mixed martial arts to outright street brawling. The score is powerful and deliberately placed in every necessary scene but unlike in some features does not overwhelm the audience to the point that it takes away from the film.

In my opinion, from all that I saw with my own eyes, this may have well been the best thing to come out of Sundance this year. I enjoyed the entire two-hour and twenty-one-minute runtime. My only hope is that they get a slightly better subtitle set for the US release; there were quite a few misspellings and phrases that didn’t make much sense, making me think that maybe they threw these subtitles together pretty quickly for an American audience. This really has little impact on the film itself though as you cannot mistake what is going on.

I Saw the Devil is a must see for anyone in the genre that loves sadistically violent films! This flick puts anything that I can think of in recent history that's similar in theme to shame.

4 1/2 out of 5

I Saw The Devil (2010)

Posted by

thatfilmlover.com

Plot: After a tragic accident Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee, A Bittersweet Life) is trying to hunt down a wanted criminal played by Min-sik Choi (Oldboy) A monster of a man who appears to have no feelings or compassion at all, but is catching the murderer enough to satisfy Kim Soo-hyeon's thirst for revenge?

I managed to snag a Korean Import of I SAW THE DEVIL, and wanted to make sure anybody out there reading this who is a fan of Horror movies/Korean Revenge films or just excellent movies in general has this on their RADAR as a MUST SEE.

I Saw The Devil marks the now legendary director Ji-woon Kim taking on the genre of REVENGE, typically owned by Chan Wook Park. Kim Ji-Woon manages, after his masterpieces in Horror (A Tale of Two Sisters) Crime (A Bittersweet Life) and a Western (The Good, The Bad, and The Weird) to takeover the revenge movie and make it his own. "I SAW The DEVIL" might be Kim Ji-Woon's first attempt at a Park Chan-Wook style revenge movie, but like Quentin Tarantino, Kim Ji-Woon takes the genre and twists and bend's it until it becomes something totally new, while paying homage to those that came before it.

The movie's first half breaks down into a Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs style affair. Building tension and fear, Kim, Ji-woon masterfully creates a really human monster, much like Hannibal Lector, Choi, Min-Sik's (another steal from Wook Park's Oldboy) paints a monster of a man who is without feelings or compassion. Min Sik's performance is all in the face, especially the eyes, rather than with flashy phrases and scary one liners. In 'I Saw The Devil' he's beaten up, and worn out, like a wounded bear, confused, lumbering, but still deadly. He's unrecognizable from his critically acclaimed performance in the aforementioned Oldboy. Min-Sik is the perfect foil to Byung-Hun's Soo-Hyeon, a baby faced cherub, who at the start of the movie, acts like he wouldn't hurt a fly, before becoming corrupted by his thirst for revenge. He perfectly captures the descent into madness and the fall from grace that his character requires.

The other stand out in 'I Saw The Devil' is the photography. This is some of the best you will see in foreign cinema or otherwise. There are beautifully horrific sequences set to snow and a nighttime search of a river by

hundreds of policeman that wow with their stunning visuals, while horrifying us with their content.

There's a real sense that Ji-Woon's knows he's at the top of his game, and showing off his camera skills, much in the same way as Goodfellas era Scorsese did with his famous Coco Cabbana shot. Ji-Woon creates the most impressive 360 degree knife fight in a moving car that has been or will ever be filmed again.

In the second-half of the film, Ji-Woon reigns himself from showing off his beautiful

cinematography and creates a wonderful cat and mouse game, that echoes the very best in the genre, recalling such classics as Changing Lanes, Enduring Love and Christopher Nolan's Insomnia. The film plays with the revenge formula, there are many moments in this film that Soo-Hyeon Kim could have his revenge, but chooses instead, to prolong the experience, letting the monster go wounded, so he can find him, hurt him some more, before letting him go again. This creates an agonizing situation for the audience, as we see other's that could have been saved if Soo-Hyeon hadn't been so hell bent on revenge his way.

Much like other REVENGE movies, this film is not for the squeamish, gore-hounds will find much to love here, and there are plenty of shocking, scary moments, but what this film has, at it's dark heart, is a comment on the revenge genre, it wants to be the final word in a series of movies that have tried to be the this already. It largely succeeds, at the very least, it provides a perfect bookend to Woo Park's Revenge Masterpieces, that alone is the biggest compliment I can give it.

[rubie]

January 31, 2011

Film Comment Selects Arrives with 16 Undistributed Features for U.S. Audiences

By Daniel Loria at indiewire.com

Subway Cinema co-presentations

“I Saw the Devil,” Kim Ji-woon, 2010, South Korea

Giving new meaning to catch-and-release, a secret agent searches for the serial wacko who murdered his fiancée and takes a very special form of vengeance. The twisty, gruesome new thriller by the director of The Good, the Bad, the Weird was initially banned in South Korea for its meticulous attention to bloody detail. Marked by Kim’s agile set pieces, and a sustained mood of encroaching darkness, it stars Lee Byung-hun (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy). Also: don’t miss the six-film Kim Ji-woon retrospective at BAMcinematek, February 25 to March 2!

February 25 - March 2, 2011

BAMcinématek Severely Damaged: The Cinema of Kim Ji-woon

Source: BAM.org

I Saw the Devil l A Bittersweet Life l Tale of Two Sisters l The Quiet Family l The Foul King l The Good The Bad The Weird

[rubie]

February 2, 2011

The clip from Sundance 2011 with Dir. KJW and Lee Byunghun-ssi at the I Saw the Devil stage greeting.

Thanks to the highlight by youyo712 at twitter

I Saw The Devil director intro @ 2011 Sundance Film Festival

uploaded by the69lover69

Watch the Youtube STREAMING HERE

I Saw the Devil

Part of the BAMcinématek series Severely Damaged: The Cinema of Kim Ji-woon

Fri, Feb 25 at 7pm

Q&A with Kim Ji-woon

Directed by Kim Ji-woon

With Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan

(2010) 143min

"Revenge is a dish best served cold, someone once said. In Kim Ji-woon's I Saw The Devil, revenge is served so f-cold it's like a block of ice smashed across your face. Kim Ji-woon takes the tried and true serial killer formula and flips it on it disturbed head with fantastic results."—Twitch

This demented blood-drenched masterpiece was denied release in Korea for its graphic, “severely damaged” scenes of blood letting and vengeance gone wild. When his beautiful fiancee is savagely dismembered by crazed killer Kyung-chul (Oldboy’s Choi), devastated goverment agent Soo-hyun (A Bittersweet Life’s Lee) snaps, apprehending the killer and torturing him, but letting him escape with a tracker embedded in his skin. Uninterested in mere vengeance by homicide, Soo-hyun sets off a brutal game of cat and mouse, repeatedly capturing his prey to inflict pain and then re-releasing him. Graphic and gory, but damn gorgeous, too, Kim’s latest is one of the most well shot and stylish thrillers of the year and a trenchant examination of revenge and the price it exacts on one’s soul.

BAM Rose Cinemas

General Admission: $12

BAM Cinema Club members: $7

Movie Moguls: Free

[rubie]

February 4, 2011

SUNDANCE 2011 REVIEW: I SAW THE DEVIL

by: Chris Bumbray joblo.com

PLOT: When his young wife is murdered by a serial killer (Choi Min Sik), a secret agent (Byung-hun Lee) instigates a campaign of torture and revenge against the man- with the ultimate goal of making the killer finally discover what it truly means to be someone’s victim.

REVIEW: I SAW THE DEVIL was a deliriously violent treat I was lucky enough to catch towards the end of the Sundance Film Festival. A shockingly violent thriller, I SAW THE DEVIL was so disturbing to many in its native South Korea, that the film ran afoul of the local censors before hitting theaters. Luckily, at Sundance we were able to catch the full, uncut version of one the most exciting serial killer thrillers I’ve seen since SE7EN.

You’ve got to hand it to the South Koreans. Nobody makes thrillers like they do- with this being the best cat and mouse flick I’ve seen since THE CHASER- another South Korean flick that rocked my word at the Fantasia Film Festival a few years ago. As shocking a film as I SAW THE DEVIL is, the thing that really surprises me is that no Hollywood studio has snapped up remake rights to the film, as this is as commercial a thriller as you could possibly imagine. Imagine THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS crossed with TAKEN, and you have a good idea of the type of film we’re dealing with here.

It’s actually a fairly unique take on the serial killer, or giallo genre, as I haven’t seen a real slasher action flick since Sylvester Stallone’s COBRA from back in the day. While you’d assume this was a horror flick based on the title, and the way shocked filmgoers have been describing the violence, I SAW THE DEVIL is actually more of an action flick- and a superb one at that.

The idea behind it is shockingly simple, but effective. Imagine a film where the slasher murders the wife of a secret agent on par with Jason Bourne, or Liam Neeson in TAKEN. What would happen? Naturally, the hero would go after the killer, but I SAW THE DEVIL takes that idea way further. Rather than solely take the life of his prey, our hero wants to make the killer’s life a living hell before finally snuffing him out. Within a half hour of the 141 minute running time, our hero already knows who the bad guy is. He catches him after a brief scrap, but rather than kill him, he just beats the living mini cooper out of him, before leaving him unconscious with some cash so he can escape the authorities who are rapidly closing in on him.

After this initial meeting, he goes to get himself patched up at a clinic, before attempting to rape the young nurse working the late shift. Before he gets very far, our hero pops up again, saving the girl, and slicing the killer’s Achilles tendon, before having the nurse patch him up, so he can continue his campaign. And so the game continues…

Alas, this would be a pretty boring thriller if all it was were sequences of the baddie getting beaten up every ten minutes or so. But, our hero has a weakness; he overrates his own genius, allowing Choi Min Sik’s character to slip out of his clutches, leading to a new campaign of terror, waged on the remaining members of our hero’s family. From then on, this becomes a terrifying nail-bitter, and a film that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

I SAW THE DEVIL is the latest film from Kim Ji-Woon, who’s rapidly establishing himself as one of the premiere Korean directors, with this following on the heels of his acclaimed THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE WEIRD. Kim’s one hell of an action director with this featuring two of the best action sequences I’ve seen in a while. The first features Choi Min-Sik having a knife fight with two men in a cab that’s spinning out of control. The second is an extended set piece where Byung-Hun Lee finds himself trapped in a remote mansion, trying to rescue a young woman who’s about to fall victim to Choi and a flesh-eating, serial killer crony of his.

The film also happens to include two of South Korea’s biggest stars in the lead roles. As the villain, I SAW THE DEVIL gives Choi Min-Ski his most iconic role since the great OLDBOY, and his wacked-out intensity is a perfect match to the role. As the hero, Byung-Hun Lee (Storm Shadow in GI JOE) comes off as an engaging, Chow Yun-Fat style badass good guy.

I SAW THE DEVIL really is one of the most exciting thrillers I’ve seen in a long time, and if you can stomach the extreme violence (which, to be sure- is more of the KILLER INSIDE ME variety than the exploitative SAW kind), this is a suspenseful nail-biter sure to please horror and action fans alike.

Rating: 9/10

[rubie]

February 4, 2011

I Saw the Devil

Author(s): Stephen Davis collegemoviereview.com

Score: 88

When a serial killer happens upon a broken down car with an innocent girl sitting inside, he can't resist the temptation to make her his next victim. Little does he know that this particular girl is the love interest to a CIA special-operative; one that will stop at nothing to avenge her violent death. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues until the very end. Director Kim Jee-woon has crafted a suspenseful thriller that will send shivers up your spine as you witness the most elaborate revenge tale ever projected onto the big screen.

What can I say, I love horror films. Granted I stay away from the recently popular 'torture porn' sub-genre, but if you can give me a halfway decent story and some credible acting, I'm all over it. Luckily for me, Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil features an intriguing story, interesting characters, a ton of blood and violence and one hell of an ending.

Lee Byung-hun does an excellent job at depicting our outraged fiancé. When he first learns of his lover's demise, you can clearly see the emotional impact it has on him. The next two hours comprise a ruthless game of cat-and-mouse; one that reaches new heights when the hunter becomes the hunted. The end result is nothing that you would expect, sending you to the edge of your seat as you look on in utter shock and dismay.

I will say that I Saw the Devil is grotesque and unrelenting. Shielding your eyes is not an option, not with a story like this, so be prepared to witness it all. Additionally, the run time sits at just under two-and-a-half hours. A few scenes could have been cut, that much is obvious, but you should be aware. The action never stops and there is never a minute of so-called 'down time.' The film is addicting, be ready for it and you will not leave the theater disappointed.

January 26, 2011

700 Miles from Sundance, Part 5

By

Craig Kennedy

livingincinema.com

Here’s the biggest and (for my money) best Sundance survey I’ve put together so far this year. In addition to the latest films from Azazel Jacobs (Momma’s Man) and Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories), Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck, Youth in Revolt) lightens things up with Ed Helms in Cedar Rapids and Kevin Spacey makes a Margin Call. Also, the latest from Kim Jee-woon (The Good, the Bad, the Weird).

I Saw the Devil

(South Korea)

Director and screenwriter: Kim Jee-woon. Cast: Byung-hun Lee, Min-sik Choi. Spotlight. U.S. Premiere.

Everything else I’ve covered so far has been a world premiere, but I’m making an exception in this case. I Saw the Devil premiered at Toronto in 2010 and hits US theaters in March, but Kim Jee-woon’s last film The Good, the Bad, the Wierd was one of the more purely entertaining pictures of last year and I’m looking forward to this one. Here Kim reunites with Wierd‘s Lee Byung-hun (“the Bad”) in a twisted revenge tale about a agent on the trail of a serial killer who murdered his pregnant fiancée. Suffice it to say if he captures him he has no intention of turning the killer over to the authorities.

Christopher Campbell

,

Spout

:

“I Saw the Devil is no ordinary one-way revenge movie… it ultimately shares a lot more in common with Se7en than it does recent films like Taken, Edge of Darkness, Hong Kong’s Vengeance and any of this film’s South Korean brethren (including Oldboy). If I had to lump it in with the latter group, I’d say it’s the revenge movie to end all revenge movies. Or, at least the current trend—though it will probably be remade, so there’s no reason to think this will be the case.”

Kurt Halfyard

,

Twitch

:

“I Saw The Devil is a movie of oneupmanship usually reserved for comedies – here it is a oneupmanship of tragedies that ripple outward from the two crazy men at the center… Anyone expecting to find deeper spiritual or moral probing along the lines of Park Chan-Wook’s trilogy is asking too much. It seems that Kim Ji-Woon has been on the path where his films get less deep and more in love with their own excesses with each entry… Kim’s films, I Saw The Devil included, remain fun and exciting affairs, but do not engage the brain or the soul much beyond the basic concept.”

James Rocchi

,

indieWIRE

:

“Revenge flicks are generally easy for audiences to get behind—show a person devastatingly wronged and we’re down to see him get some payback… There’ve been a few pictures to examine its fruitlessness, (Jeff Nichols’s Shotgun Stories comes to mind) but leave it to Ji-Woon Kim…to really critique the genre and give it some depth with the hearty punch to the face titled I Saw The Devil.”

[rubie]

February 9, 2011

Dir. Kim Ji Woon and Lee Byung Hun at stage greeting session of the 'I Saw the Devil' Japanese premiere at Tokyu Milano, Shinjuku Japan. There were two premiere screenings for the Korean thriller which set to open in Japan on February 26th.

Thanks to ylin at LBH thread for the info and captures' highlight courtesy various media sites & fan-sharing.

[rubie]

Thanks to the highlight at GBW cafe.daum 6574

Captures from

pia.jp

, thanks to the highlight by

youyo712

at twitter

[rubie]

February 10, 2011

'I Saw the Devil' Japan Premiere & Stage Greeting

Source: news.nate.com, gist guessed by EverythingLBH

(Tokyo AP - Lee Tae Mun Correspondent)- Hallyu star-actor Lee Byung Hun and Director Kim Ji Woon attended the Japanese premiere for 'I Saw the Devil' at the Shinjuku Milano Tokyu on the 9th. The two had specially flown to Tokyo to meet the fans at the movie's stage greeting which the official release has been set on February 26th.

Dir. Kim Ji Woon started his greeting by apologizing that the fans and movie audience watching would find the movie extremely gruesome and brutal. He then continued that "in an act of revenge there was a strong emotion that affected the action.. also an element of romance as Soo Hyun played by Lee Byung Hun who deeply loved his fiancee and that strong feeling pushed him to the limits."

Lee Byung Hun then added that "revenge is basically the same human reaction but there're such different views on how it's to be done, especially when the actual terrible situation happened to a person."

More captures at moviecollection.jp, thanks to the highlight by ylin/youyo712

[rubie]

February 11, 2011

Lee Byung-hun attends promotional event for "I Saw the Devil" in Japan

Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@ Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@ <ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved> news.nate.com

Hallyu star Lee Byung-hun attended promotional events in Japan for the release of his film "I Saw the Devil" this week, according to his agency BH Entertainment.

BH announced in a press release that Lee flew into Tokyo on Wednesday and made several appearances on entertainment programs for Fuji TV, Nihon TV, Ashahi TV and on Japan's popular show "SMAP X SMAP."

He then attended two film premiere events held later that night which attracted over 2,000 fans in total to movie theater Milano 1 in Shinjuku, while he stayed after the screening and greeted about 800 fans.

Lee also met with local broadcasting companies TBS, NHK and other media outlets for more television appearances and interviews the following day.

"I Saw the Devil," also starring top Korean actor Choi Min-sik, is about a secret agent (Lee) who plots revenge against a serial killer (Choi) who killed his fiancee. It has garnered much attention from both fans in Korea and overseas since its release in August last year.

The film also won rave reviews after being screened last year at the Toronto International Festival and San Sebastian International Film Festival. The thriller will open in Japan on February 26.

[rubie]

Thanks to

ylin

, ISTD Stage Greeting VOD from moviecollectionjp

'I Saw the Devil' Japan Stage Greeting - 9 Feb 2011

Thanks to Melody Yoko Reilly for sharing via Twitpic, highlighted by ylin

February 11, 2011

[News Clip] 'I Saw the Devil' high response in Japan

Watch the streaming

HERE

or download the short clip

HERE

.

Thanks to the highlight by Angel70, more stage greeting captures from kejnews.com

[rubie]

February 11, 2011

Another Stunning Poster Revealed for Kim Ji-woon's 'I Saw the Devil'

Source: IMPAwards by Alex Billington at firstshowing.net

Evil Lives Inside... Magnet has debuted another incredible new theatrical poster (following the last amazing one) for Kim Ji-woon's I Saw the Devil, the newest gripping and extremely bloody Korean horror-thriller from the director of A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird. This gorgeous bit of artwork was first posted on IMPAwards (via BD) and can be seen below, which it should immediately, because it's just stunning - subliminal, minimal, great fonts, this has it all. The film has been receiving fantastic reviews all around and gorgeous poster art like this only makes me more anxious to see it. Check out the poster below!

Starring Byung-hun Lee (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) and Min-sik Choi (Lady Vengeance) the story in I Saw the Devil follows a young secret agent as he tracks a brutal serial killer who murdered his fiancée, but the hunter decides he likes playing with his catch. Quint from AICN calls it "brutal, intense and just plain old awesome," while our own Jeremy Kirk says the film is "nothing short of staggering, dark and confident" and "sometimes stunningly beautiful." The film also played at the Sundance Film Festival last month and will finally be arriving in limited theaters starting on March 4th. I'm definitely going to see it.

'Bedevilled' Murder Thriller Goes to Distrib Films (Berlin)

by

Park Soo-Mee

hollywoodreporter.com

"Midnight F.M.," screening at the European Film Market, sold to three Asian territories.

SEOUL -- Bedevilled, the latest murder thriller from Jang Chul-soo, which recently won the Grand Prix at the Gerardmer Fantastic Film Festival, was sold to France’s Distrib Films, a Seoul-based sales company Finecut announced Friday.

Separately, a creature film Chaw and a blockbuster war movie 71 — Into the Fire, which is scheduled to be released in Japan this month by Kadokawa Pictures, were sold to CTV for French distribution. 71 — Into the Fire was also sold to Hwa Yea Multimedia for Malaysia and Brunei.

For other thrillers, Midnight F.M., which will be screened in EFM, was sold to Hong Kong’s Mei Ah Selection, Taiwan’s Eagle International and Singapore’s Shaw. The film centers on a psychological game between a female radio DJ and a psycho killer during a live radio show.

Helmer Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil, another thriller, added a Spanish deal with Mediatres along with Maywin Films for ex-USSR, Portugal’s MPA, Atlantic for Scandinavia and Iceland and Mei Ah Selection for Hong Kong

.

Cyrano Agency, a romantic comedy inspired by the French drama Cyrano de Bergerac, was sold to Taiwan’s CatchPlay and Singapore’s Clover Films. Also sold to Taiwan’s Catchplay is action film Troubleshooter. The film was also sold to Thailand’s J-Bics before EFM.

[rubie]

October 10, 2010

Fantastic Fest 2010 Review: I Saw the Devil

Review by: Britt Hayes brutalashell.com

After his beautiful fiancée Joo-yeon is savagely murdered, Soo-hyun sets out to find the killer and exact his revenge. Luckily for Soo-hyun, his fiancées dad is a detective, and even better – Soo-hyun has been working as a secret agent and has a history in the practical application of physical violence. In a short amount of time he tracks down the disturbed serial killer Kyung-chul and begins one of the most incredible and intense games of cat-and-mouse to ever grace film.

I Saw the Devil is yet another in a recent wave of Korean revenge thrillers, and appropriately stars Min-sik Choi of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy. This time, Choi takes on the role of the heartless and unrelenting villain, Kyung-chul. The film doesn’t feel anywhere near as long as its over two hour run time, and even though it suffers from a few false endings in the final act, I Saw the Devil is a startlingly beautiful and violent film.

In the first act, director Ji-woon Kim catches you off guard with an unfinching look at the methodical violence of Kyung-chul. The film becomes a little dramatic after that, following the discovery of Joo-yeon’s body and the grief of Soo-hyun and her father. The entire second act absorbs most of the film as Soo-hyun finds Kyung-chul in a completely unexpected turn and pursues him mercilessly. Some moments evoke nervous laughter as Soo-hyun finds clever ways to john tesh with Kyung-chul.

And that’s basically the entirety of the film: a non-stop cat-and-mouse game. Soo-hyun catches up to Kyung-chul, tortures him, and lets him go. But the most intriguing aspect of the film is how Kyung-chul refuses to relent. He continues to strike out violently, unable to ignore the killer and violator inside of himself. Soo-hyun is right behind him every time, punishing him for his monstrous ways, satisfying his need for revenge, and perhaps exorcising some of his own demons. He sedates Kyung-chul, leaves him somewhere, then tracks him down to torture him some more. When is it enough? Soo-hyun isn’t just a man with a broken and beaten heart avenging his murdered love; this man is john teshing furious.

Throughout the film the term “crazy bastard” is tossed back and forth between the two men. By the end, both men have descended the depths of darkness and madness, growing increasingly more violent. Even though we remember that Soo-hyun is our hero, it becomes harder to discern which one of these men is more insane. Kyung-chul is a machine of nihilism; uncaring, unmoved, and not easily shaken by Soo-hyun’s torment, while Soo-hyun is a near-unstoppable whirl of emotion, all rage and revenge and unforgiving. The way he tortures Kyung-chul is brutal and terrifying, but the way Kyung-chul reacts to it is infinitely more so. He laughs in Soo-hyun’s face, taunts him, and refuses to show an ounce of humanity.

I Saw the Devil makes you question evil and insanity, and how good men are driven to do deplorable things in the name of justice, but it also serves as a potent meditation on grief and despair. It’s simply an amplified exploration of the removal of a loved one from your life, and what you feel like doing to the person you blame for this loss. In this instance, Kyung-chul is indeed the ultimate villain and perpetrated the crime directly without question, but Soo-hyun’s revenge is wish fulfillment most definitely fulfilled, and then some.

Late in the film it looks like Kyung-chul might be close to evading Soo-hyun. The film quickly climaxes with a maddening frenzy as cat and mouse work to the ultimate conclusion. The end is a contemplative one, as Kyung-chul is not only a formidable opponent, but one who seems to relish this abuse. We can’t root for him, but we sort of want to, the crazy bastard.

Coming after his previous films A Tale of Two Sisters and The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Ji-woon Kim once again shows the mastery of his craft with I Saw the Devil. The film is absolutely stunning to look at and the score is a beautiful and haunting accompaniment to the tempest of derangement on screen. As long as the film is, it compels you and makes you cringe from start to finish. It feels right at home with other Korean revenge films, but stands apart with its examination of madness and grief. What’s more, there are no out-of-left field moments that you find in most Korean horror films. Kim sticks to a strong, dark narrative and follows it all the way down the rabbit hole without making any pit stops.

[rubie]

February 16, 2011

THE TWO-MINUTE VERDICT || BY JEN YAMATO

Bloody Vengeance, Korean-Style, in the I Saw the Devil Redband Trailer

Now this is the way to get hooked into Kim Ji-woon’s brutal cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller I Saw the Devil: By ratcheting up the tension, the dueling nemeses, the copious blood spatter, and the kind of insane, ultra-violent vengeance that Korean cinema has rained down upon the world in recent years. Because nothing says “I must avenge my dead beloved” like hunting down her killer and becoming a face-bashing, foot-stabbing serial killer-killer yourself.

Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird) casts his The Good, the Bad, and the Weird star Lee Byung-hun (who camped it up deliciously as “The Bad” in that eccentric Korean Western) as state policeman Soo-Hyun, whose girlfriend is murdered one dark and snowy night by a serial murderer. Said killer is none other than Oldboy himself, Korean cinema vet Choi Min-sik, who has been unreservedly chopping up young ladies for years. In his quest for revenge, Soo-Hyun naturally becomes the type of monster he’s trying to destroy. And plenty of slicing, stabbing, and blunt force traumas ensue as he hacks his way towards that goal.

What’s most effective about the delightfully gory redband trailer (must be 18 and over, kids) is the fact that it doesn’t rely on its bloody bits. They’re fun, sure — and wince-inducing, even though bodily harm is shown only in mercifully short bursts of ultra violence, at least in the trailer. But consider everything else we glimpse in these vicious two minutes: vibrant reds and blues, stylish compositions, perversely beautiful images of blood trails in the snow, a viscerally edited showdown in a greenhouse, Lee’s pretty, anguished face, contrasted with Choi’s weathered and impassive mask.

Once the ominous strumming sounds of “House of the Rising Sun” begin, employed to great effect, it’s really on; the head-smashing, foot-stabbing, people-strangling, gun-shooting, and car-stabbing melee is so chaotic, you can’t tell exactly who’s killing who. Seldom do trailers distill an entire film down to its core without giving everything away — let alone with so little dialogue.

Keep an eye out for I Saw the Devil in limited release this March, courtesy of Magnet Releasing. [iGN]

Verdict: See it. Or else.

[rubie]

February 16, 2011

New Red Band Trailer & Poster for 'I Saw the Devil'

by Ross Miller at screenrant.com

A heart-pounding new red-band trailer and poster have been released for ‘I Saw the Devil’, a new Korean thriller from director Ji-woon Kim (The Good, the Bad, the Weird).

Some of the most entertaining, thrilling, emotional, not to mention violent films released these days come from Korea, with movies like Oldboy and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (to name but a couple) achieving international acclaim and success.

Today we have a red-band trailer and poster for another Korean movie, an intense revenge thriller/horror called I Saw the Devil. The film stars two of Korea’s most successful actors, Min-sik Choi and Byung-hun Lee, stars of the aforementioned films Oldboy and The Good, The Bad, The Weird, respectively (Lee also starred as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe).

Kyung-chul (Choi) is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him. One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state.

Her fiance Soo-hyeon (Lee), a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.

It may sound like the plot of several revenge thrillers that have come before, but as you’ll see from the new red-band trailer, this takes things to bloody extremes which similar films just wouldn’t explore (certainly not in Hollywood).

Both the trailer and the poster do a tremendous job of conveying the overall tone of the film while hinting at the type of themes it’s going to be exploring without giving much away. Apart from one line of dialogue (shown with subtitles rather than dubbed) the trailer uses visceral imagery to give you a sense of what to expect, instead of doing what most trailers these days do – bombard you with too much info.

And is it just me or did anyone else get a Let the Right One In/Let Me In vibe from the trailer?

I Saw the Devil comes to us courtesy of brilliant Korean director Ji-woon Kim, who has an impressive few films under his belt including the horror-drama A Tale of Two Sisters (which now has an inferior Hollywood remake entitled The Uninvited); the action/adventure Western The Good, The Bad, The Weird; and the revenge film A Bittersweet Life (the latter two also starring Lee).

Since I’m such a huge fan of Kim’s work I will see anything the guy makes, but the latest trailer and poster for I Saw the Devil make me even more excited to see it (if that’s even possible). Although it didn’t make Screen Rant‘s 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2011 list, it did make my own personal list.

I Saw the Devil is scheduled to open in U.S. theaters (in limited release) on March 4th, 2011. Will you be making the effort to see it?

Sources: IGN and IMP Awards

[rubie]

Thanks to the highlight and translation by taprokh, please refer article posted at http://bit.ly/g5amyT

CONGRATULATIONS!

'I Saw the Devil' wins three prizes at The Fantastic'Arts 2011 film festival, France

[rubie]

Source:

EFiL.net

I SAW THE DEVIL Review

Written by: Laash horror-movies.ca

This is one BLOODY-Ferocious revenge flick! After finding out his girlfriend has been brutally murdered by a sadistic killer, NSI agent Soo-Hyun takes the matters into his own hand and soon enough able to tracks down the psychopath culprit Kyung-chul who mercilessly likes to kill his young female victims with a dose of sexual assault.

Soo-Hyun also takes an oath for his dead girlfriend to give her killer ‘10000 times more pain’ and eventually he tries that through his own macabre catch-and-release game.

Soo-Hyun takes the vengeance into a new level of gruesomeness where the line between ‘good & evil’ or ‘crime & punishment’ becomes blurred...where both of them explores & shows their darkest & meanest side to each other and finally confronts the Devil on earth within them.

In compare to Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance trilogy or Korea's rising genre of Serial killer films (like Memories of Murder, Mother & The Chaser) This kind of hard-boiled revenge thriller doesn’t come with the same level of moral dilemma or emotional content that leaves you with a devastating or mind blowing experience.

But it’s a pure and nearly over the top gore & action pack revenge film that surely has the capacity to satisfy its original audience. There is a brutal double murder in a running cab where the camera swoops around inside the cab in a circle was brilliantly done. So don’t take it as just another grotesque revenge thriller…there’s plenty of eye catching moments you’ll find in Kim Ji-woon’s (the director of The Quiet Family, A Tale of 2 Sisters, A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird) I SAW THE DEVIL.