[Movie 2010] I Saw The Devil, 악마를 보았다

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One of my favourite movie of all time.

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February 26, 2016

Watch: Top 15 Most Memorable Villains Selected by Korean Viewers

Source: Soompi by kminjungee 

While you can’t help but hate them, often, a fantastic villain makes for a great story. KBS‘s “Entertainment Weekly” recently released its list of the 15 most memorable villains from dramas and films.

The survey was conducted online from January 26 to January 27, and received 1,032 answers from Korean viewers aged 19 years and up. Check out the list below and beware of potential spoilers!

6. Choi Min Sik as Jang Kyung Chul in “I Saw the Devil”

A psychopathic serial killer who, at times, reminds you of the Joker from “Batman.” Behind that normal looking face is a messed-up mind who stops at nothing to get to his target.

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April 7, 2016

7 Of the Most Frightening Horror Films From the Last Decade

Matt Kim Inverse

I Saw the Devil (2010)

I Saw the Devil, a South Korean film which effectively blurs the line between hero and villain, is an exemplar of the sort of extreme cinema South Korea has become known for in recent years. The identity of the film’s serial killer, and the special agent tasked to find him, are revealed early on.

Where the film twists and turns however is when our hero, Kim Soo-hyun employs sadistic methods to track down the serial killer Kyung-chul. In the realm of violent cinema, rarely do we see the “good guy” go to such lengths to physically and psychologically torture the killer. The game of cat and mouse is really a tug-of-war of who is more evil, killer or the cop.

Photo credit: cak_tepe

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Another one of the various posters for ISTD

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Can it even be as crazy as the original Korean version? 

September 29, 2016

I SAW THE DEVIL Remake Nears Production
BLAIR WITCH Director Adam Wingard to Helm US Update

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

Reports indicate that production is gearing up to begin on the long-gestating American remake of KIM Jee-woon’s I Saw The Devil (2010). Two years ago, indie genre director Adam Wingard was attached to helm an update of the revered Korean revenge thriller along with his writing partner Simon Barrett and it seems that it is now the next project in the pipeline for the director.

Wingard, who previously made The Guest (2014), recently released Blair Witch, a sequel to the found footage horror The Blair Witch Project (1999) and has also completed principal photography on Death Note, a remake of the 2006 Japanese film of the same name. 

The original I Saw The Devil featured LEE Byung-hun as a special agent who goes on the hunt for the serial killer (CHOI Min-shik) responsible for murdering his fiancee, and then becomes an equally sadistic villain in his quest for vengeance. The violent thriller was seen by 1.82 million viewers (USD 12.68 million) during its original Korean release and won several prizes on the festival circuit following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

KIM’s latest film The Age of Shadows recently debuted to strong reviews at the Venice International Film Festival and has been a smash in its native Korea, amassing over seven million spectators to date (USD 52.47 million).

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Clip: soult_rnb

 

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January 21, 2017

10 Films To Get You Into Korean Cinema

By Nicolas Mogollon, writer at CREATORS.CO MoviePilot.com

I’ve been a fan of Korean cinema for a long time. Ever since I saw Oldboy, I’ve been adamant in trying to watch as many Korean films as I can. There is something about their culture that allows them to take film into unexpected places that really dig deep into the heart of humanity. The films are bold, disturbing and tap into a level of darkness that is genuinely affecting. Once you’ve seen a couple, you’ll know that Korean cinema offers no easy answers and instead opts to not only complicate things, but also deliver consistently depressing endings. However, the experience itself is thrilling — it’s emotionally charged as well as visually striking. It delivers something distinctive and goes to great length to latch into your mind and never let go.

These are the films that will serve as a great introduction to Korean cinema and hopefully will turn you into a fan:

10. 'I Saw The Devil'

Let’s kick the list off with our first tale of revenge. When secret service agent Joo-yun’s fiancé is brutally murdered by school bus driver Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik), Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) uses his resources to hunt down and kill Jang Kyung-chul. While I Saw The Devil has a familiar premise, the film quickly lets you know that you’re in for something different when the protagonist catches the killer within the first 30 minutes. Even more to the point is the fact that he lets the killer go and so begins a game of cat and mouse.

The film begins in a disturbing manner and gets progressively more richard simmons up as the protagonist is forced to dive further down into the criminal underworld. Beyond the excellent action and pools of blood, is an intimate examination of the lengths we can go to in our pursuit of redemption. At the end of the film, you’ll have difficulty distinguishing who exactly is the devil.

9. 'Train To Busan'

8. 'The Man From Nowhere'

7. 'The Wailing'

6. 'Oldboy'

5. 'The Host'

4. 'Memories Of Murder'

3. 'The Chaser'

2. 'Silenced'

1. 'Lady Vengeance' 

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Photo: dlsdud79 

Behind-the-Scenes

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Art by ba_ram_tattoo #KimSooHyun #I SAW THE DEVIL

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Photo: moviemaniac666

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Source: Scott Derrickson (Wikipedia)

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June 2017

I Saw the Devil (2010)
A Tale of Two Predators

Source: 21st Century Heretic

In the history of iconic film, some of the greatest battles were fought between two polarised forces of nature, two predators who shared something a little more in common than their uncanny ability and capacity for violence. Sometimes they shared nothing but the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes they shared a respect in their destructive sport. Sometimes it was a little more cerebral. Sometimes the protagonist's greatest danger was becoming the monster; losing their faith in what they stood for!

Heat, Predator, The Dark Knight, Dirty Harry, Kill Bill, Terminator, Die Hard, Silence of the Lambs, Point Break - these are examples of some of the most thrilling iconic hero/villain relationships in all their forms, and there are so many more, but none shall stand up to I Saw The Devil and claim credit. This film walks tall of its own accord.

Director Kim Jee-woon's Korean psycho thriller I Saw The Devil, starring Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) and Lee Byung-hun (Terminator Genysis)

Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) plays Jang Kyung-chul; a highly active serial killer and rapist who unwittingly murders and dismembers the fiancée of a very dangerous man. Lee Byung-hun (A Bittersweet Life) plays Kim Soo-hyeon; a Korean secret services agent. 

Traumatised, Kim cannot come to terms and so vows revenge for his fiancée, her family, and for himself. But merely to kill Jang isn't enough. Abusing his powers to single out Jang for the hunt, Kim instead engages the monstrous killer in an intimidation game of cat and mouse, of catch and release, maiming and terrifying Korea's most notorious fugitive, systematically breaking him down on a physical and psychological level.

But as the plot twists and the balance of power and advantage sways back and forth, as eventually both hunters become equally vengeful and obsessively invested in each other, the questions begin to ring out. Is Kim going over the edge? Could Kim prove to be a greater psychopath in the making? Could he prove to be Jang's greatest victim, or his greatest crime against humanity in the making?

Like David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac) meets Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Zero Dark Thirty) Devil is a stylistic psycho-thriller which pulls no punches, but it doesn't set out specifically to terrify or to look good doing it. Not so much. Instead it sets out to disgust and to test the audience's limits, but also to push boundaries as so few filmmakers dared.

Amongst its many morbid delights, I Saw The Devil sports an array of colourful support characters, all of whom feature as unfortunate obstacles between Kim and Jang as the savage hunt becomes the darkest road trip movie you ever saw. One of my ultimate favourite scenes in the movie is where we meet a friend of Jang, a devoted cannibal.

Jang's short-lived cab ride with a gang of hardened criminals is also one of the film's more astounding highlights...

It's a 50/50 revenge thriller/cautionary tale, exploring the psyche of two very driven predators. Both knows enough of the other, and learn plenty about themselves that they don't like. Jang is a very sick man, beyond any hope or redemption, but not beyond suffering. What he does cannot be excused. He is truly better off dead. Kim on the other hand is in danger of losing himself as he becomes increasingly numb to the dangers of leaving Jang alive to wreak destruction as he serves to mend his own ego.

Choi as Jang, I felt was reminiscent of Robert DeNiro's psycho in Cape Fear. He may be a boisterous lout and an utter pig, but he's as intelligent and as keen as a wolf. He pushes out the boat in terms of psychopathic serial killer behaviour. He lives and breathes the stuff of Death Row legend.

Lee as Kim, comes across as a Korean Liam Neeson for his character's Taken protagonist vibe, until the plot gets deeper and all the more twisted. As opposed to Choi's descent into helplessness, he begins cold and descends into emotional instability. Both deserve legendary acting status for their roles.

I Saw The Devil is as depraved as it can get without being any kind of porn or exploitation. As tasteful as it can be, for the celluloid barbarian that it is, it grosses you out with plenty power of suggestion rather than exposing you to excess gore, and then anywhere else it doesn't edit itself. It wants you to be uncomfortable, or at least to laugh unintentionally. You may be too awestruck or dumbstruck to want to laugh, however.

It's worth noting that director Kim Jee-woon's US action thriller and Schwarzenegger comeback vehicle The Last Stand is in no way a reflection of his talents here. As much as I actually enjoyed that, it might as well have been somebody else's movie. Well, it was. It was Schwarzenegger's!

But if ever there was a moral for a twisted revenge thriller on this level? Kill the bad guy. Kill him the very first chance you get. Don't chase him down the rabbit hole!

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Clip: Korean Film Festival Australia @koffiafilmfest

#KimJeeWoon #ISawTheDevil #TheFoulKing #TheGoodTheBadTheWeird #TheQuietFamily #ABittersweetLife

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August 3, 2017

THE WORLD OF US Opens 8th Korean Film Festival in Australia
KOFFIA Expands to 8 Cities

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

The Korean Film Festival in Australia returns later this month bigger than ever before. The 8th edition of KOFFIA is set to screen 36 films across 8 cities as the festival moves around Australia, beginning in Sydney on August 17th and winding up in Darwin and Hobart (new additions to the festival circuit) on September 23rd.

Opening the event in Sydney will be YOON Ga-eun’s indie youth drama The World of Us (2016) which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival last year. The closing film will be The Queen of Crime (2016) for which director LEE Yo-sup will be present. Other guests include directors E J-yong and LEE Zoo-young, who will visit Sydney with their films The Bacchus Lady (another 2016 Berlin premiere) and A Single Rider, the second Warner Bros. Korea film, which was shot in Australia and features LEE Byung-hun.

KOFFIA will also be holding a KIM Jee-woon retrospective at this year’s event. His latest film The Age of Shadows (2016) is in the main program while six of his earlier works, including A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003), A Bittersweet Life (2005) and I Saw The Devil (2010) will have free screenings.

Other films screening this year include The Merciless, Seoul Station (2016), The Tooth and the Nail, The Day After, The King, The Villainess, Worst Woman (2016) and Jane.

When the screenings in Sydney wrap up on August 26th, KOFFIA will visit Adelaide (Sep 1-3), Perth (Sep 1-3), Melbourne (Sep 7-14), Brisbane (Sep 8-10), Canberra (Sep 15-17), Darwin (Sep 22-23) and Hobart (Sep 22-23).

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August 7, 2017

Vulture Asks: What Are the Best Revenge Movies?

By Vulture Editors (ISTD related only, full article at Vulture.com)

Perhaps you’ve just been betrayed by a friend, rejected by a lover, or unceremoniously fired by the leader of the free world on a global stage. Whatever the reason may be, we’re all occasionally in the mood for some good, old-fashioned vengeance at the movies, whether that comes in the form of gritty Korean thrillers, tales of petty high-schoolers plotting to upend the social hierarchy, or Bette Midler singing Lesley Gore in a white pantsuit.

In celebration of cinematic name-takers and receipt-keepers, Vulture has assembled a viewing guide to some of our favorite revenge movies in Hollywood history. Queue them up on a day when you just don’t have it in you to take the high road.

Oldboy (2003)

I Saw the Devil (2010)
When just one revenge climax won’t suffice, turn to this savage thriller from Korean director Kim Jee-woon. After a sadistic bus driver (Choi Min-sik) kills a motorist stranded in the snow, the victim’s secret-agent husband (Lee Byung-hun) dedicates his life to finding the murderer and making him pay. The twist of Devil is that the hero doesn’t just catch his prey once; he catches and releases him over and over again, prolonging the abuse. At two-and-a-half hours long, this movie is an endurance test for both its viewers and its subjects. — Jordan Crucchiola

Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2003 and 2004)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The First Wives Club (1996)

Lady Snowblood (1973)

The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)

Revenge (1990)

Ms. 45 (1981)

The Handmaiden (2016)

13 Assassins (2010)

Jawbreaker (1999)

The Equalizer (2014)

Carrie (1976)

Let the Right One In (2008)

The Princess Bride (1987)

Unforgiven (1992)

Memento (2000)

Mean Girls (2004)

Get Carter (1971)

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Cape Fear (1962)

Straw Dogs (1971)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Blue Ruin (2013)

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Legally Blonde (2001)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The Virgin Spring (1960)

The Revenant (2015)

Ex Machina (2014)

The Great Silence (1968)

Point Blank (1967)

Hard Candy (2005)

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#August12 #Throwback

Source: Horror31 @Horror31

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October 26, 2017

 

The 11 Scariest Movies Currently Streaming on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime

Cheryl Eddy io9

 

I Saw the Devil

South Korean director Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) and a fantastic cast (headed up by Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik and The Magnificent Seven’s Lee Byung-hun) anchor this cat-and-mouse tale of a cop whose dogged pursuit of a brutal serial killer morphs from professional to deeply personal to something very, very dark. The whole “I become the monster I am chasing” plot has been done many times before, but I Saw the Devil is so well-made—with great performances and gorgeous (which, yes, sometimes translates to “ghoulishly visceral”) filmmaking—that it doesn’t feel like another do-over.

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Thanks to Elena Lazic on Twitter

 

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Source: Rhythm @thisgenius

 

Spoiler

 

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March 27, 2018

 

Brussels Fantastic Film Festival to Screen 11 Works from Korea

ALONG WITH THE GODS and HOUSE OF THE DISAPPEARED to Compete in 36th BIFFF

 

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

 

This year’s 36th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival will screen 11 Korean films when it kicks off on April 3 for its 13-day run. 

 

KIM Yong-hwa’s fantasy epic Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017), which became the second most successful Korean movie of all time following its release last December, has been invited to the festival’s ‘International Competition’ section. LIM Dae-woong’s mystery-thriller House of the Disappeared (2017), with KIM Yun-jin, is also in the competition lineup.

 

Meanwhile, Jay SONG’s The Nightmare (2017) will have its world premiere in Belgium in BIFFF’s 7th Orbit Competition section. The film features OH Ji-ho as a director who writes a screenplay to deal with the death of his daughter.

 

BIFFF’s ‘Thriller Competition’ will feature LEE An-gyu’s gangster action-drama A Special Lady (2017) with KIM Hye-soo, which debuted at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival last year, where it picked up the Focus Asia Award for Best Asian Film, KIM Tae-yun’s judicial drama New Trial (2017) with KANG Ha-neul and JUNG Woo and WON Shin-yun’s serial killer thriller MEMOIR OF A MURDERER (2017) with SUL Kyung-gu.

 

Brussels is also screening three works by acclaimed genre cineaste KIM Jee-woon, including his revenge drama I Saw the Devil (2010), his period action-thriller The Good, The Bad, And The Weird (2008) and his mystery-horror A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).

 

BIFFF will also screen KWAK Kyung-taek’s supernatural thriller RV: Resurrected Victims (2017) led by KIM Rae-won.