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I Saw the Devil

Akmareul boattda

South Korea

2010

143 Min

Color

2.35:1

Korean

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
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CAST Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik

MUSIC Mowg

SOUND Choi Tae-young

Toronto (Special Presentations), AFI FEST (World Cinema), Stockholm (Asian Images), Mar del Plata (Midnight Screamings), Sundance (Spotlight), Transilvania (Shadows), Helsinki (Asian Cuts)

Synopsis

Anyone who caught Kim Ji-woon’s’s schizophrenic “kimchi Western” The Good, the Bad, the Weird at the Festival in 2008 is in for a wicked surprise with his latest genre mash-up, which plays like a hybrid of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Park Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Better still, I Saw the Devil pairs two of South Korea’s top performers – _Oldboy_’s Choi Min-sik and The Good, the Bad, the Weird’s Lee Byung-Hyun – as two ferocious men whose lives intersect by way of a horrific murder.

Kyung-chul (Min-sik) is a maniacal serial killer who drives a yellow school bus and preys on young women. He captures and kills his victims, but their deaths are not the end of his madness. While the police have been aware of his actions for some time, they have never been able to put a name or face to his crimes.

When the corpse of a retired police chief’s pregnant daughter surfaces, things change gears and the hunter quickly becomes the hunted. Yet it is not the girl’s father who swears vengeance, but rather her secret agent fiancé, Joo-yeon (Byung-Hyun), who decides to track down the perpetrator himself. Anyone with even the remotest information on the killer’s whereabouts is in for a bloody beating. But when his mission starts to come together, Joo-yeon morphs into quite a disturbing monster himself.

With an outstanding filmography that also includes A Tale of Two Sisters and A Bittersweet Life, Ji-woon has already established himself as an auteur with a precise knack for capturing powerful and innovative images that complement his dense narratives and intriguing characters. I Saw the Devil is sure to be one of the most grotesque and gorgeous genre films you will see this year. —TIFF

Director

Kim Jee-woon

Kim Jee-woon, born July 6, 1964, entered Seoul Institute of the Arts, but left school and worked in the theatre scene. He began his career as a stage actor, then stage director, and finally has become one of the most popular and acclaimed figures among modern Korean directors/screenwriters. His second screenplay, The Quiet Family (1998), won him the Best Screenplay prize in a local contest, and Kim went on to make his directorial debut with this screenplay. The film was invited to many film festivals. Kim’s films, from The Quiet Family (1998) to last year’s A Bittersweet Life, have been hailed by critics and audiences alike for his unique style and storytelling. His second feature, The Foul King (2000), drew more than 2 million spectators, while his astounding horror film of true visual elegance, A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), reached 3.5 million viewers nation-wide. It went on to be remade by Dreamworks in the US. —AsianMediaWiki

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Fabio Di Felice

20May13

Bellissimo. Jee-Woon è bravo da morire anche in questa storia in salsa revenge che sarebbe potuta venire in mente a Park Chan-wook. Decisamente più crudo che negli altri suoi lavori, con un paio di scene piuttosto forti e un Byung-hun che è una macchina da guerra. Strepitosa la scena del taxi e potentissima quella del bisturi. Come in Two Sisters alla fine l'odio consuma ogni speranza. 4*

nargs

12May13

This film was so good I wish it didn't end with one film, so many gruesome scenes, never seen a film like it. Kudos on the originality Kim Jee-Woon.

FilmFan<3

21Jan13

A moronic film with quite a few "cool shots".

my nigga totoro

22Jan13

awesome insights as to why its a "moronic" film, good job.

Justin Oakey

5Nov12

A stunning visual style, where an effectively slick camera moves through scenes soaked in red, blue, and yellow light. Unfortunately, this film is far too long - its story could have easily been represented in an hour and a half, if some of the more gratuitous shock-value scenes were trimmed out. The music could have also been less corny. The film is worth viewing for the spinning-camera vehicle stabbing scene alone.

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.

"Archipelago," "Adjustment Bureau," "Rango," More

By David Hudson on March 3, 2011

We begin this week's roundup on new theatrical releases in the UK, then make our way to the States via two films opening today on both sides

read article

I SAW THE DEVIL Blu-ray Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 30, 2011

Magnet Releasing:I SAW THE DEVIL is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge. The embodiment of pure evil, Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure

I Saw the Devil

Akmareul boattda

South Korea

2010

DIR Kim Jee-woon

EXEC Greg Moon, Jeong Hun-you

PROD Hyun-woo Kim

SCR Park Hoon-jung

DP Lee Mogae

CAST Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik

ED Nam Na-young

PROD DES Cho Hwa-sung