There are movies that you watch to be entertained by. There are movies you watch to experience a piece of art. And then there are movies that combine these two ideas and come out with something altogether different, a movie that entertains on some level and yet is so well made as to be considered art. I SAW THE DEVIL is one such film, a truly disturbing picture that will stay with you long after the final credits.
The film opens in winter where a young woman’s car has a flat. While speaking to her boyfriend, a secret agent, she is offered assistance by a bus driver which she declines. Once she hangs up, the bus driver viciously attacks her, breaking out the windows of her car and clubbing her into submission with a hammer. She awakes to find herself in a secluded location where her kidnapper systematically tortures and kills her, even after she pleads for not just her life but that of her unborn child.
The victim’s boyfriend Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hung Lee) is distraught by her murder. Contacting her father, an ex-police detective, he is given several leads as to who may have killed her and begins targeting each one. As he enacts his revenge on the first two in a most brutal fashion, he finds himself realizing that the third is the guilty party. Tracking him down is easy. What he does afterwards is not.
Kim finds Kyung-chul (Min-Sik Choi) and nearly beats him to death. But he stops. His thirst for revenge would be short lived if he killed this monster. Instead he allows him to live with the knowledge that it isn’t over. Kim becomes the hunter, thrilling at the hunt as he continues to track down Kyung. Kyung continues on a murderous rampage almost racking up several more victims but Kim always shows at the last minute and does more physical damage to Kyung.
Readers may recall that I’ve found what is now called “torture porn” to be pretty distasteful, especially the film HOSTEL. There are many scenes in this film that rival HOSTEL for the sheer power of filmed torture. But there’s a difference as well that some will squabble over. In HOSTEL we witnessed a movie in which voyeurs had the chance to become a part of the action, to pay to torture people, no more motivation than the so called thrill. In this film we witness a man whose memory is tortured for his not being there to save his fiancé, a man who is seeking out vengeance.
I found myself watching and thinking what would I do given the same circumstances? Would I want to find vengeance on my own? If I had the skill set as the character of Kim has, the capabilities he displays in fighting and surveillance techniques, would I want to take my own pound of flesh from someone who had caused me such pain? I never did find an answer for my questions, just that there is the possibility that I would.
The film continues with bloody encounters all the way from start to finish. There’s even a stop by Kyung at a home invasion his friend has just done, a friend who enjoys cannibalism and is in the middle of eating one of his victims. But the encounters between Kyung and Kim as Kim nears the threshold of finally exacting his revenge are what make this movie click. It is witnessing Kim perhaps turn into the same monster he seeks in his search for revenge, perhaps not finally doing so, that holds our interest.
A word of warning: This film is not for the weak of heart. It is not for anyone who would be offended or upset at witnessing some of the most brutal moments on film that I’ve witnessed in some time. That being said this film is a movie that will stick with you in more ways than one. On a visceral level it will twist your insides. On an emotional level you’ll wonder how you would react in the same situation. And on a film watching level you will see a movie that holds many lyrical moments visually one minute and gut wrenching moments (literally) the next.
If you’ve seen the movie OLDBOY (which also starred Min-Sik Choi) then you’ll know the type of film to expect. It may not be for everyone but if you’re willing to take a chance you’ll finish by seeing a well made movie that doesn’t treat a serial killer as a jokester ala Freddy Kreuger, but treats him as the terrifying killer that he truly is. This is a film that treats horror as horror and not a joke. And it stays with you even after it ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment