Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
The first of this year's Fantastic Fest secret screenings was the much acclaimed (with good reason) new films from South Korea's Kim Ji-woon, I SAW THE DEVIL, about as demented and chilling a twist on the serial killer and the revenge genres as you're likely to see in quite some time. Ji-woon has been one of the leading figures in South Korean films in the last 10 years with such magnificent accomplishments as A BITTERSWEET LIFE, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, and his masterpiece THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD. And even those of you with a passing interest in films from this part of the world will recognize a few of the cast members, including the two leads, Choi Min-sik from OLD BOY and Lee Byung-hun from A BITTERSWEET LIFE, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, and even as Storm Shadow in G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA.
Lee plays the equivalent of a well-trained Secret Service agent, whose pregnant fiance is killed quite graphically in the film's opening sequence by a particularly disturbed serial killer (Choi) while she's waiting for a tow truck in an especially bad snow storm. Her death scene is not hurried along, nor is it pretty. We see her tied down naked, clearly post-rape, begging for her life before Choi's maniac dispatches with her by relentlessly hacking away at her neck until her head pops off. If you think you can handle that, keep reading. There's nothing glorified about Ji-woon's treatment of the violence in I SAW THE DEVIL, which is not to say that there aren't genuine moments of levity and dark humor that keep the audience from being utterly buried in despair. I still felt I needed the proverbial shower after this one, however.
Lee requests two weeks off from his job, which his superiors know he'll use to track down the killer and presumably slaughter the bastard. His fiance's father (a police chief) and sister beg him not to seek revenge, but the look in his eyes tells us he's beyond convincing. With his particular set of skills, he knows tracking down this killer will not be difficult, but the film's most devilish twist is that once he finds Choi (on the verge of raping and killing his next victim), he isn't immediately interested in simply killing him. Instead, he beats the man to within an inch of his life, smashes one of his hands, and leaves him very much alive with an envelope full of money after force feeding Choi a capsule. Wait, what?
This scene happens very early in the nearly two-and-a-half-hour I SAW THE DEVIL, and it starts to become clear around this time that we're not sure who the titular Devil is in the title. Is it the more overt sociopath Choi or the cold, calculated man with the plan Lee, whose intensions slowly become clear the next time Choi is poised to strike again. Choi goes to a doctor to deal with his busted hand, and attempt to attack a nurse in the process. Just as he's on the verge of doing some real damage, Lee emerges having tracked him with a GPS device in the capsule and once again beats the living daylights out of Choi, this time completing the act by slicing Choi's hamstring. Clearly, Lee believes the best revenge is a long period of denying Choi his blood lust and, of course, causing his body the maximum amount of damage without actually killing him. Now you see where the humor comes in.
One of my favorite elements of the film is the circle of people that Choi runs into (by design or not) as he's attempting to seek out new victims. A cab driver who is clearly planning on robbing him is dealt with; a friend of Choi's with some unusual appetites and an even more interesting basement. And Choi does have a curiously engaging personality--he just doesn't give a fuck and can in no way be reasoned with, but he does enjoy his work and, as strange as it sounds, his enjoyment is infectious. Naturally, every time Lee arrives on the scene, the audience chuckles because we know Choi's about to get what he deserves.
But Choi is also smart, and in the film's final act, he gets his own kind of revenge on Lee, who begins to realize that dragging this process out has given Choi time to do some investigating of his own into Lee's motives and life. The two lead performers are absolutely outstanding, and this isn't necessarily a contest to see who can out-brood each other. They have distinct and changing personalities that are crucial to the film's success. And as much as I like films like Seven or Silence of the Lambs, I've grow weary of films where serial killers deliberately taunt law enforcement. That almost never happens in real life, and seeing it so often in films has gotten old. But with the essential I SAW THE DEVIL, the law is the one doing the taunting (or more accurately, torturing) of the killer. It's a fantastic role-reversal story that adds a new and much-appreciated dynamic to the cops vs. serial killers tale.
But be warned, the film pulls zero punches with its violence, and, as a result, is blood-soaked to its filthy core. But I SAW THE DEVIL plays host to ideas and images that have burned themselves into my eyes and brain. These are the building blocks of nightmares, both because of the stylish way the film is shot and the utter distortion of humanity on display. This is one of the few films of true brilliance I've seen in 2010, but agreeing to see may result in eliminating some of the good parts of your soul.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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