Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Kuk-hwan and Kim In-seo.
Running Time: 144 minutes
Genre: Thriller
Kim Ji-woon's return to familiar ground after the light-hearted but ravishingly excellent action funfest The Good, The Bad, The Weird is an uncompromising and tough serial-killer thriller that packs plenty of venom and shock moments. Ji-woon's talent for orchestrating gorgeous visuals (the opening blood-soaked snow scene) from bleak situations again sets this film apart from the average genre fare, as well as a thrillingly innovative game of cat-and-mouse between the terrific pairing Lee Byung-hun and Oldboy's Choi Min-sik.
After his fiance Joo-yun (Oh San-ha) is brutally murdered and dismembered by the vile and sadistic Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik), Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) is determined to have his revenge and make Kyung-chul suffer for his terrible crimes. A highly entertaining chase thriller ensues that is relentlessly bloody and gruesome as the duo trade blows. The set-pieces are adrenaline filled and quality of the highest order. Especially in a scene where Soo-hyun tracks Kyung-chul down to a house where the occupants have been taken hostage by a psychopath friend (Choi Moo-sung) of Kyung-chul's and all hell eventually breaks loose. The ten-minute scene is as exciting, brutal and terrifically choreographed scene you will ever see. Despite the films slightly long running time, the pace is relenting as the chase goes from set-piece to set-piece and as Kyung-chul becomes more desperate in his actions the tension is amped up to a finale that is as brutal and unforgiving as the previous two hours you have just witnessed. Central to the films success or failure is the performance of the two leads and gladly they both excel. Byung-hun has the tougher role as the mourning Soo-hyun, but his restrained, shell-shocked performance and relentless descent into Kyung-chul's world is fascinating and disturbing in equal measures. The real joy of the film is Choi-Min-sik's unhinged performance as the vicious killer Kyung-chul. He gives a gleefully sadistic performance and beneath his devilish smile is a psychopath unhinged with no remorse.
I Saw the Devil thrills on many levels. The role-reversal between killer and mourner is a joy and the cat-and-mouse thrills that follow are entertaining and gruesomely violent and give the film an extra edge and grit. The creative set-pieces and interplay between the two leads never fails to entertain and amuse. But be warned, this film is not for the faint of heart and is strictly for adults with a high gore and violence tolerance level.
84
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