I Saw The Devil is a difficult film to watch. Much like his other work, director Kim Ji-woon’s (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) latest film features a copious amount of graphic violence. Though the squeamish won’t be able to handle this revenge thriller, Kim has crafted one hell of a movie.
I Saw The Devil opens on a snowy night with Joo-yeon (Oh San-ha) sitting in her broken car, waiting for a tow truck to arrive. To comfort her and to help pass the time, her fiancée, Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), speaks to her on the phone, even going so far as to break his apparent tough-guy status by singing to her.
After a short wait, Joo-yeon is approached by fellow motorist Kyung-Chul (Choi Min-sik, Oldboy), who asks if she needs help. Joo-yeon declines, which doesn’t sit well with Kyung as he reluctantly walks away — but not for good. He shortly comes back to beat her to near-death. He then takes her to a room where he proceeds to kill and dismember her, followed by a quick trip to a river where he disposes the body.
Kyung-Chul is a sadistic serial killer, but this particular kill will prove to be problematic as Joo-yeon was the daughter of a former police chief, and the fiancé of Soo-hyun, a secret agent. It soon becomes Soo-hyun’s primary drive in life to find his lover’s killer and get revenge.
None of this plot is anything new; in fact, it is a bit overplayed. But the way Soo-hyun carries out his revenge makes the film the powerhouse that it is. Soo-hyun finds Kyung fairly quickly, but decides that the best form of payback is torture, and instead of killing him upon their first encounter, he instead inflicts various methods of agonizing pain. And with each meeting — and there are many — the beat-downs get increasingly severe.
Soo-hyun’s approach to vengeance is unorthodox, which is part of what makes I Saw The Devil work so well. Kim leaves almost nothing to the imagination with the relentless displays of brutal violence. Mutilation, broken bones, and dismemberment — nothing seems to be off limits. Also testing the resolve of the viewers is the multiple inclusions of rape. While the depiction is nothing like the infamous run-on shot in Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, watching such a thing unfold on-screen is never easy.
If Kim was simply intent on making a film with shock value, then he has succeeded immensely. If his goal was to make an above average, well-rounded film, then I Saw The Devil should return to the editing room.
Both Lee and Choi give strong performances, but many of the supporting roles seem to fall by the wayside. The film’s runtime is also a bit long, clocking in at 141 minutes. Trimming some of the film — not for graphic content, but for pacing — could have boosted the overall quality.
This movie won’t be remembered for its story or its acting, but for its showcase of a ripped Achilles tendon or the mutilation of the villain’s mouth or just the disturbing portrayal of a serial rapist.
I Saw The Devil is not easy to sit through. But if the viewer has the stomach for it, it’s worth the experience.
RATING: 3 stars out of 5
I Saw The Devil runs for one week only at E Street Cinema, starting tomorrow. In Korean with subtitles.
klucas@umdbk.com
