I Saw The Devil

Although I didn't find out much, if anything, about the story so I was able to watch this with an open mind, I was aware of some controversy about a rape scene and that there were two versions around with one containing a scene the director didn't want included and another, shorter version, which has the director's seal of approval but with less gore. Without a film to apply this knowledge to, it didn't really mean much so, when I watched I Saw the Devil (Akmareul boatda, 2010) last night, I completely forgot everything I knew about the film and saw it, as I had planned, with an open mind.

I Saw the Devil begins a lengthy POV shot through a car's windscreen as it approaches and then stops close to a silver car in which a young woman, Joo-yeon, is stuck in heavy snow because of a flat tyre. After phoning for a tow truck, she contacts her fiancé, Kim Soo-hyeon, a secret service agent preparing to go to work. She keeps being hassled by a man driving what looks like a school minibus who continually offers to fix the tyre but she follows her boyfriend's advice and uses to refuse help and wait for the tow truck.

When she refuses his help yet again, he smashes the window and then jumps in, clubbing her into unconsciousness. While she is unconscious, the man, Kyung-Chul, wrapped her in plastic and takes her to an abandoned industrial area where he chains her up and slowly dismembers her, taking the 'meat' away with him but, crucially, failing to notice her engagement ring had fallen off and rolled down the drain.

When no word has come from Joo-yeon and her dismembered corpse is found scattered around a river, Kim is offered two months leave of absence but tells his boss he will only need two weeks, something he reiterates when he is asked if he's sure. One of his colleagues manages to sneak out two pieces of sophisticated equipment: a GPS monitor and a capsule containing a voice transmitter and GPS locator. Another of Kim's contacts, Joo-yeon's father, the chief of police in Seoul, brings him the details of the four most likely culprits - all men with records who have been questioned, but not convicted, of similar crimes.

Kim bursts in on the first man whilst he is furiously masturbating to Internet porn and, after tying him to a chair and giving him a severe beating (including several heavy blows to his testicles with an iron bar), is confident he is not behind his fiancée's brutal murder. The second man on the list is similarly treated and left for the authorities to find one's Kim is reassured he is not responsible for his fiancée's death However, when they find the men and realise their histories, the police realised what Kim was doing but also acknowledged he has far more experience, knowledge and training than any of them so it will be very hard to stop him. Eventually, Kim tracks down Kyung-Chul and, following a fairly one-sided fight fight which leaves Kyung-Chul unconscious, Kim decides not to kill him with a heavy rock, but breaks his hand and forces him to swallow the capsule before leaving him alone to lick his wounds and consider his next move.

Unbeknownst to Kyung-Chul, he isn't exactly free to go where he wants as Kim can follow his exact move and listen to every word Kyung-Chul says, so he knows who he meets, what he says and where he plans to go. This brings Kim into a world involving cannibalism, slavery and debauched behaviour of every variety and Kyung-Chul is little bemused by exactly how Kim is able to follow him, deliver a severe beating each time, and incapacitate his associates.


Korea is no stranger to vengeance films, with Park Chan-wook's sublime 'Vengeance Trilogy' (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) known and appreciated (if not loved) by film fans and critics around the world. I Saw the Devil is a film in very much the same vein as a wronged man takes the law into his own hands in order to find and punish the man responsible for his fiancée's murder. It doesn't have the mystery element of Oldboy as you know from the first act what has happened, who is responsible with the only question being what Kim intends to do to him.

I Saw the Devil is stylishly directed by Kim Jee-woon, who really knows what makes an audience cringe with some suitably gory and lengthy scenes of torture and mutilation. He has an excellent cast led by another stellar performance by Choi Min-sik (who was exceptional as Oh Dae-su in Oldboy) and Byung-hun Lee (who was fantastic in The Good, The Bad, The Weird, but forgettable in the truly abysmal GI Joe: the Rise of Cobra). There are a host of small, but memorable performances including Kang-ho Song (one of the most bankable stars in career and another main actor in The Good, The Bad, The Weird) as 'The Butcher', a cannibalistic acquaintance of Kyung-Chul's who 'lends' him a woman he says is his wife in one of the most uncomfortable scenes as the room is so vile you can just about smell it through the screen! In terms of uncomfortable and memorable scenes, perhaps the most difficult to watch is when Kim takes a scalpel to Kyung-Chul's Achilles tendon, which is certainly not something for those with a weak stomach.

Although revenge movies began in the West with films like I Spit on Your Grave, Death Wish and Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once upon a Time in the West and with recent offerings like 7 Days andThe Tortured, South Korea is arguably responsible for the best contemporary films, particularly the aforementioned Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy. I Saw the Devil is probably a better film than Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance and is almost up there with Oldboy (the best of the three) but I don't think it's quite a masterpiece Park's film is, although time will tell whether it has the same longevity.

The Disc

Extra Features

Interviews (19:05, SD) contains three fairly lengthy, though clearly made for Korean TV EPK pieces, interviews with Kim Jee-woon, Min-sik Choi and Byung-hun Lee, with the latter two edited together so the footage moves from one actor to the other and back again.

Making of (18:12, SD) is, like the interviews, probably made for Korean TV as it is also in 4:3. It isn't the most comprehensive think you'll ever see, but there is some interesting footage of the actors on set and Kim Jee-woon giving direction and looking at the playback footage to decide if another take is necessary.

The disc also contains the teaser trailer and a TV spot.

The Picture

The AVC 1080p picture is just about up there with the best I've seen in the HD format with exceptionally deep contrast levels, realistic flesh tones and solid colours. There are several key scenes which take place in the dark (or where there is very little light) and there is no drop in detail levels so you can pick out every little bit of information. Most of the film has a suitably grim palette with characters wearing blacks, browns, greys and other such muted colours.

I Saw the Devil is extremely well photographed by cinematographer Mogae Lee and edited by Na-young Nam (both apparently in the first film) so some sequences appear quite slick and stylish whereas others are grim and gritty. When it comes to the fight sequences, these are very well put together and edited in a quick, though not too frenetic, way to show how fast the men are moving without completely losing you so you don't know who is doing what.

When it comes to the SFX make-up (no doubt helped by bit of CGI), this is extremely convincing, whether it's the discovery of Joo-yeon's head, the results of beatings or the impromptu 'surgery' on Kyung-Chul's Achilles tendon.

The Sound

Given the choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or LPCM 2.0 stereo, I opted for the former to begin with and found it to be an extremely impressive track with excellent separation, crisp dialogue and excellent use of directional sound. As the latter does not apply to the LPCM 2.0 stereo track which does a great job with the dialogue and most of the sound effects and score so it loses something when it comes to scenes with cars driving at speed or a fight sequence in which the surrounds are used.

The score, by Mowg, is at times unusual but is extremely effective in conveying the mood and emotion when it shifts from drama to suspense and outright horror.

The subtitles are clear and easy to read with only a couple of spelling/grammatical errors that I noticed.

Final Thoughts

I Saw the Devil is an extremely well written, directed and acted film which, in the final few minutes, shows the true nature of revenge and what effects it can have on the victim and killer alike when the roles are reversed. I know that Kim Jee-woon is a fine director from his films The Good, The Bad, The Weird,A Tale of Two Sisters and A Bittersweet Life and he doesn't appear to have lost his touch and I look forward to seeing his next feature. I don't know how much of the film's overall quality is down to screenwriter Hoon-jung Park, but he does an incredible job considering this is his debut film.

Watching the film, I was stunned by the central performances by Choi Min-sik and Byung-hun Lee, even though I knew them both to be great actors. As revenge films go, this is one of the very best I've seen recently.

This is a very good disc of an exceptional film and, though close examination has shown several differences between the Korean version (that made for domestic consumption) and the international version (that made for export) with some sequences of several seconds in one but not the other or in a slightly different order. Having seen the differences, I can't say they would make a huge difference to your overall enjoyment and appreciation of the film but, if you see this version and really enjoy it then you, as I may, will look to import the BD from North America to have both versions. Bizarrely, this disc contains the Korean version rather than that approved by Kim Jee woon for the international audience but, for many, this won't make a great deal of difference.