I Saw the Devil

1
I Saw the Devil
I Saw the Devil
Korean theatrical poster
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization Angmareul boatda
McCuneReischauer Angmarl poatta
Directed by Kim Ji-woon
Produced by Kim Hyung-woo
Jo Sung-won
Kim Jae-young
Kim Jung-hwa
Written by Park Hoon-jung
Starring Choi Min-sik
Lee Byung-hun
Music by Mowg
Cinematography Lee Mo-gae
Edited by Nam Na-young
Production
company
Showbox/Mediaplex
Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex
Release date(s) 12August2010
Running time 144 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget
$6 million
[1]
Box office
$12,773,990
[2]
I Saw the Devil (Hangul: ; RR: Angmareul boatda) is a 2010 South Korean psychological
thriller/horror film directed by Kim Ji-woon, written by Park Hoon-jung, and starring Choi Min-sik and Lee
Byung-hun. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had a limited U.S theatrical release.
[3]
The
film was Choi Min-sik's first major role the changes to the Korean screen quota system. The film has received
generally positive reviews.
Plot
During a snowy night, the car of Joo-yun gets a flat tire and Kyung-chul drives up in a yellow school bus/van and
offers to help fix her tire. Kyung-chul kills her and scatters her body parts. A boy discovers one of Joo-yun's ears,
police are called to find the rest of the body, under the command of Section Chief Oh and Squad Chief Jang, who is
the father of Joo-yun. Joo-yun's fianc, Soo-hyun, who is a secret service agent of the National Intelligence Service
(NIS), becomes determined to track down and take vengeance on Joo-yun's murderer.
I Saw the Devil
2
Jang supplies Soo-hyun with a list of four potential killers, including Kyung-chul. Searching Kyung-chul's home,
Soo-hyun finds jewelry and underwear that Kyung-chul has taken from (apparently) numerous victims. When he
finds Joo-yun's engagement ring he knows that Kyung-chul is the killer. Soo-hyun puts a tracking device on the
school bus, tracking then attacking Kyung-chul while he is sexually assaulting his latest victimone of the
schoolgirls he was transporting home. Rendering him unconscious, he places an NIS transmitter inside Kyung-chul,
so he can better track his location and listen to his conversations. Waking up, Kyung-chul flags down a taxi, upon
further analysis, Kyung-chul realizes that the two men are thugs looking to rob and possibly kill their victim,
Kyung-chul stabs both men to death before they can attempt to draw their knife on him. Later on after finding the
real taxi driver in the trunk, Kyung-chul disposes of all three bodies before going to a medical centre, where he
sexually assaults a nurse, only to be again attacked by Soo-hyun.
Kyung-chul goes to the home of his friend Tae-joo, a cannibalistic murderer with a freezer full of bodies. After
explaining his situation, Tae-joo remarks that whoever is after him must have some relation to one of his victims.
Soo-hyun arrives at the house, where he proceeds to incapacitate both murderers and Tae-joo's girlfriend Se-jung.
The next day, both Tae-joo and Se-jung are found by the police and sent to a hospital. Meanwhile, a trusted
subordinate of Soo-hyun's ensures he and Kyung-chul are sent to a private medical area away from the police. The
barely conscious Kyung-chul hears them talk about the transmitter inside him.
Soo-hyun dumps Kyung-chul, intending to continue tracking and attacking him. Kyung-chul taunts him over the
transmitter, now knowing who he is and how he is being tracked. To make Soo-hyun lose track of him, Kyung-chul
brutally assaults a store owner, directing Soo-hyun to rush to the aid of the victim before he dies. Kyung-chul uses
this time to defecate out the transmitter and place it inside a taxi driver he viciously assaults. Soo-hyun interrogates
Tae-joo and learns that Kyung-chul is going after Joo-yun's father Jang and sister Se-yun (Kim Yun-seo).
Soo-hyun arrives too late to stop Kyung-chul, who blinds Jang with a dumbbell and mutilates Se-yun. He abducts
Kyung-chul before he can turn himself over to the police. Soo-hyun tortures him physically and mentally before
setting up a guillotine above Kyung-chul's head that is soon after activated when his parents and son arrive to visit
and open the door to the room he is in. Placing a transmitter nearby, Soo-hyun's hears the death of Kyung-chul and
his family's reaction to his decapitated corpse. Walking away from the house, Soo-hyun suffers a mental breakdown,
seemingly alternating between sobbing and fits of laughter.
Cast
Choi Min-sik as Kyung-chul, a school bus driver and serial killer
Lee Byung-hun as Soo-hyun, an agent in the National Intelligence Service
Jeon Kuk-hwan as Squad Chief Jang, Joo-yun's father
Chun Ho-jin as Section Chief Oh, the leader of the police
Oh San-ha as Joo-yun, Soo-hyun's fiance
Kim Yun-seo as Se-yun, Joo-yun's sister
Choi Moo-sung as Tae-joo, Kyung-chul's friend
Kim In-seo as Se-jung, Tae-joo's girlfriend
I Saw the Devil
3
Alternate versions
The Korea Media Rating Board forced Kim to recut the film for its theatrical release, objecting to its violent content.
Otherwise, the film would have received a "Restricted" rating, preventing any sort of release in theatres or on home
video. Seven cuts were made with the total runtime of removed material between eighty and ninety seconds.
Release
I Saw The Devil was released in South Korea on August 12, 2010. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film
Festival on 21 January 2011. It also received screenings at several other international film festivals, including the
Fantasporto Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival and
the London Korean Film Festival.
[4]
American distribution rights were acquired by Magnet Releasing which released it in theatres on a limited basis on
March 4, 2011.
Critical reception
I Saw the Devil received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave
the film an 80% approval rating from critics based on 79 reviews, with an average score of 7.2/10. Metacritic
assigned the film a score of 67%, based on a weighted average of 19 reviews from mainstream critics.
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote "From an unexpectedly moving first act to a hilariously disgusting
sojourn with Kyung-chuls cannibal pal, Mr. Kim and his cinematographer, Lee Mogae, retain complete control of
the films fluctuating tones and impressive set pieces."
Mark Olson of the Los Angeles Times wrote "There is all the violent mayhem, for certain, but the thing that sets I
Saw the Devil apart is its undercurrent of real emotion and how unrelentingly sad it can be."
Rob Nelson from Variety magazine stated that "Repugnant content, grislier than the ugliest torture porn, ought to
have made the film unwatchable, but it doesn't, simply because Kim's pic is so beautifully filmed, carefully
structured and viscerally engaging."
Home media
The film was released on DVD in South Korea on 29 March 2011 as a 3 disc set, which contains both the Korean
theatrical version and international version.
[5]
Special features include:
Making Of
Art Direction
Action Featurette
Costume and Makeup
Special Makeup
Interview Collection
Music Featurette
Additional Scenes with Director Commentary
Poster Shoot
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the US on May 10, 2011. Special features include deleted scenes and
"HDNet: A Look at I Saw the Devil".
[6]
I Saw the Devil
4
References
[1] http:/ / www. screened. com/ i-saw-the-devil/ 16-198531/
[2] "Boxofficemojo" (http:/ / boxofficemojo.com/ movies/ ?page=main& id=isawthedevil. htm). Boxofficemojo. Retrieved March 04, 2012.
[3] http:/ / sundance. slated. com/ 2011/ films/ isawthedevil_sundance2011
[4] http:/ / www. imdb.com/ title/ tt1588170/ releaseinfo
[5] http:/ / www. yesasia. com/ global/ i-saw-the-devil-dvd-3-disc-first-press-limited-edition-korea-version/ 1024202935-0-0-0-en/ info. html
[6] http:/ / www. killerfilm.com/ articles-2/ read/ magnolia-announces-black-death-and-i-saw-the-devil-on-blu-raydvd-66749
External links
Official website (http:/ / www. isawthedevil. co. kr) (Korean)
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt1588170/ ) at the Internet Movie Database
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. kmdb. or. kr/ eng/ vod/ vod_basic. asp?nation=K& p_dataid=12089) at the Korean
Movie Database
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. hancinema. net/ korean_movie_I_Saw_the_Devil. php) at HanCinema
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. allmovie. com/ movie/ v525768) at AllMovie
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. rottentomatoes. com/ m/ akmareul_boattda/ ) at Rotten Tomatoes
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. metacritic. com/ movie/ i-saw-the-devil) at Metacritic
I Saw the Devil (http:/ / www. boxofficemojo. com/ movies/ ?id=isawthedevil. htm) at Box Office Mojo
Article Sources and Contributors
5
Article Sources and Contributors
I Saw the Devil Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=616808181 Contributors: AB01, An Useok, Andrzejbanas, Aspects, Bluerules, Bovineboy2008, C777, Captain Assassin!,
Cattus, Ceoil, CyberGhostface, DARIO SEVERI, EdenCole, EoGuy, Erianna, Feudonym, Freddy eduardo, GDallimore, Gabriel Yuji, Goldstar012, Hyliad, Imbunty, Jmg38, Jncraton, Kookyunii,
Lord Crayak, Mansmokingacigar, Martarius, PC78, RajaNeela1993, Ravensfire, Rickinasia, Rlawns, RobinHoodCCD, Spreadsol, Tehyoshi, TheOnlyOne12, Varlaam, William Pennybanks,
Yuen21, Zinnia112, , 105 anonymous edits
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/