I Saw the Devil (2010) Akmareul boatda (original title)

Director:

Kim Jee-Woon

Writer:

Hoon-jung Park (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 August 2010 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil lives inside.

Plot:

When his pregnant fiancee becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, a secret agent blurs the line between good and evil in his pursuit of revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Secret Agent | Revenge | Psychopath | Serial Killer | Murder

Awards:

11 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Byung-hun Lee	...	Kim Soo-hyeon
Min-sik Choi	...	Kyung-chul
In-seo Kim	...	Se-jung
San-ha Oh	...	Joo-yeon
Chun Ho-jin	...	Section Chief Oh
Seung-ah Yoon	...	The Cannibal's Girlfriend
Yoon-seo Kim	...	Se-yeon
Bo-ra Nam	...	Section chief's daughter
Gook-hwan Jeon	...	Squad Chief Jang
Moo-Seong Choi	...	Tae-joo
Yoon Chae-Yeong	...	Nurse Han Song-i
Ji-yoon Jeong	...	Junior high female student
Jin-ho Choi	...	Planning director
Kim Kap Soo	...	Planning team deputy head
Park Seo-Yeon	...	Woman at pension
Yeong-Soon Son	...	Keyong-cheol 's mother
Deok-jae Jo	...	Detective Kang
Cheol-woo Han	...	Detective Park
Park Ji-Yeon	...	Tutor teacher
Seol-gu Lee	...	Taxi burglar 1
Kim Chae-Yeon	...	Joo-yeon's cousin
Tae-goo Eom	...	Detective 4
Kim Yeong-Seon	...	Nun 1
Han Song-i	...	Joo-yeon's friend
Jang Ha-Neul	...	Junior high female student
Han Se-joo	...	Woman on bus
Hyeon-hwa Heo	...	Family of woman at pension, picture
Lee Hang-soo	...	Investigation team leader
Ahn Hee-joo	...	Junior high female student
Kil Geum-Seong	...	Man at harbor
Lee Joon-Hyeok	...	Agent
Jo Seung-min	...	Hospital room police
Park Min-soo	...	Child at stream
Kim Hwa-Hyeon	...	Family of woman at pension, picture
Choi Seong-ho	...	Joo-yeon's cousin
Kim Yeong-Chan	...	Young pharmacist
Park Jeong-gi	...	Sergeant
Lee Ji-eun	...	Children at stream
Choi Moon-Sook	...	Joo-yeon's aunt
Seung-Ri Ha	...	Female high school student at harbor
Kim Kang-il	...	Park Han-gi
Jang Jeong-won	...	Keyong-cheol 's son
Sin Sin-Beom	...	Old pharmacist
Heo Seul	...	Nun 2
Seol Chang-hee	...	Plainclothes detective
Lee Hye-rin	...	Junior high female student 1
Lee Hyeon-Yong	...	Child at stream
Sin Yeong-sik	...	Taxi driver
Choi Don-Gyoo	...	Middle-aged couple
Kim Min-Yeong	...	Junior high female student
Jo Myeong-Yeon	...	Detective 3
Kim Bong-soo	...	Keyong-cheol 's father
Jeong Mi-nam	...	Taxi burglar 2
Park Mi-Seon	...	Junior high female student
Sin Jeong-Hoon	...	Police at stream
Kim Seon-Nyeo	...	Middle-aged couple
Yoon Byeong-hee	...	Jjang-goo / Bulging head
Jeong Tae-Seong	...	Hotel worker
Yoo Yeong-bok	...	Family of woman at pension, picture
Goo Yong-wan	...	Corporal
Yang Mi-Ryeong	...	Joo-yeon's friend
Kim Dae-hye	...	Hospital worker
Nam Hyeon-joo	...	Section chief Oh's wife
Jae-geon Kim	...	Old doctor
Lee Hwan-goo	...	Joo-yeon's uncle

Directed by
Kim Jee-Woon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hoon-jung Park		screenplay

Produced by
Kee-young Cheong	....	co-executive producer
Hyung-cho Il	....	co-executive producer
Hun-you Jeong	....	executive producer
Seong-weon Jo	....	co-producer
Yeong-shin Kang	....	co-executive producer
Byung-ki Kim	....	co-executive producer
Hyun-woo Kim	....	producer
Jae-young Kim	....	associate producer
Jung-hwa Kim	....	associate producer
Kil-soo Kim	....	co-executive producer
Greg Moon	....	executive producer
Jae-sik Moon	....	co-executive producer
Sungho Nam	....	line producer
Bryan Song	....	co-executive producer
Youngjoo Suh	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Mowg

Cinematography by
Mo-gae Lee

Film Editing by
Na-young Nam

Production Design by
Hwa-sung Cho

Costume Design by
Yoo-jin Kwon

Makeup Department
Tae-young Kwak	....	special makeup effects artist
Hee Eun Lee	....	special makeup effects artist

Sound Department
Romain Bigorgne	....	sound effects editor
Tae-young Choi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tae-young Choi	....	supervising sound editor
Kim Dong-Han	....	sound effects editor
Hye Young Kang	....	sound designer
Min Kyu Kim	....	foley mixer
Chung Gyu Lee	....	foley artist
Min Young Park	....	dialogue editor
Yong Ki Park	....	adr mixer
Yong Ki Park	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Kumsoon Hwang	....	digital matte painter: DIGITALIDEA
Kiyoung Jung	....	pipeline technical director
Il Hwan Na	....	digital matte painter: DIGITAL IDEA
Youngbin Park	....	digital compositor: DIGITALIDEA
Min Jung Shin	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Jae-Hyeok Lee	....	still photographer

Production Companies

• Softbank Ventures
• Showbox/Mediaplex
• Peppermint & Company
• Siz Entertainment

Distributors

• ARP Sélection (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2010) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Broadmedia Studios (2011) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• D Films (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Luna Films (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Magnet Releasing (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Optimum Releasing (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Showbox/Mediaplex (2010) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2011) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Beyond Home Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (DVD)
• CatchPlay (2010) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Mediatres Estudio (2011) (Andorra) (all media)
• Mediatres Estudio (2011) (Spain) (all media)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• PepperView Entertainment (2011) (Portugal) (all media)
• Splendid Film (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Splendid Film (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Splendid Film (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• HFR  dailies and digital intermediate services
• ProCam  camera and lighting equipment supplied by
• Seoul Film Commission  location support

Also Known As:

"Akmareul boatda" - South Korea (original title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:Limited (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) | Japan:R18+ | USA:Not Rated | Australia:R | UK:18 | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Hong Kong:III | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:R21 | France:-16 (with warning) | Portugal:M/18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Malaysia:(Banned) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Sweden:15 | Germany:18 (cut) | Germany:Not Rated (JK) (uncut) | Canada:R (Manitoba)

Company:

Softbank Ventures

Trivia:

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 gotten a "Restricted" rating, preventing any sort of release in theaters or on home video.

Quotes:

Kim Soo-hyeon:I will kill you when you are in the most pain. When you're in the most pain, shivering out of fear, then I will kill you. That's a real revenge. A real complete revenge.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.9" (2011)

A superbly acted, grotesquely gorgeous crime thriller.

Director Jee-woon Kim along with actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi are three of the most talented people in Korean cinema today. Jee-woon has done such films as A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which both starred Byung-hun and Min-sik is most recognized for his performance in Oldboy, but was also fairly impressive in the drama Crying Fist among many others. Oldboy is really the film that made me love Korean cinema. So when word broke that these three marvelous people were getting together to make a film, I knew I was already there. A little thriller called I Saw the Devil came together and became one of the most spectacularly intense thrillers to be released in quite some time.

Late one snowy, winter night, a woman named Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh) sits stranded in her car waiting for a tow truck to arrive and help her fix a flat tire. She talks to her fiancé, Dae-hoon (Byung-hun), over the phone as she waits. It's Joo-yeon's birthday and Dae-hoon, a secret agent, gets caught up with work and can't be there with her on her special day. A strange man shows up and begins to pester Joo-yeon about fixing the tire himself. After declining his help, the man known as Kyung-chul (Min-sik) attacks Joo-yeon before brutally murdering her. Kyung-chul is actually a notorious serial killer who mostly kills women and young girls. As the investigation unfolds, Dae-hoon swears merciless revenge on Kyung-chul and a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. Does Dae-hoon really know when this game will end or has he already become a bigger monster than the man he now preys upon? The chemistry between Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi is what really drives the film. Byung-Hun is the broken down shell of a man when he's not in the hunt, so to speak. He has several emotional breakdowns that are incredibly heart wrenching, but the urge he has to make this bloodthirsty maniac pay for taking the love of his life away takes a front seat to any sort of emotion he once had. Byung-hun portrays the struggle his character has between sadness and revenge flawlessly. Min-sik plays the role of a lunatic incredibly well. His character seems to lack that which makes a person who they are; morals, a conscience, and above all a soul. Killing is the only thing that brings out the real Kyung-Chul. His first initial reaction to someone trying to beat him at his own game is agitation and borderline out of control rage, but once he regains control he not only enjoys himself but claims it's the most fun he's ever had. Min-sik acts level headed when his kills go well, but the way he expresses how insane his character really is when things go bad for him is what makes his performance so memorable. While the scenes where Byung-hun and Min-sik fight with each other are great for obvious reasons, there's a scene at the end of the film where they both have a heart to heart conversation that is just spectacular. Every little glimpse you have of that confrontation leading up to that point is fantastic, as well.

Jee-woon Kim certainly knows how to shoot a beautiful looking film. Lush and vibrant colors make grisly murders and spontaneous revenge tactics look much more pleasant than the blood that endlessly splatters all over every wall and floor in the film. Other than the brilliant colors, the cinematography is rather unique as well. There's a scene near the end of the film where Dae-Hoon is walking toward the camera on a deserted road. It's simple and shot like we're basically walking backwards in front of him while staring directly at his face. He eventually begins to cry; an uncontrollable sobbing. The way the scene is shot along with Byung-hun's performance made it one of the more memorable scenes in the film. There's another where Kyung-Chul gets picked up by a taxi. He gets into the front passenger seat while there's another man in the back, so there are three people in the car altogether including the driver. Kyung-Chul realizes he's going to have to beat these guys to the punch, so as their adrenaline escalates the camera rotates around the inside of the car. You get this continuous 360 degree shot of the action occurring inside this cab. It's amazing.

Leave it to another Korean thriller revolving around revenge to make an impression on me. Jee-woon Kim's I Saw the Devil is a superbly acted, exceptionally written, grotesquely gorgeous film that'll make you cringe during some of the more horrific and blood soaked acts in the film while secretly leave you craving so much more. That craving is satisfied thanks to the interactions and chemistry between actors Byung-hun Lee and Min-Sik Choi. The disturbing content in the film is more than enough to satisfy the hungriest gore hounds out there while the captivating story will please anyone looking for something more than someone being chopped to pieces. I Saw the Devil is one of the most morbidly delightful films to be released in recent years.