Do Korean Movies Do It Better?

It’s spooky season, and all I’ve been doing this month is watching scary movies. Horror movies are great year-round, but especially in October when Halloween is upon us. There are many horror movies globally, from movies with supernatural occurrences to movies with serial killers. One particular movie I recommend watching this season is the Korean movie I Saw the Devil. Yet again, I was blown away by how well Korean movies are made. They are done so differently and so much better than American movies, and this is just one movie that proves this.

The Story

Think of a Korean Taken and then twist it and make it darker. That’s exactly how I would describe the movie I Saw the Devil. The movie follows a man, Kim Soo-Hyeon, on his mission for revenge. His fiancé is killed at the very beginning of the movie by murderer Kyung-Chul. We and the murderer don’t know that Kim Soo-Hyeon is a trained secret agent. 

After finding her dismembered body, Kim Soo-Hyeon goes on a mission to find the murderer. The rest of the movie plays out in a cat and mouse game where Kim Soo-Hyeon finds Kyung-Chul and beats him close to death, but he doesn’t kill him. Instead, he implants a tracking device, forcing him to swallow it while he’s barely conscious, and then tracks him and shows up at random moments, again beating him close to death. After each beating, Kim Soo-Hyeon takes the murderer to the hospital or the doctor to save his life, only to release him and chase after him again. It’s a sick, twisted game that we can’t help but be intrigued by.

Why Is It Better?

This movie is pretty long—about two and a half hours. Some may argue that it could be shorter, but I don’t think so. Each scene is necessary to add to the story and the plot. We may be yelling at Kim Soo-Hyeon just to kill the murderer and get his revenge, but he doesn’t. He wants to see his fiancé’s murderer suffer as much as possible. For this reason, this movie is an intense, long ride that one couldn’t possibly prepare for. When you think you might know what’s going to happen, something else completely different happens. That’s what will keep you on the edge of your seat, always trying to figure out what will happen next.

One of the reasons this movie is so good is because it doesn’t employ the fluffy happily ever after that many American movies, like Taken, do. I’m not saying I want the ending to involve everyone dying, but I like that this movie was more realistic and didn’t just end with a nice, neat bow. Things that we didn’t expect or want to happen, happened. 

We didn’t just see Kim Soo-Hyeon kill everyone and anything in his path. He suffered from the very beginning of the movie when his fiance’ was killed and continues to suffer throughout the movie. Even at the very end of the movie, we are able to see his humanity with the way things end. It’s not just about murderous rage for him. Even if he does want his revenge, he is also still human.

The Cinematography

The movie’s amazing cinematography included many close, brutal fight scenes, particularly between our main character, Kim Soo-Hyeon, and murderer, Kyung-chu. These fight scenes were hard to watch, especially since there were weapons like pipes used in some. The fight scenes are easy to follow as the camera easily tracks the movements of each character. The action scenes seem to burst out of nowhere and end just as abruptly. Before we know it, Kyung-chu is waking up in a new location, waiting to be caught by Kim Soo-Hyeon again.

There was also a nice balance between the storyline and the action scenes. The whole movie isn’t just one long fight. We see Kim Soo-Hyeon devastated by the loss of his fiancé. We see him start plotting his revenge and the steps he would take to get it. Finally, we see him taking his revenge, and although it might not have ended in the way we would expect it to, the movie does give the audience some closure.

So Should You Watch Korean Movies?

I know that international films aren’t for everyone and not everyone will enjoy them. However, if you’ve never ventured out of the classic Hollywood films, I highly recommend doing so. There are endless other movies out there that might be just as good, or even better, than the classic Hollywood movies we all know. 

Korean movies especially seem to value the cinematography in their movies, and many would argue that the acting is superior. Each character is built up and given a complex story; everyone has reasons for doing the things they do. For example, in I Saw the Devil, our protagonist, Kim Soo-Hyeon, doesn’t just find his fiancés’ murderer and kill him. Instead, he plays this sinister game of hide-and-go-seek with him throughout the film. This gives the audience insight into who Kim Soo-Hyeon is. He could have just immediately killed Kyung-chu, but he didn’t because he wanted to see him suffer.

Lower Budgeting = Higher Production?

Korean movies also have much lower budget, on average, than Hollywood movies. The reason for this is because the industry is catering to a much smaller population than the U.S. However, even though the budgets are smaller, the movies do not disappoint, as can be seen in movies like Parasite, The Wailing, I Saw the Devil, and many more.

Even though these films have smaller budgets, the actors and staff don’t let this deter them from making wonderfully captivating films. They seem to value the opportunity to produce these films, and it is obvious their audience value this quality by the level of detailed reviews they leave about the movies. There is no mediocrity in any of these movies. Their audience seems to value this quality because they tend to leave detailed reviews about the movies they watch. 

Suspenseful And Thrilling

I Saw the Devil is especially action-packed and keeps the audience on the edge of their seat for the movie’s duration. If you look away for a second, you might miss an important detail. It’s not just a Korean Taken. This movie goes deeper into exploring the complexity of humans and how their minds work. We can all agree that we would want the murderer to pay for his crimes. However, we might not all agree with the game that Kim Soo-Hyeon plays to get his revenge.

But whether we agree with Kim Soo-Hyeon’s way or not, the movie still leaves us with a somber note of closure on the differences between what one might think revenge to look like versus what it actually would look like. So if you’re looking for something different and suspenseful to watch, you should definitely give this movie a shot because you never know what you’ll enjoy if you don’t give it a chance!