I Saw the Devil

(2010) 

The escapist formula in revenge movies works on the guttural level. An innocent lover is murdered, often by a callous thug or a sadistic maniac. Watching it makes you feel outrage and you wonder how such cruelty can exist in the world. It's unfair, and no one should be allowed to get away with merciless disregard for human life. 

Enter REVENGE. Be it Charles Bronson in Death Wish, Steven Seagal in Hard to Kill or Uma Thurman in Kill Bill - heads shall roll and balance is guaranteed to be restored in the universe. I am admittedly a sucker for these films even though they leave a bittersweet aftertaste. Vengeance can never replace the devastating loss of a loved one... but damn, street justice goes a long way to mitigate the pain.  

A standing ovation goes to the Korean I Saw the Devil for mastering the set up and deviating from the blueprint. It doesn't take long here for the grief stricken husband to catch his wife's murderer, as he is a secret agent and his father-in-law is the chief of police. Only Soo-hyun will not be satisfied with a mere bullet to the head. He wants to make serial killer Kyung-chul experience the same pain and terror that he inflicted on his victims. After breaking his wrist and force feeding a tracking device, Soo-hyun lets the devil go. He gives him a false sense of security, waits, and then ambushes him more viciously during the next assault. 

But how do you break someone who feels no compassion or pain? And is it worth the (very dangerous) effort? Soo-hyun thinks so and he is determined to find a way, with his own humanity hanging in the balance.  

When I watched this with Crystal she identified with a scene where Soo-hyun simultaneously expressed elation and profound sorrow. Have you ever had one of those moments where you didn't know whether to laugh or cry, did both, and felt self-consciously ugly in the process? That's precisely the chord that this movie strikes.