newginafets

One of the greatest endings ever

Cardiac161

Just saw this one as well.

After Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance or The Chaser, I thought I've seen brutal nihilism at its peak. I Saw the Devil takes the cake.

Very graphic without pulling any shroud on the decapitations & severed body parts , I kind of felt the violence was quite excessive. It can certainly serve as the 'fourth part' of Park Chan-wook's Vengeance series since revenge is the theme.

slop101

Where are all you people seeing "I Saw the Devil"? Is there a dvd/blu-ray I don't know about?

mrhan

The graphic nature of the violence didn't really bother but when the killer



Overall, I thought it was a good cat and mouse movie and worth seeing again.

Brian T

I'm curious about this too. I watched it at TIFF last September, but I didn't think it was available legitimately yet.

logboy

some countries are getting BDs for it, think the earliest mention is for april. not with subs yet, though.

Rypro 525

I think this debuts on demand on the 18th of this month (and posted on the previous page that its getting a limited theatrical release in march

slop101

^ I know that, but it's not the 18th (or March) yet. Are you saying these people are time travelers?

zombeaner

The usual avenues, I'd suspect.

Brian T

I think most of us suspected that.

Sadly.

zombeaner

And here I am waiting till March 4th and hoping it opens in Dallas...

Rypro 525

American trailer
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newginafets

Downloaded.Oops.

zombeaner

I checked Magnolia's site, no theaters in Dallas listed yet.

Brian T

You'll a better man for it if you are able to see it on the big screen, or otherwise legally. But today's options being what they are . . .

flixtime

Watched South Korea's high-profile The Man From Nowhere (2010). It was fine...enjoyable enough..."good" but I expect that ranking will slip down a bit in a few days time (or maybe even by the time I finish this post). I'll avoid specifics so as not to spoil the experience for anyone. I just can't drum up too much enthusiasm for it because it was just too darned derivative...MAN ON FIRE, LEON THE PROFESSIONAL, TAKEN, maybe a little throwback to early 90's Steven Seagal, a splash of Hong Kong crime, and other South Korean crime/action films too. I simply felt like it brought absolutely nothing new to the table I hadn't already seen and seen done better too. It really is a B-movie with higher aspirations as a result of the usual high standard Korean production values and of course being stretched to the usual for South Korean cinema runtime of approximately two hours. A rather simple story is unnecessarily muddied in its telling. Thankfully it didn't have the faults of something like TAKEN (with its hideous first act, and likewise stunningly awful last few minutes), but at the same time it never had the furious momentum found during the remainder of TAKEN. The face-covering, moppy hairstyle sported by lead actor Won Bin for most of the film was a curious selection. The action scenes weren't anything special...and maybe a hair too Hollywood/BOURNE for my liking...why a South Korean film would slip away even a fraction from their own style of action scenes also made me wonder. This film just didn't deliver the high standard of action that I found in films such as DIRTY CARNIVAL, SUNFLOWER, a film like A BITTERSWEET LIFE (which I wasn't especially fond of), or a number of other South Korean crime/action/suspense films from the past ten years. I thought the villains of this film were a rather unimpressive lot...yeah they did dastardly deeds...but they weren't as imposing as they needed to be to really grab my interest as a viewer (in general the film didn't reach me on an emotional level as compared to something like SUNFLOWER). For me, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE was a drop down from this director's previous effort - another crime film from a few years ago - CRUEL WINTER BLUES. While THE MAN FROM NOWHERE was a decent enough and not unentertaining night's viewing, it - like most Hong Kong crime efforts - simply falls in the pleasantly diverting enough but mid-grade, see-it-and-forget-it category.

logboy

when films were slightly less easy to get hold of, it was less of an issue to factor in the casting of a heartthrob in judging a films domestic success or popularity, as we probably found less people interested internationally meant less likely to have a more casual or trivial draw to a film. still want to see 'man from nowhere', but mainly because it's a change from most of what I watch & the USA BD is cheap enough.

more interested to see 'yellow sea' & 'the unjust'.

sleepyhead55

Anyway, this was a very good film that goes into the nature of revenge. Some plot holes near the latter film bothered me but still very good and watchable. And yeah, this could probably be considered the 4th entry into the Park vengeance series.

flixtime

Yup, I'm very interested in those two as well. While we await those DVD releases, next up for my Korean viewing will be entries such as MAN OF VENDETTA, TROUBLESHOOTER, MIDNIGHT FM...and for a change of pace from the crime/action/thriller/suspense/horror stuff I'm going with CYRANO AGENCY and probably GRAND PRIX too.

Some more thoughts on THE MAN FROM NOWHERE...I think the film needed to be leaner and meaner (aka more formidable baddies, etc.) with less time spent with some of the peripheral material (such as with the cops and other characters). Also, and I'm keeping it vague so as not to spoil anything, I think they erred in the storytelling...one instance in particular which I thought really diffused the dramatic tension of the film. And another decision that didn't quite work for me - at least for this type of movie - was the characterization of the primary henchman for the villains. In a way, he was too charismatic in comparison to the protagonist...they were too "equal"....like maybe how Jack Lord was too significant a presence in DR. NO...for a James Bond movie - except for the main baddie - I think it is better for Bond to dominate over the other characters...Jack Lord was too much his equal. Likewise that was an issue for me here. I think the main henchman was too much on the "same side of the coin" as the hero. I suppose you could argue that it is a richer characterization in that sense, but that might actually work against this type of film...again it simply muddied the works. It might have functioned better in this movie if it were a little more "opposite sides of the coin" such as maybe Donnie Yen and Wu Jing in SHA PO LANG.


Also watched South Korea's Bedevilled (2010)...but it was maybe a month ago so much has been forgotten. I thought it only rather mediocre. From what I recall the changes in tone/style were what I disliked the most. After a DRAG ME TO HELL-like introduction to the main character who works in a bank, the movie moves on to something maybe more STRAW DOGS-ish as the main character returns to her childhood home where she is now more a fish-out-of-water when compared to the few crude rurals who inhabit the remote island. There is actually sort of a secondary lead performer too - the childhood friend of the main character - who is living a rather miserable existence among the island locals. The second act is more in tone of vengeance/horror. The film itself is a fairly dark and grim affair. The thing that really sunk the film with me though was the short - ten minutes maybe - final act which switches again to more an old-school slasher film. I thought this last section should have been eliminated and the film should have been reworked to end in tone with second act. It doesn't really help that you aren't really sympathetic to the lead character either as she is presented as rather hard-to-care-for from that early scene in the bank. The movie was likely a missed opportunity as they really could have done something more special if they had shifted focus and made the film more about the secondary lead performer...maybe set the whole tale on the island...cutting out the early bank scene and such...that likely would have evened out the style/tone as well, and slimmed down the runtime too. Still, for zealots of more bleak vengeance/horror type films, BEDEVILLED might prove something of interest.

What else...caught up with Director Yoji Yamada's latest - About Her Brother (2010, Japan)...I like Yoji Yamada a lot and I appreciate his humanistic approach to filmmaking that shows a warmth for his characters. It seems an approach that is antiquated perhaps in this era ruled by viewer cynicism and the currently in vogue approach for audiences to look down upon "simple goodness" in film. Unlike his previous samurai films and KABEI: OUR MOTHER though, this latest entry doesn't seem to have registered much in the International market. I can understand why...it really is a rather minor work...probably more TV-movie material and as such isn't especially cinematic. I was okay with giving it a watch, and it was a nice relief from the "meaner" stuff I usually go for...though even this story about a family does spend time showing life's downside as well. I couldn't really recommend it to anyone besides those in the Yoji Yamada fandom...it just isn't in the same ballpark as his other recent works.

logboy

i watched bedevilled last night. thankfully i only bought the UK DVD - released pretty early, relatively - and didn't pay out for a korea edition. it's simply not very good at all. no excitement in it, just slow and unrewarding even when it should hit a pay-off.

i'm pretty keen on crime movies, and have seen a few korean films of this kind, but i often find lots of films don't come across that well when their trailers appear. would be interested to hear recommendations of the best from the last few years from you. of course, saw 'the chaser', and would hope there's a few out there that are relatively unsung but nearly as good or better.

JHosk

Flixtime, thanks for the posting on Man From Nowhere. I have it pre-ordered, but now I'm second guessing it.

Did you watch the bluray version by any chance ?? If yes, just wondering what you thought of the audio/video quality ??

zombeaner

I have the Blu-ray and it is great quality. I also really liked the film.

JHosk

Awesome. Thanks. Guess I'll keep my pre-order. I assume you have the CJ edition from Korea ?? Hopefully the Well GO USA version is comparable.

zombeaner

Nope, I have the WellGo, it is well worth the $14 amazon wants for it.

flixtime

JHosk, I watched it via DVD. I'd probably be the last guy you'd want to ask about A/V-quality anyway...I'm still content watching movies on VHS.

Glad I'm not the only one...the high praise I had read for BEDEVILLED in a few online reviews had me thoroughly perplexed. Since you've seen the movie, among other things, I never bought into the idea - from the get-go - that the female lead would actually go to and stay on that island for any length of time whatsoever. As far as Korean horror, POSSESSED (2009) was much better.

Not sure what I can add as I've always sensed that you watched Korean cinema rather regularly, plus I gather - from our meet-ups in this thread and the old "what are you watching" thread in this forum - that you might have already read some of my thoughts on Korean cinema...I think we might have even talked about THE CHASER a couple years back. No matter, we can run through it again.

I thought THE CHASER was "good" but wasn't on-board with it being received quite as well as it seemed to be. How far back are we going logboy...safe to say you've seen stuff like A DIRTY CARNIVAL and SUNFLOWER...now SUNFLOWER is interesting because it is geared towards family melodrama (I'm likely more fond of melodrama than most modern viewers) for almost the entire movie and is a story that withholds cheap thrills until the well-earned action climax...but what a climax that is...compare it to THE MAN FROM NOWHERE...the climax in SUNFLOWER is far superior...actually, come to think of it, I believe the protagonists in both films have similar names Tae-shik/Tae-sik?. Did you see DAISY (Director's Cut)...that was one that surprised me. I believe you've seen MOTHER in which case...though more a drama...I believe anyone who has seen MOTHER really must see POETRY...not action/crime (though there is a crime that is key to the story) but a very strong film. Some others I seem to recall liking THE DEVIL'S GAME...again not action/crime as you might be looking for...but still one I thought should have been better received than it was. I love the PUBLIC ENEMY trilogy, and even if folks didn't care for the second entry (and I realize many didn't), I'd still give it a go with the third film as it functions more as sequel to the first film than the second one did...the third film is another one I really believe was overlooked too. ROUGH CUT would also be recommended by me...but this one got a fair amount of coverage. Another one that deserved more attention was HANDPHONE, again more in the suspense/thriller category but I remember enjoying it. BREATHLESS was an indie entry I believe I talked about it one of these threads...it had its share of issues...a poor show for too much of the early runtime, but ultimately it won me over. I also watched others such as WHITE NIGHT, SECRET, RAINBOW EYES, OUR TOWN...all of which I recall as enjoyable enough but I really don't recall much else about them...when you watch too many movies some genres - such as HK/China swordplay/martial arts films, HK crime, South Korean action/crime/suspense/thriller...all tend to run together in one's memory.

Just to note, I'm not saying any of the above are essential viewing like something such as OLDBOY but most were comfortably in the "good" or "better than good" category for the most part...I'm a conservative grader so I don't really pull out the "very good" or "excellent" tags very often. I suppose you've seen PRINCESS AURORA and BYSTANDERS/DIARY OF JUNE. I seem to recall liking RUNNING WILD and HOLIDAY but those were both from quite a while back, maybe five years ago...and the subs on the Korean release of RUNNING WILD were godawful.

Not Korean, but I'd pull out the "very good" tag for Italy's LA SCONOSCIUTA from a few years back...again I've mentioned it before. Again, not Korean, but good 'ole U.S. of A's RUNNING SCARED with Paul Walker was a supremely entertaining film.

logboy, I'm afraid I sort of went on an all-over-the-map ramble...I suspect you've already watched most of these, no matter maybe it'll be of interest to someone else. logboy, maybe if there is any other Korean crime-type film you had in mind just let me know...I've watched others but the names escape me at this time...I don't think I left out anything I really liked (but maybe I did). Umm, might as well plug the South Korean movie PAJU too...at least for the arthouse crowd out there.