I Saw the Devil

i wrote this for my friends who i watched the movie with, and decided to post here. my primary thought about i saw the devil is that it is such a dismal movie. right from the start, you can feel based on the atmosphere that nothing will go correct, which is a quickly verified suspicion, as firstly at kyung-chul's hands, we as the audience are quickly thrown into a series of corpulent violence within around 10m of the film. after the death of ju-yeon, soo-hyeon, initially careless and ostensibly focused on his own luxurious life (fully suited, fancy watch, entourage of people surrounding him, choosing to work on her birthday) falls into a slough of despair. the grief he feels is unrelenting. if he had only been more proactive of a partner and spent time with her on her birthday rather than prioritizing his own job, then she wouldn't have died that day. it is only then that he comes to the epiphany that he never spent enough time with her, and never cherished her like he should have. this part of the movie reminds me of how important it is for people to spend time with the people that are precious to them. it's easy for people to stall, and easy to be late, especially with the excuse that you'll be there in the future... but nonetheless, time will pass, as will people, so you ought be the best friend or partner you can whilst you still have them in your life, lest you have regrets like soo-hyeon. unlike the others, soo-hyeon processes his grief slowly. he starts off stone faced with his fists clenching in agony, until he cries and remove himself from his job to set himself not on a path of "recovery" like his boss thinks, but one of revenge, as that is what he believes will set his heart free. this becomes the primary motivator for him to kill throughout the movie. he becomes impulsive and has tunnel vision, unable to move on, and settling for a life of retribution killing. the movie then in the next 10 or so minutes speeds through the brutal assault of two of the suspects outlined by the police. i believe that these are done quickly to outline how little they actually meant to soo-hyun. at this point, he just felt like it was a job to do, nothing more nothing less, as though he wasn't committing such a steep crime. these were just suspects, he had no proof that these were the people who did the crime to ju-yeon, yet he breaks them anyway. i think that his rage was so fervent that he lacked rationality in these deductions. he probably also felt that since these men had done similar to women in the past, they also deserved it. the family that knows soo-hyeon know that he is "playing the hunter" (as kyung-chul's male partner in crime aptly states later) to avenge ju-yeon, and advise him not to do so because they know that it wont cure his pain, and moreover, it'll never bring her back. he's turning himself into a "monster" by committing himself to something that wont fix him.. which is usually the result of revenge. it just wedges you further into despair. ..this, i believe, is the primary moral that the film tries to push: "he can't become a monster to fight the monster. you know that's wrong." due to his actions, the violence perpetuated itself, and ju-yeon's family was harshly brutalized. if you always try to "get even," then you will never be able to move on, and more people will join the cycle of barbarity that is very clearly illustrated in the movie. soo-hyeon lost the moment he stepped into that arena.