I Saw the Devil

Kim Jee-woon’s film was stamped restricted twice by the Korea Media Rating Board, which objected to the violence. That classification kept it out of cinemas and off home video, and no theatre licensed for the category existed. Kim recut the picture down to an eighteen and over rating, and it opened in Korea on 12 August 2010. Seven separate cuts divide the Korean version from the one that travelled abroad. The taxi fight was built in a studio. The roof of a real cab was removed and replaced with acrylic panels so the interior stayed visible, the car was physically spun, the camera moved outside it, and street exteriors were composited in later. By Choi Min-sik’s account the blood soaked costumes were changed three times, and the fourth take was played in clothes washed and still damp. The structure is a closed loop. Soo-hyun finds the killer, maims him, releases him, and repeats the move. Each round returns less; the film wears you down rather than telling you revenge fails. At the 31st Blue Dragon Film Awards, Lee Mo-gae won Best Cinematography and Mowg Best Music. A good fit if you can sit with the capture and release cycle repeating more times than you expect. Not for anyone who needs mutilation and sexual violence to be cut away from.