Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal / Bedevilled (2010) - Another masterpiece of a unique genre coming from a unique country - 9/10 (21/06/11)

"Bedevilled" is another and once again brilliant tale of revenge coming from South Korea which is in the vein of already now legendary masterpieces such as "Oldboy" and "I saw the devil".

What distinguishes this movie from the other ones and justifies itself to merit a place in the top notch of this genre can be told in three little points. First of all, this movie tells the tale of revenge from the point of view from a person that is neither the central evil nor the central avenger part of the movie. Thanks to many flashbacks and secondary story lines, the culpability and responsibility of the main actress is though revealed all over the movie and gives us philosophical and introspective insights while the person witnesses a tale of revenge.

Second, the movie takes its time to introduce all the important characters very slowly. This develops a dark empathy with the main victim that is treated and slowly becomes a monster. The movie creates cruel and gripping personalities and shows us the degree of culpability for all of them. The acting in this intense but slow paced movie is very well done and authentic and it's a very positive and refreshing aspect that the true revenge tale only kicks off after more than the half of the movie has already passed.

Third, this movie focuses especially on the relationship between the avenger and the person that introduces slowly us to the main story line. It's the first time I see two equally convincing female characters in this kind of tough, cruel and highly emotive roles in this kind of genre and they have done such excellent jobs that I'm looking forward to have a closer look at their filmographies.

As a fourth very positive point I might finally add that this movie is also intriguing because it takes places on an isolated island and is a huge criticism towards past and contemporary society in South Korea. This movie is much more than just a bloody tale of revenge, at first glimpse it's especially a very intense drama with gripping characters.

In the end, I highly suggest anyone that likes South Korean movies to watch out for this film that has only recently been released in North America. This is another masterpiece of a unique genre coming from a unique country and you won't find this kind of high quality in any cinema or contemporary American blockbuster. South Korea is the best place for original, gripping and extreme contemporary movies and this movie underlines the country's unique status and will hopefully inspire our culture to take some inspirations from them without dishonouring their creative pieces of art.