Bedevilled (2010 film)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bedevilled
Theatrical poster
Hangul
김복남 살인사건의 전말
Hanja
Revised RomanizationKim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal
McCune–ReischauerKim Pok-nam sarinsakŏnŭi jŏnmal
Directed by
Ji Sung-won
CinematographyKim Gi-tae
Edited byKim Mi-joo
Music byKim Tae-seong
Distributed bySponge ENT
Release dates
  • May 2010 (2010-05) (Cannes)
  • September 2, 2010 (2010-09-02) (South Korea)
Running time
115 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$636,363
Box officeUS$1.1 million[1]

Bedevilled (

Ji Sung-won. The film premiered as an official selection of Critics' Week at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
.

It is the feature directorial debut of Jang Cheol-soo, who worked as an assistant director on the Kim Ki-duk films Samaritan Girl and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring.[2] The film was a runaway hit in Korea, with the box-office returns far exceeding its ₩700 million (US$636,363) budget.[3]

Plot

Hae-won works in a Seoul bank. A stern, tense woman, her status and hyper competitive mentality make her apathetic to other people. After witnessing violence against a woman resulting in death, she refuses to identify the culprit because it's not her problem, even after the offender sexually harasses her. At work, she is accidentally locked in the toilet by the janitor and assumes one of her co-workers pranked her. She slaps her co-worker before realizing she is wrong. Hae-won is fired and accepts a friend's offer to take a vacation in Mudo, the desolate and socially backward Southern island where she spent her childhood.

On the island, Hae-won is warmly welcomed by Bok-nam, with whom she was close when they were teenagers, but whose constant letters she's since ignored. Life on the undeveloped island is hard, and Bok-nam is treated as little more than a slave by her abusive husband Man-jong, his lustful brother, and the local women. Bok-nam's love is reserved for her young daughter Yeon-hee, with whom she tries to escape for a better life. Man-jong is abusing and grooming Yeon-hee, to Bok-nam's rage. Yeon-hee is accidentally killed while trying to defend her mother against Man-Jong. Bok-nam, crying, reveals that Yeon-Hee may not be Man-Jong's daughter, as Bok-nam was raped by many local men.

In a flashback, Hae-won was teaching Bok-nam how to play a tune on her recorder when four local boys began harassing them. Hae-won fled and witnessed the boys assaulting the unconscious Bok-nam.

The locals lie to police when questioned about the death of Yeon-hee, and Hae-won does not support Bok-nam. Bok-nam snaps and begins killing everyone she comes across, armed with a sickle. After murdering three old women, she chases her mother-in-law to the cliff but swings the sickle blade out of the handle due to her poor eyesight. The mother-in-law sees Man-Jong and his brother returning by boat and tries to swim to the boat for help. Due to poor eyesight, she miscalculates the distance to the water and dies falling on the rocks below. Bok-nam decapitates her brother-in-law. Man-jong tries to kill Bok-nam, snapping Hae-won out of her apathy. She threatens to call the police, and he says he can either kill Hae-won or make her his new wife. Bok-nam seduces him by licking his knife. As Man-jong lets down his guard, she bites his finger. They fight until she kills him with the knife. She smears his body with bean paste in mockery of his earlier remark about curing her bruises with bean paste. Terrified, Hae-won runs to the boat. Bok-nam catches up and tries to drown the oarsman for helping Man-jong. As Hae-won tries to turn the boat, the oarsman is caught in the propeller and torn to shreds. Hae-won escapes to the mainland.

Bok-nam travels to Seoul with the childhood recorder and tries to kill Hae-won, who is in police custody. Hae-won did witness Yeon-hee's murder, but lied to the investigator about being asleep. A policeman shoots Bok-nam and she kills him with a sledgehammer. Hae-won kills Bok-nam, who dies in her lap, with the broken recorder. All the murdered victims have been buried or cremated by Bok-nam, leaving the island devoid of human life.

Traumatized and guilt-ridden, Hae-won points out the culprits of the sexual assault she witnessed to the police. She takes Bok-nam's letters out of the trash and reads them, regretting not helping Bok-nam when she had the chance.[4][5][6][7]

Cast

Main characters

  • Seo Young-hee – Kim Bok-nam
  • Ji Sung-won
    – Hae-won
  • Park Jeong-hak – Man-jong
  • Baek Su-ryun – Dong-ho's granny
  • Bae Sung-woo
    – Cheol-jong
  • Oh Yong – Deuk-su
  • Lee Ji-eun – Kim Yeon-hee
  • Kim Gyeong-ae – Pa-ju's granny
  • Son Yeong-sun – Sun-yi's granny
  • Lee Myeong-ja – Gae-tong's granny
  • Yu Sun-cheol – Old man with
    Alzheimer's
  • Jo Deok-jae – Police officer Seo
  • Chae Shi-hyeon – Mi-ran

Supporting characters

  • Tak Seong-eun – Ji-su
  • Hong Seung-jin – Yankee's
  • Hwang Min-ho – Dodger's
  • Hong Jae-seong – Police officer Jang
  • Jeong Gi-seob – Officer Choi
  • Ahn Jang-hun – Mr. Jang
  • Myeong Ro-jin – Bank manager
  • Kim Gyeong-ran – Old lady at bank
  • Jae Min – Victim
  • Park Jeong-sun – Victim's father
  • Seong Won-yong – Supervisor
  • Han Dong-hak – Superintendent
  • Yuk Sae-jin – Mudo policeman
  • Shim Seung-hyeon – Mudo policeman
  • Kim Yong – Seoul policeman
  • Yu Seung-oh – Seoul policeman
  • Na Jong-ho – Old villager
  • Hang Hae-ji – Old villager's daughter
  • Yu Ae-jin – Young Bok-nam
  • Chun Yeong-min – Young Hae-won
  • Park Jong-bin – Young Man-jong
  • Lee Da-un – Young Cheol-jong
  • Park Seung-ah – Young Deok-su
  • Kim Woo-seok – Young Seo
  • Seo Seung-hwa – Banker
  • Kim Hyeon-su – Banker
  • Lee Kang-hee – Tearoom waitress
  • Ahn Su-yeon – Restaurant waitress
  • Kim Woo-geun – Coupon boy

Awards

2010

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival[8][9]

2010 Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival[10]

  • Butterfly Award

2010 Fantastic Fest[11]

  • Audience Award
  • Best Actress AMD & Dell "Next Wave" Spotlight Competition – Seo Young-hee

2010 AFI Fest[12]

  • New Auteurs

2010 Grand Bell Awards[13]

2010 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards

2010 Korean Film Awards[14]

2010 Director's Cut Awards

2011 KOFRA Film Awards (Korea Film Reporters Association)

2011 Gerardmer International Fantastic Film Festival

  • Grand Prix

2011 Fantasporto Oporto International Film Festival[15][16]

2011 Imagine: Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival[17]

  • Black Tulip (Grand Jury Prize)

2011 Golden Cinematography Awards

  • Best Film
  • Best New Actress –
    Ji Sung-won
  • Bronze Medal Cinematography – Kim Gi-tae

References

  1. ^ "Box office by Country: Bedevilled". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  2. ^ Huh, Nam-woong (6 October 2010). "JANG Cheol-su, the director of Bedevilled". Korean Cinema Today. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  3. ^ Ki, Sun-min (1 October 2010). "Bedevilled snaps up two festival awards". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Bedevilled". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
  5. ^ Elley, Derek (15 May 2010). "Bedevilled". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  6. ^ Von Hoeij, Boyd (14 May 2010). "Bedevilled". Variety. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  7. ^ "Grotesque, disturbing revenge tale from savage isle". Korea JoongAng Daily. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. PiFan.com. Archived from the original
    on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  9. ^ Kim, Jessica (28 July 2010). "PiFan wraps up ride of Love, Fantasy and Adventure". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  10. ^ D'Sa, Nigel (27 August 2010). "The 4th CinDi Wraps up". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  11. ^ "Fantastic Fest 2010 Announces the Fantastic Fest Awards". Fantastic Fest. 27 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  12. ^ "Audience and Jury Award-winning Films" (PDF). AFI Fest. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  13. ^ Lee, Hyo-won (31 October 2010). "Poetry sweeps 47th Daejong Film Awards". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  14. ^ Kim, Jessica (19 November 2010). "The Man From Nowhere sweeps Korea Film Awards". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  15. ^ "Fantasporto Awards 2011". Fantasporto. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  16. ^ "Korean films win a series of awards at the Fantasporto Film Festival". Korean Film Biz Zone. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
  17. ^ "And the winners are..." 27th Imagine Film Festival. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2012-11-19.

External links