20 Foreign Language Films You Must See Before You Die

By Andrew Dilks /

18. I Saw The Devil

Showbox/MediaplexA flat tyre sets up the opening scene of I Saw The Devil, a dark and twisted serial killer/revenge thriller from Korea directed by Jee-Woon Kim in which a depraved psychopath Kyung-chul (played by the ever excellent Choi "Oldboy" Min-sik) is hunted down by secret service agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee). Much has been made of the level of violence in I Saw The Devil and without a doubt the film contains some truly brutal sequences. It€™s certainly not a film for the squeamish, but Jee-Woon Kim€™s handling of the action is so masterful that any charges of crude exploitation fall flat €“ the entire look and feel of the film is polished to perfection while the performances are intense and mesmerising. As it builds to a climax, the ending delivers an unpredictable twist with a surprisingly melancholy undertow.

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