Or in this case, a very apathetic and selfish Ji Seong-Won (Hae Won).
Growing up in Seoul and seemingly showing what is making more and more Koreans unhappy and suicidal, she focuses only on the things that benefit her. She doesn't know the meaning of empathy, everything MUST serve her own purpose. Whether she refuses to help a woman who is being molested (and ends up beaten to death, partially as a result of that) or to later identify the culprits (not even when they couldn't even see her or retaliate) and ignoring the suffering of the family members or if it's at work, she embodies the selfishness we can see a lot in today's society (and this movie was made in 2010).
But it does catch up with her when she hastily assumes a female colleague locked her into the bathroom for "revenge" (showing us more about herself, since that seems to be the only logical explanation, while it turns out, it was the cleaning lady who accidentally locked her in) and she slaps her in front of customers.
Her manager suspends her and suggests she takes a vacation.
After drinking herself into a stupor (despite her fancy car, apartment and material things, she doesn't seem to have any kind of "life", other than work), she decides to revisit the island she grew up on. Upon arrival, she is greeted enthusiastically by her childhood friend, Kim Bok-Nam, amazingly played by Seo Heong-Jie (The Chaser).
This is where the movie is starting to slow down a bit, having moved the plot from bustling Seoul to a remote island of 9 inhabitants. It's a very interesting contrast though: The Seoul we had seen so far was pretty much the opposite of Hae Won's character: Where she's selfish and without empathy, the cops or the co-workers in Seoul had all been kind or understanding of the suffering of others.
Not on the island though: Here, everyone is pretty much as selfish (if not worse if that's even possible) as Hae Won. The only kind person is her childhood friend, Bok-Nam. Her husband, his dim-witted and pervy brother, her cold-hearted, diabolical mother-in-law or her cousins(?) all treat her like a slave and she seems to be at the absolute bottom of the hacking order on the island. The only person that might stand as low or is not cared for either is the husband (?) of the mother-in-law. We don't really get to know why he behaves the way he does (he is seen eating some sort of leaf that Hae Won calls bozo leaf because it turns those who eat it in a bozo; it's also the one thing we constantly see her dimwitted brother-in-law eat), but the captain of the ferry that serves the island mentions that at some point in time, all the men on the island that were his age died during a storm and he was blamed, so it is possible he snapped and remained in the vegetative state he is seen in for the rest of the film. Nobody seems to care about him though.
It is interesting to see by the way that although this movie contains a lot of violence against women, WOMEN are the main culprit and root of evil here. Hae-Won is a woman. The mother-in-law and her cousins are the ones responsible for raising the son's in such a toxic way that they behave in the deprived way that they do (again, the captain mentions this). Bok-Nam also acknowledges this when she says that a child NEEDS a mother and father. Some reviewers seem to miss that by thinking this movie is trying to show how bad men are. And of course the men in this movie (on the island, that is) are bad. But except for the investigator and the criminals from Seoul, those men are all the product of the island and the backward women who live there and encouraged this toxic behavior.
The only other person that isn't evil is Bok-Nam's daughter and probably the only reason she's still alive. I won't go too deep into detail about her, but living on this toxic island and seemingly being groomed by her (potential) father just makes you wish her and her mother can leave the island as soon as possible.
What unfolds over the next 80 minutes is painfully hard to watch and although I have seen a lot of movies that are good at making you care for a character (especially Asian movies), I think I never saw one where I became so emotionally involved that I started shaking and wanted to climb into the tv to go on a rampage!
We see the continuous abuse of poor Bok-Nam while her "friend" Hae-Won just idly sits or stands by, never once trying to help her. Even after she basically finds out about what's being done to Bok-Nam's daughter (who in her innocence can't seem to see what a selfish person Hae-Won is and who seems to actually like her), she still doesn't do a thing to help.
There's an interesting small character, a hooker from the mainland, who (seemingly against her will) is brought to the island from time to time, much to the anger of Bok-Nam's daughter.
Even though this hooker barely knows Bok-Nam or shares any history with her, it is saying A LOT that during the short time she is there, she does way more to help or try and help Bok-Nam. She is also the one who tries to help her to escape (which sadly, but predictably fails and also seems to lead to the death(?) of the hooker who isn't seen after, but her make-up and luggage is).
Eventually, poor Bok-Nam has reached her limit and "snaps" (which is actually quite satisfying to watch, as the movie keeps pushing her and the viewer to our limit).
Even now, after witnessing Bok-Nam's abuse,the menslaughter of her daughter and after Bok-Nam saved her from being raped (although technically, Hae-Won doesn't know this), Hae-Won won't lift a finger to help and actually works against Bok-Nam.
Still, Bok-Nam does what has to be done (I doubt anyone ever feels that what she does is the least bit evil, but well-deserved), but shows that she isn't a crazy monster or "devil", for she spares her father-in-law and actually shows care by giving him a haircut and making sure he has something to eat after she leaves the island.
The conclusion of the movie is happening on the mainland (and again, we see the very interesting switch as the moment Bok-Nam leaves the boat, she receives empathy and human kindness, something only her daughter and the hooker had done for her, with the latter also being from the mainland).
I must admit, although the ending is typically Korean (their movies almost never have a "happy" end in the Western sense), it's very painful and sad in the message it gives the viewer and Hae-Won.
Yes, she seemingly did learn something, but she also deserved so much less. She now might become a different person who no longer doesn't care about the pain and suffering of others, but one can't help but to feel that this is way too little, way too late.
The movie ends with her reading the letters of Bok-Nam, who "killed" her with kindness and I must admit, it made me cry.
Bedevilled in my opinion is a very, very strong movie. Yes, it moves slow (although I never felt it was dull or boring), but that time is needed and makes us care and emphasize. And I think empathy or the lack thereof is the big theme of this movie. It isn't your classical "revenge" film and although I do like the revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy, Kind-hearted Geum-Ja), I think I'd put this one slightly above it, mainly due to the strong plot and message, but also the amazing job Yeong-Hie Seo does.
Hopefully, this movie makes a few people reflect on their own life and think about empathy or others and that we aren't alone in the world...
Growing up in Seoul and seemingly showing what is making more and more Koreans unhappy and suicidal, she focuses only on the things that benefit her. She doesn't know the meaning of empathy, everything MUST serve her own purpose. Whether she refuses to help a woman who is being molested (and ends up beaten to death, partially as a result of that) or to later identify the culprits (not even when they couldn't even see her or retaliate) and ignoring the suffering of the family members or if it's at work, she embodies the selfishness we can see a lot in today's society (and this movie was made in 2010).
But it does catch up with her when she hastily assumes a female colleague locked her into the bathroom for "revenge" (showing us more about herself, since that seems to be the only logical explanation, while it turns out, it was the cleaning lady who accidentally locked her in) and she slaps her in front of customers.
Her manager suspends her and suggests she takes a vacation.
After drinking herself into a stupor (despite her fancy car, apartment and material things, she doesn't seem to have any kind of "life", other than work), she decides to revisit the island she grew up on. Upon arrival, she is greeted enthusiastically by her childhood friend, Kim Bok-Nam, amazingly played by Seo Heong-Jie (The Chaser).
This is where the movie is starting to slow down a bit, having moved the plot from bustling Seoul to a remote island of 9 inhabitants. It's a very interesting contrast though: The Seoul we had seen so far was pretty much the opposite of Hae Won's character: Where she's selfish and without empathy, the cops or the co-workers in Seoul had all been kind or understanding of the suffering of others.
Not on the island though: Here, everyone is pretty much as selfish (if not worse if that's even possible) as Hae Won. The only kind person is her childhood friend, Bok-Nam. Her husband, his dim-witted and pervy brother, her cold-hearted, diabolical mother-in-law or her cousins(?) all treat her like a slave and she seems to be at the absolute bottom of the hacking order on the island. The only person that might stand as low or is not cared for either is the husband (?) of the mother-in-law. We don't really get to know why he behaves the way he does (he is seen eating some sort of leaf that Hae Won calls bozo leaf because it turns those who eat it in a bozo; it's also the one thing we constantly see her dimwitted brother-in-law eat), but the captain of the ferry that serves the island mentions that at some point in time, all the men on the island that were his age died during a storm and he was blamed, so it is possible he snapped and remained in the vegetative state he is seen in for the rest of the film. Nobody seems to care about him though.
It is interesting to see by the way that although this movie contains a lot of violence against women, WOMEN are the main culprit and root of evil here. Hae-Won is a woman. The mother-in-law and her cousins are the ones responsible for raising the son's in such a toxic way that they behave in the deprived way that they do (again, the captain mentions this). Bok-Nam also acknowledges this when she says that a child NEEDS a mother and father. Some reviewers seem to miss that by thinking this movie is trying to show how bad men are. And of course the men in this movie (on the island, that is) are bad. But except for the investigator and the criminals from Seoul, those men are all the product of the island and the backward women who live there and encouraged this toxic behavior.
The only other person that isn't evil is Bok-Nam's daughter and probably the only reason she's still alive. I won't go too deep into detail about her, but living on this toxic island and seemingly being groomed by her (potential) father just makes you wish her and her mother can leave the island as soon as possible.
What unfolds over the next 80 minutes is painfully hard to watch and although I have seen a lot of movies that are good at making you care for a character (especially Asian movies), I think I never saw one where I became so emotionally involved that I started shaking and wanted to climb into the tv to go on a rampage!
We see the continuous abuse of poor Bok-Nam while her "friend" Hae-Won just idly sits or stands by, never once trying to help her. Even after she basically finds out about what's being done to Bok-Nam's daughter (who in her innocence can't seem to see what a selfish person Hae-Won is and who seems to actually like her), she still doesn't do a thing to help.
There's an interesting small character, a hooker from the mainland, who (seemingly against her will) is brought to the island from time to time, much to the anger of Bok-Nam's daughter.
Even though this hooker barely knows Bok-Nam or shares any history with her, it is saying A LOT that during the short time she is there, she does way more to help or try and help Bok-Nam. She is also the one who tries to help her to escape (which sadly, but predictably fails and also seems to lead to the death(?) of the hooker who isn't seen after, but her make-up and luggage is).
Eventually, poor Bok-Nam has reached her limit and "snaps" (which is actually quite satisfying to watch, as the movie keeps pushing her and the viewer to our limit).
Even now, after witnessing Bok-Nam's abuse,the menslaughter of her daughter and after Bok-Nam saved her from being raped (although technically, Hae-Won doesn't know this), Hae-Won won't lift a finger to help and actually works against Bok-Nam.
Still, Bok-Nam does what has to be done (I doubt anyone ever feels that what she does is the least bit evil, but well-deserved), but shows that she isn't a crazy monster or "devil", for she spares her father-in-law and actually shows care by giving him a haircut and making sure he has something to eat after she leaves the island.
The conclusion of the movie is happening on the mainland (and again, we see the very interesting switch as the moment Bok-Nam leaves the boat, she receives empathy and human kindness, something only her daughter and the hooker had done for her, with the latter also being from the mainland).
I must admit, although the ending is typically Korean (their movies almost never have a "happy" end in the Western sense), it's very painful and sad in the message it gives the viewer and Hae-Won.
Yes, she seemingly did learn something, but she also deserved so much less. She now might become a different person who no longer doesn't care about the pain and suffering of others, but one can't help but to feel that this is way too little, way too late.
The movie ends with her reading the letters of Bok-Nam, who "killed" her with kindness and I must admit, it made me cry.
Bedevilled in my opinion is a very, very strong movie. Yes, it moves slow (although I never felt it was dull or boring), but that time is needed and makes us care and emphasize. And I think empathy or the lack thereof is the big theme of this movie. It isn't your classical "revenge" film and although I do like the revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy, Kind-hearted Geum-Ja), I think I'd put this one slightly above it, mainly due to the strong plot and message, but also the amazing job Yeong-Hie Seo does.
Hopefully, this movie makes a few people reflect on their own life and think about empathy or others and that we aren't alone in the world...