I said in 2019 that “The Wailing” was the eighth film in my life I was giving the title of masterpiece too. At the time I didn’t expect to think of another film in the same way for at least a good few months – perhaps seven or eight – but here we are. I finished “The Battle of Jangsari” and it took me three hours to be able to sit and write a review.
This film essentially broke me. I rejoiced, I cheered and then I cried – very hard – for half an hour. I was emotionally numb after this film to the point I literally just laid down and cried, it was all I could do.

This film is a masterpiece.

The acting, the cinematography, the editing, everything about this was just stunning. Honestly, it takes me by surprise I’m saying that – war films aren’t my forte, and I think the only one I’ve really seen is “Hacksaw Ridge” after the recognition and attention it received during the awards season.

There are two particular things I can think of that made this film just slightly more stellar and which piqued my interest:
1) The contrasts between the student soldiers and the more advanced, trained soldiers. There are numerous times where we see the student soldiers having a bit of a laugh and not taking things 100% seriously when they have down time – this is contrasted against seeing the more seasoned soldiers having a laugh but still being very on guard, cautious and taking things a little more seriously. This was… painful. It was such a clever trick on the directors’ part to remind us that these are children – the Jangsari soldiers were made up of 15, 16, 17 with reports of even 14 year olds being present on the beach. It’s painful, and it is such a well done small trick of the camera that just made my heart bleed.
2) At a few points in this film, the camera technique makes everything very disorientated during battles. The camera jerks as if it’s dodging a bullet or the butt of a gun, we can’t see through the fog, marring our views and we feel all round a little overwhelmed with the added sound editing of screaming and explosions. Usually, I would complain about a technique like this as they make me feel quite motion sick – “Jangsari” does this in a way that makes us feel like we’re on the field with these soldiers, not just viewing a movie as the scenes play out. I’ve never really seen this trick done in a way that doesn’t make me feel dizzy – with the added reasoning of not getting motion sick during these sequences, these scenes were absolutely stunning.

All of the cast played their roles with such respect and with such grace that it was hard not to see them as the actual people they’re representing. There were times I had to pause to sit and sniff and wipe my tears and remind myself ‘this is just acting’. I have such high respect for all the actors involved that created this stunning piece.
The final ten minutes were so beautifully stressful; I was stressed, I was panicked, but in the safety of my own home with no reason to be stressed or panicked – another brilliant job by Kwak Kyung Taek. The ending on Jangsari – not the full ending of the film – was utterly stunning, beautiful, and found me pausing to sit and cry.

I will say, my rewatch value is rated lower because, personally, I can’t see myself watching this again. It’s so emotional, it really hurt – I cried so hard, my dog had a panic attack trying to figure out what’s wrong – and I think a lot of the scenes would also have less enthusiasm a second time around.

All round, emotional, heart breaking but still so somewhat cheerful that really made me sit and think, “Jangsari” is my second film of 2020, but already I’m not entirely sure that something could beat it. A true masterpiece; half the actors have gained me as a fan and Kyung Taek has got my eyes focused on him and his films for a long while.

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Being the first Korean movie I've watched in my time, Seondal: The Man who Sold the River had a lot to live up to. I had high expectations, told by my friends that Korean movies had a certain charm to them within their storytelling. Of course, being a fan of EXO, I decided to start with Seondal, with the guest star of Kim Minseok [Xiumin], who played Gyeon.

From the start of Seondal, I found myself hypnotised. The storyline played out beautifully, fully capturing your attention from the start. With a harrowing beginning of war and loss, it's hard not to feel for the characters at the start. The first thing I noticed was Seungho Yoo, playing the main character - Kim Inhong aka Kim Seondal. His acting as our main character shows within the first few minutes as his honourable character begins with his protective nature and charm. Seungho really creates a character that is likeable from the beginning - even though we know Inhong is written out and scripted, Seungho brings a truly amazing feeling to the character and truly makes Inhong his own.
Following on from Seungho as Inhong, there is also Kim Minseok as Gyeong. An idol that I have grown to be quite fond of over the past year, Gyeong was a character that I was very much looking forward to meeting in this film, and my expectations were definitely not let down. Kim Minseok brings to Gyeong a side of the character that felt playful, but still serious. Along with his own heroic and honourable actions, it's hard not to fall in love with this misshapen small family of crooks.

The storyline itself of family, loss, and revenge truly shows the spirit of this film. A storyline that's often overdone in a lot of genres and in many countries nowadays, this film truly brings to light how it all connects together. It's been a while since I watched a film about family and it was as connected and well done as Seondal is. There's a connection between all the characters, and as well done as the film has been made, it's obvious that they all had a lot of fun filming it. When you can see this, I believe it truly makes the film even better, showing that the actors truly enjoyed themselves.

Overall, this film truly has a lot of charm to it. With its mix of comedy but yet darker storylines, innocence and the ruining of innocence, and the reminder of war throughout, this touched my heart in ways I never expected this film to do. I found throughout this I felt every emotion that the producers wanted us to, and I found myself in tears numerous times. If you've never watched a Korean film before - I recommend this is your first one. If you are looking for another film to watch, I recommend this. It's a work of art, and I will definitely be watching this plenty more times in the future.

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I don't often use the word masterpiece. I've seen 1,040 films in my life, totalling 1,549 hours of filmography. There's maybe 7 I would label a masterpiece with full usage and definition of the word.

The Wailing is the eighth film of one thousand and forty films I very willingly, gladly and without hesitation give the title of Masterpiece to.

I'm not too big of a fan of Asian supernatural horror. Whilst I very much enjoy it and give most films a pretty decent average rating, I find a lot of them bleed into one another with similar plots and a very safe view on the supernatural. In Japan it tends to be curses that have people die in mysterious ways, South Korea, a cursed object that has people murder each other are the most common ones I come across.

When I clicked The Wailing was supernatural, I prepared myself for a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10 movie that was good but wouldn't hold its own too well in the vast expanse of horror.

The Wailing gave me some stunning frames. The cinematography in this is beautiful. The gore frames are gruesome, unadulterated and unapologetic. The ritualism and belief of South Korea are shown in their full glory without fear. Na Hong Jin doesn't shy away from racial tension between the Japanese and South Koreans with a slightly historical take with a beautiful twisting story that left me with my mouth gaping open but still feeling just slightly uncomfortable - something I believe Hong Jin did on purpose. I was shown acting that was so well done, no matter what I watch these actors in from now on, I will always know them from The Wailing. The varying supernatural aspects were unique, something that stunned me, unafraid to step out of genre restrictions and lead the way with something new. With a story line that is intriguing, stunning and just raw, this two and a half hour journey was worth watching.

This is a film deserving of the hype that numerous other Asian horrors got but turned out to be predictable messed. THIS is the Korean horror of 2016, the one that should have lead the forefront of South Korean, or even Asian, horror into 2017. This is a film that shows prowess, promise and skill. Hong Jin treats us to such wonderful skills from not just himself but his script writer, his cast, his editing team, his make up team, etc, everyone involved. You can feel the passion and love and pure dedication that went into this movie.

A full 10/10 is just not enough for this film.

A twisting, numbing, horrifying masterpiece.

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I'll keep this review pretty short, but honestly this film surprises me. Whilst it's not amazing in any form, coming in for me at a 6 out of 10, I found myself intrigued throughout the film.

Japanese and Korean horror, the two powerhouses of Asian horror, often feed through the same ideas consistently throughout their media but this Filo horror feels very. Different.

This is very regional, almost very proud that it comes from the Phillippines and it catches my attention. I've seen another Filo film (Aurora, Yars Lamaras, 2018) which was also a 6/10, but both movies really caught my eye and made me sit still. They demand my attention in a way that I haven't really experienced before. Their plots are hauntingly and devastatingly beautiful to a degree I have not known in horror.

If you haven't come across Filo horror before, I recommend giving this a try to ease yourself into it (after all, every country has its own format of horror and its something one must get used to as they delve into it to truly appreciate).

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“a function” has very quickly and very easily become one of my top favourite shorts in both the horror genre, in the ‘from South Korea’ category and just all round, one of my top favourites.

The symbolism in this is utterly beautiful; Lee Hyeon Soo has creating such a terrifying and harrowing nine minutes that follows the social pressure forced on students as their SATs come up. The gore in this was absolutely stunning for a short – I’ve seen blockbuster feature-length films struggle to come up with gory shots like “a function” did. The writing was beautiful – almost every single thing shown was a metaphor for something, and each one spoke truly wonderfully and horrifically as everything begins to click into place.

This is a solid favourite and I will be watching this numerous times in the future and I will definitely be waiting for the next film/short/etc of Lee Hyeon Soo.

I’ll keep the review short and sweet for a very bitter short, but absolutely stunning. I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

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Around the World in 196 Films
Country 1: South Korea
Film: Derailed
Director: Lee Song Tae
Rating: 4/5 [8/10]

Derailed is a film that follows four runaway teenagers – Jin Il (Choi Min Ho), Ga Young (Jung Da Eun), Bong Gil (Lee Yoo Jin) and Min Kyung (Baek Soo Min) – as they try to survive on the streets. Amidst their stealing for food and money for survival, they end up stealing the car of Hyung Sik (Ma Dong Seok) who doesn’t take too kindly to their actions. Ga Young is taken by Hyun Sik and Jin Il, Bong Gil and Min Kyung – wanted by the police – must do everything they can to get her back.

Derailed is a film that isn’t something I usually watch; crime thriller isn’t a genre set that I regularly enjoy. I purely watched this to write some articles on Choi Min Ho more than anything – and I found myself truly liking this film much, much more than I expected.

This film was dark, it was gritty, it was stressful. With numerous members of the cast giving stunning performances, I was easily swept up into this horrible – and, all too real for some teenagers – world. This had my heart racing, I ended up chewing on my lip and pausing at times to take a break. The pace in this is well done; we go from seeing the teens resting and okay, having fun despite their predicament to their entire world turning upside down.
Watching them struggle to desperately survive the newest issue thrown at them was harrowing. This was dark, bleak and painful. My heart bled for them, I found myself crying at parts and I couldn’t get enough or finish this film quick enough.

The characters in this are extremely interesting – Seong Hoon (Kim Jae Young) took me completely by surprise and even days after finishing this film, I constantly think about him and what made his character the way that he is.

Lee Sung Tae, writer and director, did a splendid job with this film; I definitely want to watch more from most of the actors – this film has solidified me as a fan of them with ease. My eyes are on Sung Tae and what he does next and I’m eager to sit and watch through his other films to see just what else he can get me to enjoy.

All in all, Derailed was a brilliant film and I cannot wait to discover more from those involved in the film.

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