STORY
When a mysterious stranger moves to a small village in South Korea, the village becomes plagued by sickness. The police think a wild mushroom is to blame, but police officer Jong-goo thinks it may have something to do with the stranger. He meets a woman who gives him some information about this mysterious man, and slowly begins to fall down a rabbit hole that consumes his life. When his daughter starts to show signs of the sickness, it gets personal and he must figure out who to trust and who to avoid.
ACTING
the performers have a lot of range, from facial expressions to downright melodramatic wailing. Child actor Kim Hwan-hee stands out even among a veteran ensemble cast that includes Hwang Jung-min and Jun Kunimura.These characters are dynamic; the protagonists increasingly vulnerable, and the antagonists all the more menacing. I hope that after this movie Kwak Do Won gets more main roles.
REWATCH VALUE
I need to watch this movie again because I need to find more clues and I have too many questions. I'm gonna recommend this movie to all my friends because it's that good but don't let those 2,5 hours fool you because it isn't boring at all.
OVERALL
It runs over 2.5 hours and one leaves the theater wishing there was more to explain. This would devaluate from the experience because one of the film objectives is to make think the audience go back and look at the clues and turning points, to look into one's own sense of values and want to go back to look at some references upon which the script builds. For me it's another masterpiece of Na (the movie director)
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The story of the film is not predictable and is quite complex in nature (in a good way, it is a mystery after all). It has many twists to it, especially towards the ending, which constantly had me second guessing the theories I'd created about what's what throughout film. Despite running for a full two and a half hours I didn't find myself losing focus or becoming bored at all. It definitely has no problems with immersion and having your full attention from start to finish. I even wish it was a little longer because the ending was confusing. However an ending that flat out pinpointed everything with no room for interpretation and discussion would take away from the mystery of the film and as we can see from the high rating I've given, the confusion I was left with did not ruin the film for me at all. To fully understand everything I'll probably have to rewatch the whole film (I would be very happy to do so) which seems to be a common occurrence with viewers, which is why I rated the rewatch value so high. Additionally, it'll be interesting to rewatch it and see what foreshadowing and little details etc were missed the first time around because I'm certain that there will be a lot more to be appreciated compared to the few I picked up. I'd also recommend looking up other viewer interpretations/explanations after you have finished the movie.
As you can probably guess by looking at some of the members of the cast, the acting in this film is really A++ with great character development and range displayed. Every member of the cast performs brilliantly. Despite the somewhat unrealistic circumstances in the film, it feels very realistic and as I've mentioned before, is very immersive, which the cast most definitely play a big part in.
This film has shot straight into my list of favourites and I 100% recommend it fans of the thriller genre and encourage any of you who are not to give this film a try. Don't let the long running time dissuade you, it really is worth sitting down and watching. I very much doubt you will be disappointed and couldn't recommend it more.
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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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Good Thriller Bordering Horror!
For those who wish to take a break from romance and long episode dramas, this movie is a really good production to sink your teeth into and be-fitting for international market consumption. The entire movie takes place in a quiet village town where a policeman suddenly have to deal with strange zombie like changes in some of the villagers. Scary but unperturbed at first dealing with such incidences, but the urgency took up ten notch when the illness starts to affect his own daughter. The pace and thriller picks up from then as he searches for an answer and the cure.The cast top notch and acceptable story line for those who enjoy watching thriller, with evil looming throughout the show and gory scenes thrown in.
Highly recommended.
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I think the most scary things in this world are folklore and what it does with people's mind. It makes your imagination run wild and puts thoughts in your head which lead to decisions, you never thought you would be able to put into action. It manipulates even the most righteous person. Even scarier when it comes to villages where superstition is still grounded quite deeply, because it twists the mind of more than just one person. And it makes them act out of fear and anger while they don't even bother thinking about it first. And at this point they won't budge either because they are too afraid to be wrong.
I delayed watching this for some time now, even though many people recommended it. But it's running so long and I never felt like being in the right mood for it.
But now I know that even if you're not in the right mood, you will be soon, because its atmosphere is sucking you in right away. It's oppressive and even though the story is moving calmly, there's always this ominous feeling in the air that doesn't let go of you.
This is so different from all the dramas and it was such a nice change. It follows a neat string, throwing one breadcrumb at a time while creating this net of... I don't even know how to describe it... It builds its own world with its subtle suspense that is lurking at every corner.
There are no boring moments, even though it never gets hectic or anything. There are not even those surprise moments that make you jump out of your seat. Still, it keeps you on the edge and guessing till the end. Even now I'm not completely sure about all the details, although it still feels like I got the whole picture.
The cast was amazing, every single one! Special kudos to the kiddo here. She was damn awesome. And again so different from dramas. No matter what was shown, it never got cringy. This is where you can differentiate the two categories with one look.
At some point it might get a bit gory though it's just a short moment that still fits into the whole setting. It's not excessive, it's not unrealistic. So, if you're weak to those things, be aware, even though those scenes are rare and don't occupy most of the film. They are like small stepping stones in the later minutes to reach the finale.
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The storyline is crazy, you never now what's going to happen. I love how it's really difficult to know what's going on and there are questions left unanswered. I was also surprised by the more supernatural aspects. Also, despite the very long runtime, I was NEVER bored, and in my opinion the movie kept the perfect pace. Now, I have to warn you: the story is disturbing, nightmarish and even dantesque. It comes REALLY close to being a horror film, and there are some pretty graphic scenes, so if you're not into that kind of stuff, be really careful.
The cast is BRILLIANT. I've never seen Kwak Do Won in anything, but his performance here is great, and he really carries the film, even if his character is rather unlikable. Hwang Jeong Min is good too, but his performance is probably the weakest of all the main actors. He was much better in Veteran. I love Chun Woo Hee, and her performance is truly mesmerizing, but she's in the film less than 20 minutes (and the film is 2 and half hours long), so, even if her character is very important, I really wish she had much more screentime. Now, the real MVP of this film is Jun Kunimura. I had seen him in a few Japanese movies, but his performance his is INCREDIBLE. It's just so layered, you never really know until the very end if he is good or evil.
The soundtrack is fantastic, and it really helps set the tense, chilling atmosphere of the movie. It's also really well used in the most intense moments of the story.
I also need to comment on the cinematography. The film looks SO beautiful. Seriously, it's so well shot, and it fits the content and the tone of the story really well. It might just be the best cinematography I've seen in a Korean movie. Basically, the director (and also writer) did a brilliant job with every aspect of this movie.
About the rewatch value, I gave it the maximum score because I believe this is kind of the film where you discover new things everytime you watch it. Despite the imposing, I plan to watch it again soon to try and understand everything better.
In conclusion, The Wailing is one the best films I've seen this year (maybe in my life), and I really recommend it to everyone who's looking for something different and brilliant. But, like I said before, be ready for A LOT of darkness and disturbing content (plus the long runtime).
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Boring and uninspired
I know this movie received critical acclaim and a lot of people loved the plot twists but wow, it did not click with me at all. I liked how the plot was set up at the start but as the movie went on, it just felt like it was dragging a lot. There were a lot of scenes I didn't care much for, and all of the characters (especially the main guy) just felt very bland and uninteresting to me.Part of my apathy, though, I know is just a lack of interest in this genre as a whole — I found it really difficult to suspend disbelief when the explanations were reliant on religious mythology, exorcism, and themes like that. If you are a fan of those kinds of movies, you might enjoy this more than I did.
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This review may contain spoilers
Incredibly slow movie
A first observation is that it is past two hours long. The time is justifiable to help us better connect with the MC family and understand the village culture. For me, most of the scenes felt like just clips of the village, no explanation let me better understand the situation before the direction had us diving into its issues.The characters aren't really loveable. I didn't feel the appeal to empathize with them. Or even pay attention to the movie while it was playing. I got really bored. But I appreciated not getting jump-scared by a whole bunch of random, ugly, dirty zombies that yeet out of nowhere.
If you have bad attention, this may not be your favorite film. If you enjoy films that english or literature classes would use to admire the literacy art- this is the one for you. You'll have so many parts to gawk over when you realize how your points have connected.
Another thing is that it was hard to understand who's the "good" guy or the "bad guy"
So I watched an explanation... instead of rewatching the movie- it's ridiculously long.
If you want to know... then keep reading? Because it's going to be a spoiler.
The Japanese old man - Bad. He is the devil. The taking photos.
Strange woman in a white dress - good. She set up protection for the families. When families are tempted with fear, they break the protection and acted with the Japanese man's intentions.
Shaman - bad. Working in cahoots with the Japanese evil. has a box of photos. Also removed the white dress lady's protection.
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This review may contain spoilers
Confusing mess
Great production values but.....Spoiled by characters doing stupid things, getting scared of nothing, not communicating properly and running in circles for most of the movie. This applies not only to "good guys" but also to "bad guys", the entire plot makes little sense when considered from bad guys perspective as well. Clearly the focus here was to throw plot twists at the audience without much logic binding them together.
The movie is also sacrilegious. It felt like the author tried to mindlessly throw random references to buddhism, christianity and other religions without much knowledge or depth in them. Example: in the final scene where the antagonist revealed himself looking like oni from japanese mythology, with stigmata on his hands (suggesting he's a christian saint) and calling himself a devil while making photos with old style camera I couldn't help but laugh.
There were many other moments in the series that were supposed to be scary but ended up laughable (like the "zombie" fight scene, seriously, wtf was that? Bunch of armed guys can't deal with a limping dude trying to bite them?).
Ultimately this title is more confusing then scary. What made me keep watching is desire to solve the underlying mystery behind it all, only to have a messed up ending that provided more questions then answers. I've read some theories online and all of them feel stretched and not at all convincing, also the director apparently admitted in some interview he made the movie confusing on purpose.
"The Wailing" fails as both horror and mystery, but thanks to good cinematography and direction it succeeds at giving some one time thrills.
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