There's nothing like a great foreign film... and Bedevilled is nothing like one.
What you're expecting from the film, based on the initial presentation, is a slow build-up to an intriguing story
as we follow Seoul bank clerk Hae-won (Seong-won Ji) getting suspended from her job after an altercation
with a colleague, while at the same time having to identify two men in a police line-up who assaulted a young girl
outside a nightclub, the night before. This, in turn, leads to them far too easily discovering that she's the
one who fingered them and a tense stand-off develops that... leads to nowhere.
In fact, it's just a long-winded piece of plot development to get her out of the city and off on a long boat trip
to Moo-do Island, where her grandfather used to live and at a time where, as a young girl, she befriended another
girl called Bok-Nam (Yeong-hie Seo) whose stayed in that backwater all her life. With both of them now in
their early 30s, Hae-won is shocked to learn how badly things have got for her as Bok-nam is kicked about by
her husband, Man-jong (Park Jung-Hak), raped by his brother, Chul-jong (Bae Sung-Woo), some of which
seems oblivious to her 10-year-old daughter, Yeon-hee (Lee Ji-Eun).
It's a tale of domestice violence that at first is very predictable and takes far too long to play out - almost an
hour before we get to the real meat of the story, something that only required less than half that. It's a shame as
the real star of the piece is Yeong-hie Seo, as the put-upon Bok-Nam, who really comes into her own when a
tragedy strikes, while Seong-won Ji (Hae-won) sleepwalks through the majority of the near-two-hour running time.
There's decent support from the actors playing the two nasty brothers, because you want to jump into the screen
and punch their lights out, as well as the cast who play Bok-wan's auntie and her friends and siblings, who are
the biggest bunch of selfish bitches you could ever meet.
Overall, I would say Bedevilled is an interesting story about what someone can do when they're pushed to
the limits, but it's not interesting. And it all gets completely ridiculous as time moves on.
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Presented in 2.35:1 and in 1080p high definition, the picture is sharp and detailed, representing the
lush countryside of Moo-do Island brilliantly. It's also well-shot with good use of the 2.35:1 frame.
