The Divine Fury

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Movie
German title The Divine Fury
Original title Saja ( 사자 )
Country of production South Korea
original language Korean
Publishing year 2019
length 129 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Kim Ju-hwan
script Kim Ju-hwan
music Koo yeah wan
camera Cho Sang-yun
cut Kim Sun-min
occupation

The Divine Fury (Original title: Saja ) is a 2019 South Korean action mystery film directed by Kim Ju-hwan .

action

Yong-hu is the so far undefeated mixed martial arts world champion. When he sees a tattooed cross on his opponent's back during his next fight, he attacks him obsessively. At night he has a dream of a cross on his hand. When he wakes up he has an injury at this point. This gets bigger and bigger over time and doesn't stop bleeding. In the night he is haunted again and again by dark figures. He goes from doctor to doctor, but nobody can help him. Ultimately, he listens to the advice of his manager and visits his sister, who is a shaman . She can see the demons around him and his beliefs. Like his father, he is a good person and this strength protects him. It doesn't make sense to Yong-hu. He swore off Christianity when his father died and God did not answer his prayers. Nevertheless, she recommends that he see a priest.

When Yong-hu arrives at the church, he is attacked by crows. But when a priest storms out of the church, they turn away from Yong-hu and he can enter the church. There he witnesses an exorcism. Priest Ahn has problems with a demon, but Yong-hu comes to the rescue and puts him in his place. When he touches the demon's head with his hand, it begins to burn. Priest Ahn pours holy water on it and the demon is defeated. Man returns to his normal self, unconscious. Priest Ahn tells Yong-hu that the wound on his hand is stigmata , the sign of Jesus. Yong-hu can't explain it because he doesn't believe in God.

Priest Ahn was sent to Seoul by the Vatican. He stays longer because a powerful demon he calls the "Black Bishop" is in Seoul. Priest Ahn tries to find him and Yong-hu wants to support him. Ahn learns about the possessed Su-jin. When Ahn and Yong-hu visit her, she doesn't seem very demonic at first. Even a cross does not dissolve a reaction. She claims her mother went crazy. But Ahn cannot be fooled. He is convinced that she is obsessed. Together they overpower Su-jin and pour their holy water down their throats. This is how the demon appears. He says he is the demon who also ruled the body that was responsible for his father's death. After a fight in which the demons also speak to Yong-hu, they can defeat the demon. At the same time, the mysterious Black Bishop realizes that something is wrong. He tries to kill Su-jin from a distance. But Priest Ahn can save her with a prayer.

Shortly afterwards, Yong-hu is visited by someone posing as a priest. He says Yong-hu can't trust Ahn. He only tries to use Yong-hu's power, regardless of him. The next time Ahn calls him for another exorcism case, Yong-hu doesn't answer. Ahn breaks loose on his own. However, it is a trap and Ahn is suddenly confronted with very powerful demons in a boy's body. Yong-hu, who is meanwhile seduced by other demons in human form to negotiate contracts, gets a bad conscience. He tries to reach Ahn, but he is currently doing the exorcism. He is on his way and can barely save Ahn. But this is in critical condition. He takes him to the hospital and tries to find the main demon. He learns from Su-jin where the two of them met.

He visits the club owned by the demon and confronts him. But he is already waiting for him with other demons. Yong-hu can defeat them and provide the Black Bishop. After a long struggle, he can destroy it. When he returns to the hospital, Ahn is better.

reception

The Divine Fury opened in South Korean theaters on July 31, 2019 and reached over 1.6 million admissions. In Germany, the film was released by Splendid Film on January 24, 2020.

The film received mostly mediocre reviews. According to Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore , Park Seo-joon doesn't have the same charisma in Divine Fury as in Midnight Runners (2017). He is expressionless. In addition, the film is longer than it should be. According to Dennis Harvey from Variety , the film is sufficiently atmospheric, despite its length. John Tan from The New Paper reviews the film positively and awards it 4 out of 5 stars. It is an action film with horror elements and reminds of the Blade series. For Yoon Min-sik of the Korea Herald , the film is not original enough and too much like a superhero film. The fictional universe is hardly discussed, the focus is on the action. The film is partly fun, but it seems too familiar. The Divine Fury was compared to the American film Constantine (2005) by Francis Lawrence because of its style and the theme of occultism . Director Kim Ju-hwan said he met Lawrence to discuss the film together.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Divine Fury . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ^ The Divine Fury (2019). In: Korean Film Biz Zone. KOFIC , accessed on May 14, 2020 .
  3. ↑ The Divine Fury. In: Splendid Film. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  4. ^ John DeFore: 'The Divine Fury': Film Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter . August 15, 2019, accessed on May 15, 2020 .
  5. ^ Dennis Harvey: Film Review: 'The Divine Fury'. In: Variety . August 16, 2019, accessed on May 15, 2020 .
  6. ^ John Tan: Movie review: The Divine Fury. In: The New Paper . August 14, 2019, accessed on May 15, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b Yoon Min-sik: Hopes of cinematic universe may be too ambitious for 'Divine Fury'. In: The Korea Herald . July 23, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  8. ↑ James Marsh: The Divine Fury film review: The Exorcist meets mixed martial arts in limp Korean thriller. In: South China Morning Post . August 14, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Lee Jae-lim: 'The Divine Fury' hopes to surpass expectations: Director Kim Ju-hwan aims to create his own cinematic universe with his latest film. In: Korea JoongAng Daily . July 22, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2020 .