The wailing

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Movie
German title The Wailing
Original title kor.  곡성 , Hanja   哭聲 , rev.  Gokseong
Country of production South Korea
original language Korean
Publishing year 2016
length 156 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Well Hong-jin
script Well Hong-jin
production Lim Min-sub
music Dalpalan
camera Hong Kyung-pyo
cut Kim Sun-min
occupation

The Wailing - Possessed is a Mystery - Thriller of the South Korean director Na Hong-jin from the year 2016. The film was shown on 12 May 2016 in the South Korean cinema and was out of competition at the International Film Festival in Cannes shown.

action

An old stranger appears in a quiet, rural village. However, nobody seems to know when and why. One morning police officer Jeon Jong-gu is called to a murder case. To his horror, he finds that an entire family has been wiped out and the entire house is covered in blood. The police and doctors initially assume that poisonous fungi are the cause. The perpetrator appears to be suffering from an illness.

Shortly thereafter, there is another murder case. The scenario is similar to the previous one. Police officer Jong-gu runs into a young, unknown woman by chance. She was a witness to the murder and tells Jong-gu what happened. She also tells him that the foreign Japanese who lives on the mountain is responsible for the incident. As soon as the nameless woman appeared, she then disappears again. Jong-gu then dreams of the Japanese eating an animal in the forest, naked and with bright red eyes.

Meanwhile, Jong-gu's daughter Hyo-jin also appears to be suffering from the illness that the perpetrators have. She gets a rash on her body. She also acts aggressively and suddenly becomes very hungry. Hyo-jin's grandma hires a shaman because she fears that Hyo-jin is possessed by a demon.

Jong-gu continues investigating the Japanese and hears from a villager who saw him hunting. The Japanese crawled on all fours and ate an animal, his eyes were red. When the two policemen and the interviewee want to go to the stranger together, the interviewee is struck by lightning and the police take him to the hospital. However, they want to look for the Japanese again and take a deacon with them because he speaks Japanese. When they find the Japanese man's house, no one is there, except for a chained dog. You will find pictures of the sick and murdered villagers as well as suspicious belongings. Shortly afterwards, the dog breaks free and attacks the police officers and the deacon. But the stranger now appears and calls the dog back. The deacon apologizes to the Japanese and the three leave the house.

During the drive, Jong-gu's colleague looks petrified and tells Jong-gu that he found Hyo-jin's shoe there. When Jong-gu asks his daughter about this, she becomes even more aggressive. The next day the shaman Il-gwang comes and he too is of the opinion that she is possessed by a ghost and that the stranger on the mountain is responsible for the incidents. Jong-gu then gives the stranger three days to leave the village, and he kills the dog and destroys his homage room.

The shaman now performs a ceremony, but Jong-gu's daughter is in so much pain that Jong-gu interrupts the ritual and takes her to a hospital. The following day, Jong-gu gathers friends and colleagues to find and kill the stranger. They pursue him, but he escapes. During the escape, the stranger sees the nameless woman and follows her. On the way back, Jong-gu and his friends catch the stranger in their car, who appears to be dead. The nameless woman watched everything from a hill.

When Jong-gu came home, Hyo-jin's condition improved significantly. Il-gwang passes Jong-gu's house again, but suddenly the nameless woman appears and he has severe nosebleeds and vomits. He escapes and tries to reach Jong-gu. This does not answer the calls. During the night, however, Hyo-jin suddenly disappears. When Jong-gu is looking for her, he calls Il-gwang back. This tells him that they made a mistake and that it is not the stranger who is responsible for the incidents, but the young, unknown woman who is a powerful spirit. He is now on the way back to his house. Shortly afterwards, Jong-gu meets the nameless woman. She tells him she is setting a trap for the demon and he should trust her. Hyo-jin is at home, but Jong-gu should not go there, but wait until the rooster has crows three times. Meanwhile, Il-gwang called again. He tells him to be with his daughter and not let the ghost stop him. After the rooster crows for the second time, Jong-gu returns to his house, although the unknown woman tries to stop him. When he steps over the threshold, the flower in front of the house withers.

The deacon, on the other hand, re-examines the stranger's house in the mountains. He meets the Japanese again, who now turns into a demon. At the same time, Jong-gu comes home and sees that Hyo-jin killed his family. Shortly afterwards, she stabs him with a knife. The shaman comes to Jong-gu's house and takes photos of Hyo-jin and the dead victims. When he returns to his car, he drops a box. This contains the photos of the other victims.

Finally, before his death, Jong-gu sees the most beautiful experiences with his daughter again and assures her that he will protect her.

production

The film was produced by Fox International and Side Mirror. Na said that the language barrier between the American production studio and him was a bit problematic. In addition, the production took almost six years. It took him 2 years and 8 months to complete the script.

Unlike Na's previous films, which were not rated for teenagers in South Korea, The Wailing is rated for ages 15+ .

In an interview, Na said the intention behind the film was to question the reason for human existence. He also wants to comfort people who cannot understand why they have to suffer great tragedies. The film also picks up on topics from Catholicism and Korean shamanism . Rumors and their diffusion are also an underlying theme.

reception

The film received very positive reviews. Deborah Young from the Hollywood Reporter praised the editing, the camera work by Hong Kyung-pyo , who was also responsible for Snowpiercer (2013), and the lively atmosphere of the film. Pierce Conran highlights the tension and the horror is that The Wailing the genre film raises to the level of an art form.

The film reached 2.85 million viewers in South Korea in its first week, making it the most successful opening week of a 20th Century Fox film . The film reached a total of 6.9 million cinema viewers.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Approval for The Wailing . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 171046 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b Yun Suh-young: 'Goksung' attempts new thriller genre. In: Korea Times . April 18, 2016, accessed May 12, 2016 .
  3. ↑ The Wailing - Press booklet for the Cannes International Film Festival 2016 , accessed on August 13, 2016 (English).
  4. ↑ Jang Sung-ran: 'The Wailing' asks the big questions. Director Na Hong-jin intended for his latest film to be open-ended. In: JoongAng Daily . June 10, 2016, accessed June 10, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Deborah Young: 'The Wailing' ('Goksung'): Cannes Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter . May 18, 2016, accessed July 18, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Pierce Conran: Cannes 2016 Review: THE WAILING, A Bone-Chilling, Thunderous Descent Into Hell. (No longer available online.) In: Twitch. May 13, 2016, archived from the original on June 8, 2016 ; accessed on July 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / twitchfilm.com
  7. ^ Pierce Conran: NA Hong-jin's THE WAILING Howls in First Place. In: Korean Film Biz Zone. May 18, 2016, accessed May 21, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Patrick Frater: Cannes-Bound 'Wailing' Already a Hit at Korean Box Office. In: Variety . May 15, 2016, accessed May 21, 2016 .
  9. ↑ THE WAILING (2016). In: Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council, accessed July 17, 2016 .