The Witch: Subversion
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Witch: Subversion |
| Original title | Manyeo ( 마녀 ) |
| Country of production | South Korea |
| original language | Korean |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 125 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Park Hoon-young |
| script | Park Hoon-young |
| production |
Park Hoon-jung , Yeon Young-sik |
| music | Mowg |
| camera | Kim Young-ho, Lee Teo |
| cut | Kim Chang-ju |
| occupation | |
| |
The Witch: Subversion (original title: Manyeo 'Hexe'; international: The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion ) is a mystery thriller by the South Korean director Park Hoon-jung from 2018.
action
An eight-year-old girl breaks out of an institution where experiments seem to have been carried out. The persecutors cannot track her down and believe that she cannot survive outside of the asylum. But the girl is found unconscious on a farm owned by Mr. Koo.
Ten years later, she lives with the family in Hongseong County and has taken the name Koo Ja-yoon. She does not remember her previous life or her name, but she often has severe headaches. She helps her parents with the cows and takes care of them. Her mother has Alzheimer's . She is always top of the class and good friends with Do Myung-hee, whose father is a police officer. This persuades Ja-yoon to take part in a casting show . She successfully prevails and receives an invitation to Seoul . However, she also showed a magic trick on the show. It was more than just a trick, however. Her parents react with concern after seeing it on TV.
Suddenly Ja-yoon encounters strange characters. On the train to Seoul with her friend Myung-hee, she is approached by a young man who claims to know her. But Ja-yoon says she has never seen him before. The man obviously has special skills. Once in Seoul, Ja-yoon can also qualify for the next round of the show. Dr. Baek and Choi-san, who started the chase ten years earlier, are certain that it is the girl who escaped. After the show, Ja-yoon is approached by several men who want to talk to her. But Myung-hee can quickly drag her into a taxi.
After both of them have arrived in their hometown, she meets the young man again. This makes an allusion that her parents could be dead. Ja-yoon asks Myung-hee to call her father so that he can check on her house. Ja-yoon and Myung-hee take a taxi. When they arrive everything is fine and Inspector Do drinks with Mr. Koo. She is relieved and Do is on his way home. Myung-hee sleeps with them at night.
Suddenly, men dressed in black appear threatening Ja-yoon's family. They ask Ja-yoon if she really can't remember anything. But she denies, but can turn off all men, with apparently supernatural strength and speed. Finally, the young man from before enters the house with two other young men and a young woman. You are impressed. Even the young man can't believe that she doesn't remember anything. He suggests that she come with them. Otherwise, they would kill all of the villagers including their families. She decides to come with me and promises Myung-hee to come again.
You're taking Ja-yoon to an institution. There she is handcuffed to a chair. Dr. Baek tells her how long they've been looking for her. She receives an injection that is supposed to help her memory on the jumps. Finally, Dr. Baek that she should have been dead because genetically modified people like her need a certain means to keep their brains from bloating. But Ja-yoon has scaled down her performance so far that she has been able to live without the drug so far. She is given an injection of the remedy and suddenly feels much better. The young man then realizes that something is wrong.
Ja-yoon says she never forgot anything and just pretended. She wanted to be found and that's why she took part in the show. She's only after the remedy. She can now free herself and meet Dr. Grab Baek. It demands the formula for the remedy. However, she is attacked by the young man. Meanwhile, Mr. Choi joins them and fights the other three genetically modified humans with supernatural abilities. In his eyes they are all monsters. Choi-san can take two off. He also shoots Dr. Baek. A fight ensues between Ja-yoon, the young man, the young woman and Mr. Choi. Ja-yoon can kill the young woman quickly. Choi-san doesn't cause her any problems either. The young man thinks that if she can defeat him he will tell her where to find the remedy. He is clearly inferior to her. However, he only says that the drug is made at headquarters, but not where it is located. She shoots him.
Back in her home country she goes to the hospital. Her mother is not doing well, her father is taking care of her. She leaves her mother with the means that would at least temporarily stop the progressive dementia process. Meanwhile, she is looking for Dr. Baek's sister comes up because she wants something longer-term than injecting a monthly drug.
reception
The Witch: Subversion opened in South Korean cinemas on June 27, 2018 and reached almost 3.2 million visitors.
The film received mostly positive reviews. Hollywood Reporter's Elizabeth Kerr speaks of a subtle twist in the Korean revenge film. The film is fascinating and entertaining. Mowg's soundtrack stands out and is atmospheric. However, the film is too long and delays the end too much. If a second part was really in the works, Kerr said, there was no need to rush to reveal the key elements. For Screen International's Wendy Ide , the film is visually appealing, especially because of the contrast between Ja-yoon's ordinary country life and the industrial-futuristic cement bunkers in the second half of the film. Yoon Min-sik from the Korea Herald, however, draws a negative conclusion. The film is an interesting attempt, but awkward to implement. The biggest problem with the case is the excessive explanations in which one character tells the other directly what is happening. J Hurtado from ScreenAnarchy comes to a positive conclusion and is impressed by the camera work by Kim Young-ho and Lee Teo. Mowg's music is consistent with Koo's strokes. Kim Da-mi delivers an effective and eerie performance in the lead role.
Awards
Fantasia International Film Festival 2018
- Award in the Best Actress category for Kim Da-mi
Buil Film Awards 2018
- Award in the Best New Actress category for Kim Da-mi
Daejong Film Award 2018
- Award in the Best New Actress category for Kim Da-mi
Blue Dragon Award 2018
- Award in the Best New Actress category for Kim Da-mi
Director's Cut Awards 2019
- Award in the Best New Actress category for Kim Da-mi
successor
A second part is being planned. Filming is scheduled to begin in late 2020 and release would take place in 2021.
Web links
- The Witch: Subversion in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Witch: Subversion in the Movie Database
- The Witch: Subversion in the Korean Movie Database (English)
- The Witch: Subversion at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for The Witch: Subversion . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 189369 / V).
- ^ The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (2018). In: Korean Film Biz Zone. KOFIC, accessed January 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Elizabeth Kerr: 'The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion' ('Manyeo'): Film Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter . June 27, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Wendy Ide: 'The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion': Macao Review. In: Screen International . December 15, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Yoon Min-sik: [Herald Review] 'The Witch' an interesting attempt, but clunky delivery. In: The Korea Herald . June 20, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ J Hurtado: Fantasia 2018 Review: THE WITCH: PART 1. THE SUBVERSION, Kickass Korean Science Fiction Action. In: ScreenAnarchy. July 24, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Pierce Conran: THE WITCH and MICROHABITAT Awarded at Fantasia. KIM Da-mi Earns Best Actress Prize at Montreal Fest. In: Korean Film Biz Zone. August 7, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ 5 관왕 '공작', '허 스토리' 와 함께 부산 품 었다 (종합). In: MK Sports. October 5, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2019 (Korean).
- ↑ Jeon Hyeong-hwa: '베니스 行' 박훈정 감독 '마녀 2' 스태프 소집 .. 제 2 의 김다미 오디션 계획. In: StarNews. July 28, 2020, accessed July 28, 2020 (Korean).