My Around the World adventure has seen me encounter a wide range of films, some of which have been incredibly hard to stomach, let alone to watch. Cheol-soo Jang’s Bedevilled left me in a similar state of shock that I had encountered from Possession and Irreversible. I am somewhat numb, confused, and angry. Viewing these films as a female, there’s a lot of things to unpick.
These three films have left me with more questions rather than answers. I cannot help but wonder, why the filmmakers decided to represent femininity in such a way. Are these films representation of misogyny? Are these characters a true representation of what it means to be female? Even though I prefer Possession over the other two films, the fact these three films are so complex in terms of their representation of women is a great way to challenge and address the themes brought up in these films.
Bedevilled‘s plot is straightforward. The film follows two young Korean women who were raised on a remote island. The island is somewhat backward in its approach to traditional gender roles. Women do everything. Men get to sit about, drinking, and doing very little. The men are treated like Gods, whose word is the law. The women are treated like they are inferior. One of the women, Hae-won (Ji Sung-won) has escaped to the big city leaving behind her childhood friend Bok-nam (Seo Young-hee).
Bok-nam has been trying to reach out to Hae-won, who never returns her letters. Hae-won becomes a witness to an attempted murder case, where she refuses to give evidence to the police. This incident coupled with the stress of work results in Hae-won deciding to return to the island for a vacation. Upon her return to the island, Hae-won is shocked to see everyone treating Bok-nam like a slave. Bok-nam is the only young woman on the island, and as a result, she is a plaything for all the men and a free laborer for the older women.
The character of Bok-nam is an interesting one. She is essentially trapped on the island, despite making various attempts to escape. As the film unfolds, we cannot help but feel annoyed by the fact that she seems so incapable of standing up for herself. It becomes frustrating to see such a character be so passive. Of course, this is the director’s intention all along. When the inevitable occurs, we will be more likely to side with Bok-nam. But, the film takes its time to reach that point.
The film’s bloody and very violent climax goes beyond the realms of the traditional horror genre. There are some films where violence and gore are too full-on and Bedevilled falls into that category for me. It all becomes too exhausting as we watch Bok-nam becoming more depraved in her actions. She becomes emotionless, cold and hellbent on her revenge that we lose this empathy that the film had been trying so hard to build up.
Like Audition, this is very much a film where it’s hard to tell whether this is a film that is about misandry or misogyny, or a mixture of both. Certainly, there is no denying the fact both Bok-nam in Bedevilled and Asami (Eihi Shiina) from Audition suffer greatly at the hands of men, but these films seem to paint the picture that a woman can only be strong if she loses her humanity. It seems a shame that women are presented in this negative light as either victims or bloodthirsty, sadistic unstoppable monsters.
Hae-won plays a crucial role in the downfall of Bok-nam, and the film hints at a potential romantic relationship between the two. Their friendship is complex, with Bok-nam placing the other woman on a pedestal. She worships Hae-won but she also resents her. The film works well when it has these tender scenes between the two actresses, and once the mindless violence is out of the way, the film feels calmer and less chaotic. Both actresses give stunning performances which kept me invested in the film, even when the violence became a little too much for me to bear.
Overall, Bedeveilled looks beautiful with impressive cinematography from Kim Gi-tae and a haunting score by Kim Tae-seong which is a perfect accompaniment to Jang Cheol-soo’s direction. The film certainly leaves a lasting impression, but its not one that I am in a hurry to return to. Perhaps it was just a little too graphic for my liking, still if you’re a fan of Korean cinema then this is a must see.
