"The Wailing" also known as Gokseong, is a 2016 South Korean film directed by critically acclaimed director Na Hong Jin(The Chaser, The Yellow Sea etc.) and stars Kwak Do Won, Wang Jung Min, and Chun Woo Hee. The film has received praise from many reviewers because of its relentless storytelling and cinematography.
Gokseong is a country province located in the south Jeolla province near the end of the South Korean peninsula. Some locations close to the two are extremely hard to get to and the town itself seems almost isolated from everywhere else. Terrible murders starts happening in town and a police officer starts to investigate the killings only to find that a member of the murdered families showed traits of illness before death. Soon the illness infects his daughter and the police officer seeks the help of a shaman but the situation becomes worse.
I wasn't sure where this film was going to lead me since I didn't watch the trailer or read anything about the film other than the synopsis. Another Korean film to add to my collect was all I truly cared about. The thing thats always so freaky about Korean horror films is that the plot starts like the calm before the storm. Its a happy peaceful calm that makes you scared about whats to come. The first few scenes are of a father who lives a simple but happy life with his family. He's supper close with his daughter and they do many activities together but then weird events start happening. The descend of the conflict was a slow one as you the viewer can't predict what will happen next. There's too many different genre traits of horror, spirituality, and mystery just to name a few. You would think that you predicted the outcome them another layer got added to the already complexed plot. I'm not sure I still completely understand the plot but i'm an imaginative person so my mind tends to create fill in the blank answers to complexed stories I may not understand in full. The complexity wasn't even what bugged me the most. It was the plot's tendency to keep jumping from here to there while feeling like no questions were answered. I found me self talking out loud while watching and saying "what does this have to do with the central conflict??". The film's conclusion will probably confuse some viewers but at least some of the questions I had were answered. Its just that some of the other content takes you off course from the truth quite a bit. The full truth isn't as shocking as THE PEICES OF THAT TRUTH.
The shots for this film were absolutely beautiful and fit the film graciously. I was mystified by the scenes that set up the story in the beginning and a few scenes during the mid way part of the film. Shots of the village and country life as a whole were nice to experience as well. I just kept thinking that I hope I don't get posted in a small village town like that for a teaching job. Living life like the people in this film would be interesting and scary too. I'm a city boy through and through too. The scenes that set up the film are shots of the river and forests surround it just as the sun rises. The sky is filled with a light purple that indicates that dawn has come. Later other scenes come of mountains filled with mist that could only happen after a humid rain shower. Different symbolism like the crows and the constant stormy weather helped set the stage for something sinister. Gokseong must be a place full of the traditional Korean way of life before all the western influence came into the culture. The town itself didn't have a supermarket or a hospital. Anytime an emergency happened, they town's people had to rush to the next town over. That must not be fun but you mange with what you have. Right?
The actress who played the daughter should have received an award for her performance. Her acting alarmed me on so many levels from the beginning to the end of the film. She had an annoying personality where a child tries to know everything about adults instead of staying in their place. I would have told her to go somewhere and sit down a long time ago but I'm not in this film. Her attitude gets worse due to circumstances and her lines go from annoying to jaw dropping. Not to be mean, but this girl already looks scary because of her facial features but she looks worse in a crazed state. Kunimura Jun plays the Japanese man who lives deep in the woods a little ways off from the village. He brings a bilingual feel to the film with not being able to speak Korean. His scenes were done in Japanese with an actor who could also speak the language. I never like him when he suddenly appears in films because when he does this, he's never up to any good. Everyone else acted well but these two stood out to me the most.
"The Wailing" wasn't as scary as I though it was going to be. I will say that the film is relentless at being stone cold heartless. Do not watch this film if you except to view something that will make you feel good. You will not walk away from this film feeling great. It's the polar opposite. I didn't finish feeling too happy but I did enjoy the fact that it was realistic in terms of a father's love for his daughter. Life can't be happy all the time and you have to deal with this if you want to keep living.
**** THIS FILM CONTAINS GRAPHIC SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ACTION. PLEASE DO NOT VIEW IF YOUR UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN. THANK YOU***
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