"Insane" with the literal translated title being "Come See Me" was directed by Lee Cheol-Ha and stars new found fame stars Lee Sang-Yoon and Kang Ye-won. The film place number one in its opening week in South Korea then fell to number two during its second week run. Director Lee Cheol-Ha always creates films about the human experience through their emotions and Insane keeps this same idea while taking filmgoers on a wild ride.
The plot of Insane will attempt to play game with your head as you watch the film. Its progression is so silk that you don't even realize your being played with. First it will take your hand and guide you in one direction for awhile. Next thing you know, your pushed off into a completely different direction. Meanwhile you as the viewer is trying to pick up the pieces to the mystery of why a random girl was kidnapped by a crazy hospital and deemed crazy by the doctors there. A reporter picks up on the story and tries to figure out whats going on. Things never stay in one place long enough for you to catch your breath though. Soon the film begins taking your back and forth between both character's perspectives. You could call it confusing in a fun way as your taken every which a way to keep you from finding out the truth. I had formed my own theory of what might have happened as I watched and you should too because its fun. The ending reveals all and its a shocking pill to swallow. That's for sure.
Sang Yoon plays the reporter who needs a good story to be his comeback to News entertainment. Recently he hasn't been having the best of luck in his career and when he gets a wind of this unusual case, he jumps on it right away. The way he acts out his character makes me think that he will do ANYTHING to get a good story. Sometimes I watched him closely because he can be so mysterious at times. As a viewer, you want to believe in the best of him for the most part because he's the main character. His character is the kind of person who doesn't take "no" for an answer. Things go his way or no way at all. I first noticed Sang Yoon in the Korean version of 'Liar Game". He was one of the most mysterious character of them all in this drama so this film was the perfect fit for him in my eyes. I don't think I've seen Kang Ye-won in anything before this film but she's great at her role. She suddenly taken out of the world she knows and taken to a hospital for mental unstably patients. Her character's motive is to just escape with her life. I felt for her because that situation she was in would make anyone have a complete mental breakdown. If she wasn't crazy when she got into that place she probably had mental issues just being in there. The costars make for a great increaser to the erie atmosphere in the mental hospital. Their acting was so good that "Insane" almost turned into a horror film but it backtracked a little bit to stay on the mystery/thriller path. There's also time lapses of the past and present. Sang Yoon and Kang Ye-won have scenes together during the present time. Sang Yoon's personality clash head first with her's. One is trying to forget the past while the other wants answers about the past for his own gain. I had to sit back and hold my breath during a lot of their interactions because the chemistry was on another level which made the scenes intense. Got to love when actors and actresses of equal talent work together. Makes films more interesting.
"Insane" has no sense of a safe place to go back to. Many of the scenes are shot in this eire dark style that makes all thats shown look sad. I'm not even talking about the scenes in the hospital. Those scenes are crazy in themselves and are suppose to be. Just even the scenes that are shot in the outside world make you feline the sky is going to fall down and crush you. I might have felt this way because the scenes in the mental hospital are shot in such a limited amount of space. Being in a closed space or even looking at a closed space like that for a long period of time makes your mind feel like its closed off. You still might not be able to shake the feeling after going outside into the air again. I felt this way while watching this film.
I loved 'Insane" for the reasons I mentioned above. Originally, I bought it to see Lee Sang Yoon in a film but ended up loving everything about the film. South Korea was right by making this film number one at their box-office.
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