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Film Essay: 'The Wailing' (aka Goksung), A South Korean Production

There is a sort of peculiar goofiness interspersed with innocence and environmental serenity that makes South Korean film 'very special'. 'The Way Home' was my first South Korean filming experience and it mesmerized me with its simplicity. Later on, I passed it on to several of my friends and they all loved it. Then there were some rom-coms and dramatic affairs from some of the most prominent Korean auteurs and they were quite different from usual Asian and Hollywood genre films in their treatment of story and characters. More so, I found out that like me, there are several aficionado of South Korean films and they were all near by.....Very surprising indeed.

A day before yesterday, I stumbled across a home entertainment guide for October 2016 on rogereberts.com and it listed 'The Wailing', a South Korean metaphysical thriller cum horror flick among its most praised picks. I watched it yesterday as soon as I got the chance and the experience was 'overwhelming'. Not only it was beautifully photographed and exquisitely filmed, soaking in all the magnificence and calmness of Korean countryside but it also cleverly mixes the elements of both horror and psychological thriller genres in its plot. And like all those great films, it leaves the viewers guessing about its ambiguous ending and make their own assumptions about it. It starts off with a Bible quote and ends with the same but not before materializing it in most gruesome manner possible in front of bewildered audiences. It's the strongest horror film since The Conjuring Chapter 1 and I am glad am talking to you about it. And if it's going to be your first Korean film, mark my words, this is not going to be your last!!!!

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