'I saw how they killed pigs and did the same'
The Chaser 8.8
In a dark, dark town.... In a dark, dark world.... In a dark, dark mind.
I like darkness in films, and this is a particularly bleak story, with little light throughout. It's not so dark just because of the overall content, but because of the grim details. The story follows a Japanese ex-detective pimp, now making a living from his girls, who have been going missing recently. He believes they have been headhunted by another organisation, and realises each has vanished after a visit with a particular customer. So of course this individual must be selling the girls to a competitor, but we know that they are meeting a grisly end at the hands, or tools, of a particularly chilling film psycho (more on him shortly). We follow the pimp as he chases him down, focusing on finding the latest missing girl, who has a young daughter waiting at home.
You could just about get away with calling this a character study. The ex-detective is our Anti hero, he has a shady past and an unpleasant way with people - in fact there isn't really one wholly good adult character, (the only one is the small daughter of the latest missing girl) they all occupy this morally skewed world which is reflected in their sensibilities, it seeps into and infects their lives. This almost universal depravity helps the film retain an almost neutral stance on the events, even though there is essentially an antagonist and protagonist.
I mentioned the culprit is one of the most chilling killers in film history. All the main cast perform well, but the standout is this incredible, impressively well controlled performance from Ha Jung-Woo as the killer. Although you know as much as he does (providing suspense in the classic way - a la Alfred Hitchcock in the bomb under the table way) he still keeps you guessing through his delivery and his telling of the gory details. There is something about how he talks about killing his victims, upfront and honest, seemingly with no sense of the gravity of the situation. It's really hard to pin down but he seems almost confused at times as to why people are so interested in what he's done. And he doesn't seem damaged, in fact he comes across almost childlike. In that sense he makes you feel as if he may not be totally culpable for, or at least doesn't fully understand the gravity of his actions. On the other hand he ties everyone interrogating him up in knots so easily, it could all be a genius play, an elaborate facade to gain his freedom - it had me wondering whether it was all an act (he only loses his cool once during the interrogation when he is challenged about impotence - this reminded me of a similar scene in the original Secret in their Eyes) Getting this all across in a performance I think comes down to the basis of acting and watching. As humans we are programmed to recognise emotions in people, whether they are 'showing' them or not. I imagine alot of actors over think the process - and try to make things obvious to the audience, more often than not coming across as overacting, but Ha Jung-Woo gets it just right.
He is a bit of a one off character, it got me thinking about any other similar characters from films.
He's not bragging and self righteous like John Doe in Seven.
He's not defensive and on the verge of implosion like Eileen Wurnos in the marvellous Monster.
He's not unhinged and unpredictable like Mark Brandon Reid in Chopper.
He's not calm and manipulative like Hannibal Lecter.
He's not undecipherable like Michael Myers.
There are certain similarities with Henry, Portrait of a serial killer in terms of many of the chosen victims being sex workers and the coldness of the killings, but the characters are not particularly similar. I think perhaps the most workable comparative killer from films would be a mixture of Benny from Michael Haneke's Benny's Video and the guy in the French sleeper hit Man Bites Dog, which is shot like a documentary following a serial killer around as he explains what and how he does his grisly work, alot of the time with a smile on his face.
Other than the performances, the film has lots of strengths. One is an uncanny nack of painting it's place and time so effectively. Sequences of action take place in a maze of alleys and buildings, known as the Mangwon District, and although we do feel enclosed, we do not feel lost. In a way this trait is extrapolated throughout the plot, which can be labyrinthine, but the steady hand of the director keeps us hooked and gives us enough to have a grasp on the dynamics at play.
Talking of the direction, another strength is the economy of the story telling. Single shots/frames give us important details, allowing so much to happen in a short amount of time, helped by exceptional editing, keeping us on the back foot trying to keep up, adding suspense. There is little time wasted showing every step of an event, for instance; a man is trying a set of keys in a door to find the right one, eventually a key fits (we see in close-up), and immediately it cuts to the resulting rush for his partner to get to the address, then they are in, within seconds. Also, things are left to the imagination which, as I have said in previous reviews, keeps the mind working to keep story engagement and character empathy up.
There are lots of special filmmaking moments (the foot chase sequences alone are superbly filmed) it's the more quiet and sombre ones that can resonate strongest. For an extreme suspense thriller, I find it uncommonly emotionally affecting, with moments that hit harder because we know what we do. The little girl believes her mother to have been murdered, we see her crying in a moving car from the outside. We can't hear her, and the rain on the windscreen is distorting the image so it's not clear, but I still felt it truly. Also we hear the victim's final voicemail message to her pimp - the chaser, confessing to him her fear of the job, which is difficult to listen to. Although fictional, it makes you imagine it happening in real life to real people, which is of course the essence of empathy.
As with alot of great thrillers, it plays with our expectations of the norms by having the latest victim survive the initial attack, escape her confines and find sanctuary - all of which is usual fare as of course the audience is rooting for her - only to be coincidentally found by the killer and unceremoniously beaten to death with a hammer moments before the police arrive. We assume of course she will make it out, even when the final attack is about to happen, we know the police are around the corner, about to burst in, so expect them to save her at the last minute, but no.
This says alot about the overall tone. It is brutal, savage and uncompromising with outbursts of violence and abuse. Although there is not much in the way of actual harm shown, it is suggested so competently that your mind's eye more than fills in the gaps. In a way, it is a fairly simple film but if done well, all of this can be something to behold and joyful in a macabre kind of way, and this achieves that. It embraces the darkness, doesn't reel away or protect us from it. Something that the South Korens do exceedingly well, It's hard to imagine how this would have been made as well in the Western world. The pacing is also very interesting, the plot shifts along but takes it's time when necessary, especially with the violence, to keep it stuck in your head. There is a political sub plot and some police procedural stuff that isn't quite as high quality as the main meat of the story, but still it does add to the story overall, so is deserving of it's place in the script.
Chaser put me in mind of Silence of the Lambs in terms of the tension building and there is lots of similarities of the feel with the wonderful Vengeance Trilogy, all with something of the mindworm quality of a Se7en or The Shining. It is a masterfully crafted, superbly controlled suspense thriller that everyone should see, if you can stomach it of course.
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