H is another of those moody Korean movies that moves at a deliberately slow pace. This measured approach to story-telling can sometimes add to the atmosphere of a strong well-told tale but, in this instance, it simply draws attention to numerous deficiencies in both plot and characterisation.
A couple of mismatched cops investigate a complex case involving a serial killer who targets pregnant women or women connected with abortions in some way. The murders are copies of those carried out by a man ten months earlier who gave himself up and now awaits execution. The cops initially suspect the original killer has hired someone to carry out the killings but, when they have caught the person they believe to be the murderer and the killings continue, a much less straightforward answer becomes apparent.
The Koreans seem to have a thing for slow and thoughtful movies, and there's nothing wrong with that if the storyline is strong, but this film borrows from too many other films most notably Silence of the Lambs and Seven to bolster a fairly thin yet paradoxically complicated plot. Strong on visuals especially some extreme gore there are a number of effective and well-staged scenes in H but it relies too much on a brooding heroine who betrays no emotion, and an excitable hero who would quite frankly be a liability in any police investigation. In fact the pair of them overlook obvious lines of investigation and generally stumble upon clues through luck or by drawing obscure but accurate conclusions from the vaguest of clues. Seung-woo Cheu makes a curiously uncharismatic villain in a role clearly modelled on Hannibal Lecter, and spouts enigmatic mumbo-jumbo about blue skies and an abyss that probably made no sense before its meaning was mangled by the translators responsible for some truly excruciating subtitles. And for all the moody atmospherics from first-time writer/director Jong-hyuk Lee, the film is almost completely devoid of any tension or suspense.
There are many exciting and inventive films coming out of South Korea these days, but unfortunately H isn't one of them. Of course that doesn't mean we won't be seeing an American remake within a year or two
A couple of mismatched cops investigate a complex case involving a serial killer who targets pregnant women or women connected with abortions in some way. The murders are copies of those carried out by a man ten months earlier who gave himself up and now awaits execution. The cops initially suspect the original killer has hired someone to carry out the killings but, when they have caught the person they believe to be the murderer and the killings continue, a much less straightforward answer becomes apparent.
The Koreans seem to have a thing for slow and thoughtful movies, and there's nothing wrong with that if the storyline is strong, but this film borrows from too many other films most notably Silence of the Lambs and Seven to bolster a fairly thin yet paradoxically complicated plot. Strong on visuals especially some extreme gore there are a number of effective and well-staged scenes in H but it relies too much on a brooding heroine who betrays no emotion, and an excitable hero who would quite frankly be a liability in any police investigation. In fact the pair of them overlook obvious lines of investigation and generally stumble upon clues through luck or by drawing obscure but accurate conclusions from the vaguest of clues. Seung-woo Cheu makes a curiously uncharismatic villain in a role clearly modelled on Hannibal Lecter, and spouts enigmatic mumbo-jumbo about blue skies and an abyss that probably made no sense before its meaning was mangled by the translators responsible for some truly excruciating subtitles. And for all the moody atmospherics from first-time writer/director Jong-hyuk Lee, the film is almost completely devoid of any tension or suspense.
There are many exciting and inventive films coming out of South Korea these days, but unfortunately H isn't one of them. Of course that doesn't mean we won't be seeing an American remake within a year or two