After helming gritty crime thrillers New World (2013) and V.I.P (2017), director Park Hoon-jung unexpectedly changes tact with Sci-fi action thriller The Witch Part 1.The Subversion (2018). As the long winded title suggests, this is the first part in a planned trilogy, with the series getting off to an enjoyable but not entirely successful start.
The film opens with main character Ja-Yoon as a young child, escaping from a government laboratory after a particularly violent incident, one we only are shown the aftermath of. During this time we are introduced to the main villains, Dr Baek (Jo Min-su) and Mr Choi (Park Hee-soon), who are searching for the child.
After her escape, Ja-Yoon is found by an older couple, who eventually adopt her. The film then flashes forward ten years, with Ja- Yoon now played by Kim Da-mi. Ja-Yoon has become an intelligent high school student with no memory of her past. As well as attending school, she helps out with the families struggling farm. With bills mounting up, her friend talks her into taking part in a TV talent show, where the top prize will help her family.
During her television appearance, she gives the studio audience a taste of her special abilities, although the viewer isn’t shown what these actually are at this point. During this point, Ja-Yoon is shown to be suffering from extreme headaches which lead to nosebleeds. We later find out that these headaches are life threatening, with the only cure coming from her biological parents.
It is not long after her television appearance that Ya-Joon is confronted by a number of strange people, most notably Nobleman (Choi Woo-shik). It appears that Nobleman knows Ja-Yoon from her past, although she apparently has no memory of him. It is only a matter of time before Dr Baek sends Nobleman and the rest of his team to apprehend Ja-Yoon, with this leading to increasingly violent results.
Considering his work on bleak crime thrillers I Saw the Devil (2010) and The Unjust (2010) as well as his own directorial output, The Witch Part 1.The Subversion is quite the departure for Park Hoon-jung. Taking place in the sci-fi fantasy genre, The Witch Part 1 is filled with people who have super human abilities. The likes of Ja-Yoon and Nobleman both have superior strength, speed and invulnerability, which come into full force during the action scenes.
With this in mind, there may be expectations that Hoon-jung has made a YA adventure in the vein of The Hunger Games (2012), with him toning down the violence. Surprisingly this is not the case, with The Witch Part 1 being filled with blood and gore, with multiple shootings, stabbings and broken bones. This is the most action heavy of Hoon-jung’s own films, with him showing a clear skill in this area.
Running at just over 2 hours, the majority of the action comes in the second half, with the first focusing more on exposition and character building. Unfortunately, this section of the film isn’t entirely successful, being crammed with too much detail for such as short period of time.
Considering Park Hoon-jung started as a script writer, this is one area of the film I thought would be better developed, as the first half is overstuffed with secret government experiments, amnesia, mystery and a TV talent contest. He is still able to keep these elements interesting, but a longer running time would have helped flesh these out.
In addition we are introduced to one of the most annoying characters I have seen in some time, with supposedly funny sidekick Myung-hee (Go Min-si) being extremely grating. Nothing against the actress, as I assume this is what the director was going for, but you become thankful when everything finally goes to hell, as it is the only thing that makes her quiet.
With the first half of the film taking place mostly in open spaces such as the city and the family farm, the second half is mostly set in the claustrophobic confines of an underground laboratory. This is where the majority of the films action scenes take place. Before this, our only taste of action is a brief skirmish between Ja-Yoon and a group of henchman, which takes place in her farmhouse.
The underground laboratory is the perfect setting for the often violent action scenes, with the cinematography of Lee Teo and Kim Young-ho coming into its own during this section of the film.
Typically for Korean cinema, the action is of an extremely high quality. Action choreographers Park Jung-ryul and Kim Jung-min take full advantage of the characters super human abilities, with their fight scenes often going against the laws of physics. One character even uses their own arm to block bullets hitting their face. Whilst not realistic, the action is hard hitting and one of the major selling points of the movie.
Other than the previously mentioned Go Min-si, Park Hoon-jung is able to get great performances from the rest of the cast. Newcomer Kim Da-mi is spellbinding as the teenage Ja-Yoon. Going from innocent school girl to crazed killing machine, it is hard to believe that this is her first film role. She seems as equally adept with drama as she is with the action scenes. I am expecting great things to come from the young actor.
Choi Woo-shik is suitably smarmy as the cocky Nobleman, proving to be a complete sociopath as the film progresses, with one memorable scene having him break a train passenger’s neck just for accidentally bumping into him. The rest of his team are as equally immoral and bloodthirsty.
Worst of all is the evil Dr Baek, who puts no value on human life as long as it furthers her experiments. Probably most well known in the West for her role in Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta, Jo Min-su is no stranger to controversial material. Dr Baek is probably one of the most despicable human beings she has ever played.
Min-su plays off well against Park Hee-soon as Mr Choi, who believes that Ja-Yoon is far too dangerous to be allowed to live. Choi has clearly been experiment on, but not to the same level as Ja-Yoon and Nobleman. He is clearly bitter about his predicament and perhaps somewhat jealous of their skills over his own. This marks Hee-soon’s third film with director Park Hoon-jung.
Shown in the UK as part of Frightfest, people may have the wrong idea that The Witch Part 1. The Subversion is a horror movie. Whilst there may be some horrific imagery, it is clearly tailored towards the action crowd.
Not as strong a release as the previous years The Villainess (2018), which also featured a female protagonist, The Witch Part 1. The Subversion still has enough well-choreographed action and strange character touches to make it stand out from the crowd.
Rating: 3.5/5
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