The Ultimate Declaration of Lamentation (곡성) (2023)

Welcome to the final explanation ofthe demand🇧🇷 What follows are the essential details ofthe demandanalyzed, calculated, unraveled, deciphered and written for evaluation. What happened? Why is that? We have answers.

And if you're looking for what to watch next, check out our listmovies likethe demand.

Here is the schematic:

the characters

Young Goo

Our main character. Jong-goo is a passive policeman who is forced to take on a more active role after his daughter is possessed by a demon. This mystery sends Jong-goo down a religious and existential rabbit hole.

Mu-myung

The "Woman in White". She claims that the Japanese stranger is an evil spirit that has been terrorizing the town. But Jong-goo doesn't know whether to trust her because he doesn't know who (or what) she is.

japanese foreigner

The man Jong-goo believes is the demon stalking his daughter. This quiet and mysterious stranger lives isolated in the forest. His house is full of ritual implements and images of people.

the shaman

The man who says he can help Jong-goo. The shaman uses rituals to fight the evil spirit that has taken over Hyo-jin. But eventually Jong-goo has to question if the shaman is working with the stranger.

Why is it called The Lament?

The original title of the film isgokseong, oGokseong🇧🇷 It is the name of the South Korean city where the story takes place. And it is a very real place. Director Na Hong-jin spent many of his childhood days in the quiet town, visiting his grandmother who lived there. In interviews, Hong-jin highlighted the sense of "living nature" and spirituality that the area exudes. "For example, if you lie down on the grass and look at the mountain, it looks like it's moving."the demandIt has so many transition shots that focus on the mountains around Gokseong.

Gokseong is not just the name of a city, but the Korean word for "mourn." A noun/verb charged with melancholy, specifically referring to a cry of pain or fear. Thus, the sense of "living nature" felt by Hong-jin is combined with the melancholy of the city's namesake to create a sense of foreboding, foreboding, and fear that fits perfectly into the story.

The international translation ofGokseongtowardsthe demandit lacks the subtlety of the original, ignoring the duality between geography and verb. but in general i thinkthe demandit is successful because it adequately conveys the required worry/feeling/anxiety. Something amazing happens in this movie, and the title prepares you for it.

The role of faith and Christianity

Na Hong-jin revealed the storythe demandafter the death of several people close to him. The deaths were not related. And tragically not for natural reasons. This pile of losses affected him emotionally. The question he always returned to was: "Whyyouthey have to be victimsof all people?”

hong-jinsaidthe playlist, “I already had the answer to 'how'. What she had to find out was "why." So I started meeting and talking with clergy from different faiths, which was the starting point for this film."

you can mirror thisthe demandthrough the fishing metaphor. The shaman tells us that the evil spirit, like a fisherman, simply watches what he catches. No rhyme or reason. But those affected ask themselves: “Why me? Why my family? Why is all this happening? What I can do?

Jong-goo initially deals with the strange deaths from a professional perspective, as a police officer whose job it is to solve murders. But then things get personal: Jong-goo becomes very interested in what's going on with his daughter. We are in a similar place. when we lookthe demand, our perspective is more formal, like that of the spectator. But one day we will go from Jong-goo "the detective" to Jong-goo "the father" and try to understand why something terrible happened to us or someone close to us.

To diethe demandpresents to us is a story impossible to fully explain simply because it denies us the necessary information. It reflects real life. There is a cause and an effect for everything that happens to us. But most of the time we don't know what the cause is. just the effect. It can be as mundane as why you didn't get the job you applied for. All you know is that you were rejected. Maybe it was something you said. Maybe it was something missing from his resume. Maybe you could have done more. But maybe the choice has nothing to do with you. Maybe they always knew who they would hire, but had to interview others for legal reasons. Maybe he graduated from Ohio State University and the interviewer is a fan of the University of Michigan, so they didn't hire him because of a school rivalry unrelated to his grades. You never know. And you can reflect or move on. 99% of the time we keep going.

Given Hong-jin's Christian upbringing, it makes sense that he would turn to religion for answers. It also makes sense to her that the magnitude of the situation would trigger such a crisis that she would seek answers beyond what is familiar. Insidethe demandNeither Christianity, nor the shaman, nor the spirit have the answers. The priest simply tells Jong-goo to trust the doctors, even though the doctors have already failed others. The shaman actively betrays Jong-goo's trust. And no ghost, the woman in white or the stranger, will fully explain itself to anyone.

Hong-jin's speech, “I chose religion because I believed that no major or philosophical school could answer my earlier question [why did your friends have to die]. I am a Christian, and if I had not believed in the God of the Bible from the beginning, I would have told this story very differently. Perhaps you could have answered the question with scientific justification. But I'm not a very devout practitioner like the rest of my family who are involved in missionary work and things like that. Sometimes I agree with concepts and comments that deny the existence of God. When it comes to important decisions, I seek the advice of Buddhist monks in the temples on the mountains and pray there too."

Finally,the demandexamines the complicated nature of belief. Not thatbelief systemhas all the answers. And that sometimes you need to trust something momentary or unknown that challenges your world view. Jong-goo can't do this because he rejects Moo-myung's help because he doesn't know what it is. The deacon believes his faith will protect him when he faces what he suspects is literally the devil, only for the tide to turn rather ominously. One character is not confident enough and the other is too confident. Both Jong-goo and the Deacon end up as Hong-jin dealing with the death of his friends, wondering why it happened, what they could have done differently, etc.

And there is never a good answer to these questions. Some things make direct sense. For example, if you jump into the sea with a bunch of raw meat, you're probably attracted to sharks, and that would explain how and why you got bitten by a shark. But most things are not so obvious. They are simply the byproduct of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not knowing what was going to happen.

That may sound very bleak and demoralizing. It does not have to be like that. Because when you feel like everything is in your power or control, it can be downright exhausting. This perspective can lead you to blame yourself for things you couldn't have changed. You can get stuck in the world of "what if". And if that And if that If you can instead accept that some things are out of our control, like cancer, a car accident, or a robbery, it will be easier for you to find peace, move on, and make the most of it. of the consequences do. You don't have to be the deacon who walks into the devil's den. Or Jong-goo, who destroys his entire family because he just can't be patient.

This is consistent with another statement made by Hong-jin. "One thing I wish to everyone who watches this movie, no matter who they are, is my condolences to those who have disappeared after falling into the world and to those who have been left behind. I sincerely hope this movie buys you some time to express their condolences."

It's a powerful thing, the ability to have sympathy for others. And for yourself, accept that there are some things we can't control and all we can do is pick up the pieces and move on.

What does the introductory passage mean?

the demandbegins with an epigraph. Special:

They were startled and frightened because they thought they saw a ghost. He said to them: "Why are you worried and why do doubts arise in your mind? Look at my hands and feet. I am myself! touch me and you will see; A ghost has no flesh and bones, as you can see I do." .

Lucas 24:37-39

Even to those most familiar with the Bible, this epigraph may seem like something out of a 19th century novel belonging to the same Gothic family asfrankenstein,dracula,Jane Eyre,Or image of Dorian Gray,screw rotation, oThe Phantom of the Opera🇧🇷 It has that scary and terrifying quality to it. This is because they intertwined the etheric and the visceral. It makes you aware of your hands and feet touching someone, your flesh and your blood. But it anchors you in the idea of ​​spirit, an entity that is insubstantial, vaporous, unreal.

That atmosphere of gothic literature is appropriate, as long asthe demandIt is a story full of ghosts, nightmares and séances.

But the inscription takes on even more meaning when you understand its place in the Bible. Luke 22 summarizes the Last Supper, Judas' betrayal of Jesus, Jesus' arrest, and Peter's denial of Jesus. Luke 23 is the crucifixion, death of Jesus, and burial of Jesus. Luke 24 is one of the most important scenes in all of Christianity: the resurrection.

Luke 24 begins with the revelation that the tomb that contained the body of Jesus is now empty. Word spreads that Jesus has come back to life. Only no one saw it. People debate and investigate. Jesus only appears in verse 15. First to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Then to his apostles in Jerusalem. It is his sudden presence that scares her, for it seems that Jesus has materialized in the middle of the room.

Here he shows his hands and feet and mentions that he is not a ghost but flesh and blood. To prove it, he eats grilled fish and honeycomb before anyone else. Jesus continues: “Thus it is written [in the Scriptures]: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations from the beginning in Jerusalem. .”

After completing this mission and blessing the apostles, Jesus ascends to heaven.

Well, how does that apply tothe demand?

First, like the title, the quote is another way to prepare the viewer. This tells us that we are dealing with identity, specifically indecision about the identity of someone or something. Is this person who they say they are? But also, are they even a person?

Think of the Japanese foreigner (Jun Kunimura). They say that he is an evil spirit, a demon, but he seems just as human as everyone else. drive the bus. buy chickens. Practice your photography. As the movie progresses, it can be hard to accept that this seemingly mundane person is an evil spirit that steals the souls of Gokseong residents. is he a ghost or is he the victim of a mistaken identity?

Also consider the dynamic between the shaman Il-gwang (Hwang Jung-min) and the woman in white, Moo-myung (Chun Woo-hee). Each tells our main character, Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won), a different version of what's going on and paints the other as an enemy. According to Il-gwang, the woman in white is an evil spirit. According to the woman, she is good and Il-gwang is a servant of true evil.

As Jong-goo faces an existential and spiritual crisis and tries to decide whom to believe, the stranger finds himself in a cave and is confronted by the Christian deacon Yang I-sam (Kim Do-yoon). The stranger turns into a devil in front of the deacon as he repeats this opening verse: Luke 24:37-39. The deacon sees the stranger as the devil and not as a man because of the deaconYou wantto see that? Does Jong-goo trust the shaman instead of Moo-myung because he trusts humans more than "spirit"?

And that brings us to one of the deepest philosophical questions raised by Luke 24:37-39. Does it matter if Jesus lived again or was a spirit? Either way, it's a miracle. If he were just a spirit, wouldn't the apostles have taken his last words about the Scriptures to heart? Did they not believe what he told them?

What is the dilemma facing Jong-goo? Her faith in what Moo-myung tells her depends on her knowledge of who or what she is.

Jong-goo: What are you? A woman or a ghost?

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Mu-myung: "Why do you ask?"

Jong-goo: "I need to know... if I can trust you."

Moo-myung: "Just believe and your family will be saved."

Jong-goo: "What are you?!"

Moo-myung: "Someone trying to save her daughter. A woman.

It's easier for Jong-goo to believe the shaman and doubt the woman in white because he's more familiar with one than the other. The same thing happened with the disciples and apostles of Jesus. They doubted until Jesus calmed his doubts with food. “Ghosts don't eat, men eat—so Jesus is not a spirit; he he he is human With such evidence, the apostles listened to everything Jesus had to say. Unfortunately, the woman in white doesn't offer Jong-goo the same level of security.

it is not the titlethe demand' is the only reference to the Bible. As you'll see in the following sections, we delve into the connections between Jesus' resurrection, Peter's denial, and Jong-goo's sin.

The resurrection

Withinthe demand, the stranger is an outsider who is slandered, eventually killed, and then brought back to life.

In the Bible, Jesus is a stranger who is slandered, eventually killed, and then resurrected.

Without the opening epigraph, it would be somewhat difficult to make the connection between the stranger and Jesus. Not every movie or book in which a character returns from the dead makes reference to the Bible.

But it's more or less a confirmed connection when a story has an epigraph to a chapter in the Bible that deals specifically with the resurrection of Jesus. Then a character says the exact words that Jesus said after his resurrection. The only way to make it clear is to say directly, "Hey, this movie is about religion and faith."

This brings us to the question, "Why?" Why connect the stranger with Jesus? Isn't Jesus good and the stranger bad?

Na Hong-jin is a practicing Christian. So I don't think she made the connection to be sarcastic or negative or sacrilegious. I think she has more to do with why she did it.the demand-He tried to understand the unnatural deaths of several close friends. And he struggles to understand God's role in such events. Are these things part of God's plan or not? Or are there other forces at play?

By associating Jesus with this character, who may or may not be responsible for people's deaths, Hong-jin restores his sense of spiritual crisis. And that leaves viewers in a similar state. I'm not sure who did what and why.

We'll get back to that shortly.

Peter's denial

Peter's denial of Jesus is the ultimatethe demandThe most relevant biblical passages of . In Luke 22, Jesus has his last supper with his apostles. During the meal, he talks about being dead soon, even proclaiming that "the hand of whoever betrays me is on the table with mine." This causes the other apostles to speculate as to which one of them is the traitor (looking at you, Judas). But it develops who is the better apostle. Jesus is quick to suppress such high-sounding speeches. "The oldest among you should be like the youngest, and the ruler like the servant."

After this discourse, Jesus turns to one apostle in particular: Simon Peter. He says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has sifted you all like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, so that your faith does not fail. And when you return, strengthen your brothers."

This is a bit of a shock to Simon. Hearing that he might leave Jesus. In response, Simon says, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

It's a bold statement. One who hits Jesus with a stern statement: "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." And that is exactly what happens. Jesus is arrested. Someone says that Simon was with Jesus. Simon denies it. "Do not know him." This is repeated two more times. Just after the third denial we are told: "As he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. Then Peter remembered the words the Lord had spoken to him... And he went out and wept bitterly." ". Damned.

the demandis directly related to this sentence. The woman in white asks Jong-goo to wait until the rooster cries three times. If Jong-goo can keep faith with him for so long, he will save the family from him. But fear rules him, like Simon Peter. Simon feared that he would be arrested and tried and sentenced along with Jesus. Which caused the rejection. Fearing that he is placing his faith in the wrong source, Jong-goo is torn between the woman in white and the shaman.

The reference to Peter's denial is one way director Hong-jin blends Christian and Asian mythology to create a world that feels a bit at odds with our expectations and benchmarks. Neither Christian nor Asian mythology overlap. One is not right, the other is not wrong. What is one of the hard things tothe demand, while looking for something that is clear and understandable.

Whether you try to read the film as purely Christian or purely Asian mythology, your search for meaning can lead you to one dead end after another.

So what should I do?

What was Jong-goo's sin?

During Jong-goo's final encounter with Moo-myung, he says, "Let me ask you something. Why the hell is [the stranger] doing this?" It's not enough for Jong-goo to know how to save his daughter, he wants to know why it happened. Why him? Why his daughter?

The Woman in White replies: "Because your father sinned... Your father suspected another. He tried to kill him and finally succeeded.

It doesn't make any sense to Jong-goo since the events are not right. He yells, "My daughter got sick first [implying that the stranger attacked her first]!" Then his anger subsides as he tries to rationalize the paradox. "How could that...? How could that be possible...? How could that be?"

The sin Moo-myung is referring to is when Jong-goo and his team threw the stranger over a railing to his "death". This scene is one of the great points of contention inthe demand🇧🇷 If the stranger is an evil spirit, a demon, the devil, then why is it a sin? If it is a sin, does that mean the stranger was not an evil spirit? Not to mention, it was Moo-myung who chased the stranger into the street. He didn't play a role? Does that mean she's good or bad or what?

Perhaps the best place to start is to take a step back and say, whether or not the stranger is evil, he is still in the form of a man. And killing someone even if you think you have a reason is a sin. After the stranger ended up in Jong-goo's car, Jong-goo had to choose. He could take a high moral stand and help someone because he is in need. Or punish them for thinking they might be mean.

This type of moral test is common in the history of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religions. Does the protagonist remain faithful to the teachings of religion? If so, they will be rewarded. If not, they are ruined. In any case, they are inspirational on what to do and what not to do in a given situation.

With this in mind, we can answer the seeming paradox that baffles poor Jong-goo.

Yes, your daughter got sick first. But that didn't mean she was going to die. The evil spirit from her couldn't kill her right away. Instead, she had to escalate the situation, go through a ritual, corrupt the target. Only then could she feed. This means that it is possible to survive if the family maintains its innocence and faith. Especially when you have a protector like the woman in white who is actively trying to save you.

After committing a sin and "killing" the stranger, Jong-goo lost his moral innocence. He failed the exam.

The paradox also reminds us of Hong-jin's question why his friends of all people had to die. Even if she does get a response, she may be unsatisfactory and do nothing to make her feel better about what happened. In fact, it could leave you even more lost. Seemsthe demandit means that it may not even be worth looking for an answer.

Why couldn't Jong-goo go home?

Jong-goo's sin has tainted him. That's why the woman in white wants to take him away from his family. Because if he manages to maintain a sense of purity in the house, the demon will not be able to kill. The window of opportunity will pass. The evil ritual will fail.

That is becausethe demandShow us the branch at the front door. Just as the shaman and the stranger have totems and objects associated with their rituals, so does Moo-myung. There is no big ceremony for them. No raven hanging upside down. No sacrifice. Just something from nature that carries the spirit of purity and innocence and can drive away the devil.

And that's why when Jong-goo crosses the threshold of your house, he withers. His sin breaks Moo-myung's wards and allows the demon to feast.

Does the evil spirit have a ritual?

It seems that the stranger has a ritual that he must perform in order to kill someone. Under normal circumstances, the ritual goes something like this:

1. Evil Spirit finds a person to curse using an item that belongs to that person.
2. The evil spirit begins to haunt the person.
3. The demon possesses the person and kills him.
4. The evil spirit or shaman takes a photograph of the victims and completes the ritual.

But this process is stopped in Gokseong thanks to the woman in white. She tries to protect the villagers. Which explains why the evil spirit surrounds the shaman: she needs someone to remove the protection of the woman in white.

This is how the process unfolds in Gokseong.

1. Evil spirits find a person to curse.
2. Start chasing the person.
3. The woman in white is trying to protect the person.
4. The ghost increases the intensity of the ghost.
5. The family calls the shaman to try to remove the curse.
6. Instead, the shaman removes the protection of the woman in white.
7. The devil possesses and kills.
8. The spirit/shaman takes a photograph and completes the ritual.

And so the trial for Jong-goo and his daughter Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee) unfolds.

In case you can't see this image, here is the timeline explained in the text:

1. The evil spirit finds Hyo-jin's shoe and curses her.
2. The evil spirit begins to haunt Hyo-jin.
3. The woman in white tries to protect Hyo-jin.
4. Hyo-jin becomes more unpredictable as the ghost intensifies.
5. Jong-goo confronts the stranger and kills the stranger's dog.
6. The evil spirit casts another spell on the house of Jong-goo [the dead goat].
7. The demon possesses Hyo-jin and makes him stab the neighbor, but the ritual isn't over yet.
8. The family calls the shaman to try to eliminate the evil.
9. Instead, the shaman tries to remove the protection of the woman in white.
10. Jong-goo confronts the stranger. In the end, he "kills" him.
11. The shaman goes to Jong-goo's house to prepare to complete the ritual.
12. The woman in white confronts the shaman and drives him away.
13. The woman in white creates more protection.
14. The shaman tries to run away. But the evil spirit forces him to return.
15. Demon possesses Hyo-jin but is unable to act due to the additional protection of the Woman in White.
16. If Jong-goo manages to stay away long enough, the evil ritual will fail and his family will be saved.
17. Jong-goo is not left out. His sin is great enough to nullify the last protections of the Lady in White.
18. The demon goes to work.
19. The shaman appears to be taking photos and ends the ritual.

Why did the shaman say: "The mouse fell into the trap"?

Let's reformulate this line. Instead of "The mouse was caught" we say "The fish took the bait".

Memory,the demandopens with Stranger Fishing. We have a very intense close-up of him hanging a worm from two hooks. This is the bait that he will use to fish.

You've probably heard someone say, "First impressions are important." It is usually true. And the reason why so many filmmakers struggle to make sense of the first shot and scene. They set the stage for the story that follows. Usually these first impressions convey an important aspect of the film. Either the tone, the theme, or both.

The first shot ofthose who leftit shows two random men fighting in the street. Take a look, the main plot ofthose who leftIt's a game of cat and mouse between Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. One of them is a police officer who has infiltrated a criminal organization. The other is part of the criminal organization and has infiltrated the police. The opening scene isn't crucial to the plot or anything. It could be cut and it wouldn't affect the story at all. There is no narrative reason why this photo should be there. So why have? Because, whether they realize it or not, it psychologically prepares the viewer for this confrontation between DiCaprio and Damon.

the demandThat is similar. Remove the opening fishing scene and the story doesn't change. It is not narratively important. The reason you have the scene is that it tells the viewer something about what they are about to see. A man baits a hook. That is all. It's scary. And he maybe he's trying to tell us something, but he can't know what that something is.

Until Il-gwang the shaman explains.

Jong-Goo: Why did it have to be...?

Il-Gwang: Your daughter? What sin did this young woman commit?

Joven Goo: Sim.

Il-Gwang: When you go fishing, do you know what you are going to catch?

Jong Goo: No.

Il-Gwang: Just fish. He doesn't even know what he's going to get. He just cast the hook and his daughter took it. That is all.

Now the opening scene makes more sense, doesn't it? We saw the stranger bait two hooks with a worm. That is exactly what he does in Gokseong. He hooks people up and watch what he catches.

When Jong-goo "kills" the Japanese, we switch to Il-Gwang and say: "The mouse fell into the trap."

With this, Il-Gwang, with his shamanic insights, realizes that Jong-goo has committed a grave sin. This is exactly what the evil spirit wanted. Sin will allow the demon to overcome the protection of the woman in white and complete the murderous ritual of her.

Was the shaman good or did he really work with the stranger?

A deleted scene illustrates this. It shows the stranger at a roadside bus stop. Then Il-gwang stops and the stranger walks in and they leave. As the car disappears into the distance, the woman in white appears on the side of the road and watches as they drive out of Gokseong.

But Hong-jin said that the scene is unnecessary because viewers have already received enough information to understand that Il-Gwang and the Stranger worked together.

More directly, Moo-myung Jong-goo says that the shaman works with the evil spirit.

As if that wasn't enough, the shaman shows up at the crime scene and takes photos of Jong-goo's dead family.

And to top it off, the shaman has all the photos of the stranger in the trunk of his car. You know, the creepy photos taken by stalkers of people who have died. He is very distressing.

The other key piece of evidence is the murder of Park Choon-bae [also spelled Park Chun-bae] (Kil Chang-gyoo). The scene takes place after the shaman has started working with Jong-goo's family. He tells Jong-goo that the man Jong-goo angered is not a man, he was a ghost. We then cut to the police at the scene of another murder. Several people are dead, one of them was even pulled from a well. The policemen look at a photo of the murder and say that her name is "Park Choon-bae".

It may seem like just a reminder that the Stranger is still killing people. But there's more than that. Choon-bae's house looks like there was just a party. There are colored flags and other decorations. drugs Several tables with food and flowers and even a pig. There are carpets with swords on them. Easy to miss at first glance. But you might recognize them as the same things Il-Gwang had in Jong-goo's house.

The implication here is that Il-Gwang has just performed the same session/ritual for someone else. And it didn't work. The demon came anyway and killed everyone. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe it just shows how powerful the evil spirit is. But given what we know about Il-Gwang's relationship with the Stranger, this is further proof that the two work together. That the shaman could actually be part of the ritual that causes the fatal awakening of the demon.

The shaman's plight would be the reason why the stranger prevents him from escaping after the woman in white manages to scare him away. Il-Gwang was so scared that he literally packed up his office and left town. Until that locust swarm (note how biblical that is) swallows your car and makes it impossible for you to drive. It turned out to be just a vision, but a vision intense and significant enough for her to get back in his car and drive back to Gokseong to persuade Jong-goo to complete the evil ritual.

Although you may be wondering what about the exorcism, didn't that kill the stranger?

exorcism

the demandThe haunted death scene (also known as the exorcism) is probably the one that confuses people the most. If the shaman worked on the stranger, then why perform this exorcism that almost seems to kill the stranger? Doesn't that prove that the shaman was really good?

It would be if we weren't fooled.

The reason we think Il-Gwang's death spell damages the stranger is because of the way Hong-jin cuts from one to the other. This leads the viewer to think that Il-Gwang by nailing the wooden figure is hurting the stranger. But what if I say that this does not happen? What if I told you that it was actually only Hong-jin who was trying to confuse us on purpose?

When the shaman does his thing, the stranger finds himself in the middle of a ritual of his own. He bought the chickens. He tied her up. He performed his cascading purification ritual. Then we see him in his fucking shack, he plays the drums and he sings and it's all very intense. Due to the cross sections, it's easy to believe that he's simply trying and failing to counter Il-Gwang's exorcism.

But in reality, the stranger does something completely different. We don't see either Hyo-jin or Jong-goo in his sanctuary. Instead, we see a photo of Park Choon-bae dead in a truck. Whatever the stranger does has to do with Choon-bae's body. We even moved on to the truck and the dozens of candles the stranger lit around it. In the background of the ritual, Choon-bae's body moves. The dead woke up.

Right after Park Choon-bae comes back to life, we see the shaman stabbing the totem pole. Then Hyo-jin cried out in pain. Then back to the stranger he starts convulsing and screaming.the demandhe wants us to believe that stinging the totem hurts Hyo-jin, who in turn hurts the stranger. It is a harmless manipulation intended to increase the eventual surprise that the shaman is evil. What the shaman does really has no effect on the stranger. They are involved in two completely separate rituals.

What the shaman does, as we said before, is remove Moo-myung's protection. That wooden totem that he cuts up and starts stabbing? Is namedjangseung🇧🇷 What does "people's guard" mean? WeatherThe University of Sheffield explained, “Korean totem poles (jangseung) were traditionally used to protect villages from evil spirits…. It was believed that the spirits that could not go to the afterlife were from the village and the gods that transmitted smallpox and other contagious diseases waited for an opportunity to stalk the villagers…. Today there are still many villages that cultivate jangsin and maintain ancestral rituals."

If the shaman tries to break through the protection of the Woman in White, Gokseong's guardian spirit, then of course he will defeat a Jangseung. The Jangseung literally represents the guardian of the village and protects against evil spirits. With this information, Il-gwang's stabbing is also much more terrifying.

To that end, I envision Hyo-jin reacting to the wards on her body that prevent the demon from being fully possessed. That's why she's in so much pain.

So we know what the shaman did. But what did the stranger do?

Why did Park Choon-bae turn into a zombie?

Outsidethe demandFrom the beginning to the exorcism scene, the stranger is always very calm. very stoic He barely responds to Jong-goo's multiple home invasions. Even when Jong-goo kills the stranger's dog. You would think there would be anger or fear or something. But that doesn't bother him.

After the exorcism scene, the stranger is completely upset. He wakes up and seems surprised. He then he runs through the woods, moving so fast that he slips and falls. When he gets to Park Choon-bae's truck, he has fresh blood on his head and face, presumably from a fall and whipping branches. That's how rushed he was to get to the truck.

When he gets there, he opens the door and finds that Park Choon-bae is gone. There is a legitimate shock. The prints go from the car to the house. So the stranger follows. Then the whole confrontation between the zombie Choon-bae and Jong-goo and his team takes place. After that, the guys see the stranger and chase him.

No wonder the stranger is so worried. Jong-goo and his friends are obviously angry and might kill him. But I think that's another clever trick from Hong-jin. He wants us to think that this is just the stranger who finally loses his cool and shows fear. That is humanizing. It's the kind of thing that makes many viewers think the stranger isn't an evil spirit after all. That jong-goo got it all wrong.

But in hindsight after seeingthe demandall the way, you know better. the funny onehe wasan evil spirit. Which only makes this scene more intriguing.

Until you realize Jong-goo isn't chasing the stranger.He's hunting Park Choon-bae.

That's right.

The stranger's ritual was a transmission. Park Choon-bae's soul entered the body of the Japanese boy. While the evil spirit of the Japanese entered Park Choon-bae's body.

Thus, the "stranger" runs straight for Choon-Bae's truck in a complete panic. That's why he's chasing the corpse. That's why he is so afraid of Jong-goo and his team. And that's why he chases the woman in white.

Remember, when we first meet Moo-myung, he is wearing Park Choon-Bae's jacket. We later see this jacket on Choon-bae's dead body. This probably means that Moo-myung was trying to protect Choon-bae from the evil spirit by using his jacket as a lanyard (so we also see her using Hyo-jin's hairpin (i.e. the hotel receptionist's sweater). Restaurant)). Perhaps something happened that caused him to lose possession of the jacket? Or maybe Choon-bae had several (they looked like work jackets). Anyway, we know that the shaman interfered and broke through the protection, allowing the demon to kill the Choon-bae family.

Choon-bae probably recognizes Moo-myung, as does Jong-goo a bit later. Maybe guilt for what happened? Maybe he's upset because he remembers killing his family and he's mad at them? Whatever the exact reason, he goes after her.

That's why it's important that Jong-goo throws the stranger's body off the cliff. Because he was not the evil spirit in the body. It was Park Choon-bae. Therefore it is a sin and the shaman says: "The mouse took the bait."

"OK. That all makes sense. But how does Choon-bae land in the truck?"

Why does The Stranger end up in the truck?

For me, that's the most confusing part of the movie. I wish I had a good answer. We see Stranger-bae walking behind the woman in white. He then he lands in the truck.

Did she throw it away? Did she play her?

The fact that he's playing doesn't make much sense. Because if he wanted to die, why not let Jong-goo and his friends kill him first? Perhaps he has realized that something is wrong and he is actively trying to end his life?

And if Moo-myung threw it away, what does he get? Doesn't that make her an accessory to Jong-goo's sin?

Hong-jin left him completely unanswered from what I could see. There is no deleted scene. There is no interview appointment. There is no speech from a character that explains the event. Or a vague scene that hints at the puzzle.

The main benefit of not showing what happened is that it can cast doubt on the woman in white. This leads Il-Gwang to claim that she is the true evil spirit. When she says that, the first thing many will think of is her position on that cliff and the insecurity they felt for her at that moment. Maybe she deceived the stranger? Maybe she is the bad one?

you needaScene to arouse doubts in the viewer. We have Park Choon-bae's body swapping for the same reason: he casts doubt on the stranger's guilt. And questioning the innocence of the woman in white in the same scene can seem like a big revelation. "The stranger was good! Moo-myung is really bad! What will happen next!?"the demandit truly is a masterpiece in manipulating viewer expectations.

But I wish this particular manipulation was a bit less clunky.

Who were the women who visited the shaman?

As Jong-goo is about to cast Park Choon-bae's version of the Cliff Stranger, we see the shaman meeting two women. One older, one younger. The younger woman looks distraught and has the same rash as the other victims of the stranger. This is likely to be assumed to be a business inquiry. That the women want to hire the shaman to save them from this evil.

In fact, we saw the younger woman at the beginning.the demand🇧🇷 Approximately 45 minutes later, the scene where the hunter is struck by lightning and Jong-goo watches the first assassin, Heung-gook (Jeong Mi-nam), die in the hospital after terrible convulsions. Jong-goo and his partner Oh Seong-bok (Son Gang-guk) go to a local restaurant to relax. They notice a woman across the room, the waitress, drinking with some of the other customers. The telltale red rash on her neck.

We won't see her again until she and her mother visit the shaman. But we see Moo-myung wearing her hostess sweater during her final confrontation with Jong-goo. The sweater is among the items that belonged to the woman in white, along with Park Choon-bae's jacket and Hyo-jin's hairpin.

This seems to confirm that some kind of physical element is needed to bind a spirit to another person. The stranger needs an item to cast the curse on him. While Moo-myung needs it to protect against the curse. Unfortunately, Jong-goo realizes that the sweater belongs to the hostess just after noticing Hyo-jin's hairpin on the floor where Moo-myung was standing. Then his mind wanders to Park Choon-bae's jacket. He thinks he put 2 and 2 together, but inadvertently misinterprets the situation. Moo-myung can tell what he is thinking or knows what he is thinking because he says, "It's not that."

So the hostess does not play a big role. But her presence is important as she helps Jong-goo out of his indecision as she tries to decide between Moo-myung and Il-gwang.

Do they have something to do with mushrooms?

The mushrooms are the first theory the police have about what's going on. That's because the first assassin, Heung-gook, had fungus on his body. The official theory is that someone is poisoning people with a mushroom tonic. The conclusion to this subplot is a news report stating that a suspect has been arrested.

In our opinion, this is a red herring. We should know there's something much more intense going on than a mushroom tonic. But the inclusion of that subplot reinforces the idea that people are struggling to get answers. And that we can often blame the wrong people. Whoever the police arrested couldn't have killed them all. It is a moment of injustice without pretensions. Another example of people getting scared and blaming someone.

What I'm sure has to do with Hong-jin's attempt to come to terms with the death of his friends. She wanted to blame someone or something. “You died for that person, or that decision, or that event.” But you can see how tedious it can be to come to such conclusions. Maybe the person with the mushroom tonic was at fault for something? But they certainly weren't guilty of those murders. Which makes them yet another victim and shows how ignorant not only individuals but also society can be when trying to figure things out.

Was Jong-goo's family dead before he left the woman in white?

This is an interesting point. It doesn't take long for Jong-goo to walk from the front entrance of his house, through the backyard, to the house and kitchen. The demon had already attacked. Everything is chaos and blood. The wife and mother-in-law, both red cluster.

I'm sure there will be viewers who will question it. The Woman in White told Jong-goo that if she waited three times for the rooster to call, she would save the family from him and catch the demon. With this information, it's safe to assume that the possessed version of Hyo-jin was unable to act until Jong-goo crossed the threshold and broke through the barriers. So why is everyone already dead when Jong-goo gets home?

I see two ways to interpret this. A simple one. a complicated one.

The simple interpretation is that Hong-jin made a creative decision for dramatic effect, hoping that people wouldn't notice the timing problem. There's no more. If the demon version of Hyo-jin attacked when Jong-goo returned home, the scene may come into play. Jong-goo waits outside while he listens to the death of his wife and mother-in-law? Is he running and trying to stop you? No scenario is better or worse. They are just completely different energies. Hong-jin's chosen version is much more reflective and allows Jong-goo to process what happened and sell his reaction. He feels more like someone has to face the consequences of his actions than after a final showdown.

The complicated interpretation brings us back to the role of the woman in white. She said that Jong-goo could save her family, but her family was already dead when the rooster started to crow. This means that she never intended to save Jong-goo's family. There? Maybe she was bad too? Perhaps she cared more about catching the demon than saving people, which Jong-goo's family justified as collateral damage? That would fit the fishing metaphor, right? She used Jong-goo's family as bait.

If Moo-myung was really bad, we felt like we wouldn't see her so upset after Jong-goo ran away. It seems your pain is real. This could be a headache for Jong-goo's family. It could also just be his frustration at almost only ruining Jong-goo's demon, knowing that it means others will die.

Personally, I tend to be more of a creative go-to for dramatic effects. I think Moo-myung was more representative of a guardian spirit than an evil one. If she was bad too, that would meanthe demandthere was no hope at all. Jong-goo would have been damned if he decided to trust the shaman and damned if he decided to trust Mu-myung. Which could work if you want to make a truly nihilistic statement about the world. But I don't think that's the reasonthe demandto think. Meetingthe demandwants to convey how difficult it can be to trust someone or something you don't understand. Instead of saying that it doesn't matter where you place your beliefs, you are wrong. It's a dark movie, but not that dark.

Main theme of The Lamentations

In general, we watch a movie that deals with the randomness of death and how we humans react to it. Who do we blame? What are we going to do? How much control do we really have over what is happening?

And all this is related to faith. In whom and what do you believe? Especially in these situations. Do you believe in religion? A town guard? With a shaman? Do you trust the doctors and the police? Do you believe the rumors you hear from people you know? Do you trust someone outside of the community? And is it possible to have too much faith? Check out the deacon going to the devil's den at the end.

as defeated asthe demandYou can feel, from the title to the fate of the main characters, that there is a silver lining. Even though the evil entity is targeting the humans randomly, there is a good entity trying to save the humans. Good doesn't always win, but it can. the sick are better. Someone who has been in an accident survives by moving an inch to the left at the last minute. Driving to the movies may seem boring to you, but your safe trip could be the result of many things happening for you, not against you.

So while so many terrible things are happeningthe demand, I think somehow hopeful? Because it seems to say that many times our destiny is not in our hands. All we can really do is live our best life and let the outsiders and the Moo-myungs of the world fight. What they are doing is beyond our ability to figure out. Instead of feeling powerless about it, let's support each other, honor each other, show compassion for each other, and make the most of being a small fish in a big pond.

What do you think now?

Do we understand correctly? that we have lost

Let us know in the comments below! And don't forget to visit ours.movie recommendations likethe demand.