It's the question I hope to avoid every time someone asks to interview me, and inevitably, the question always surfaces. "What is it that is special or unique about Korean cinema?" It's a perfectly reasonable thing to ask, and if it were me conducting the interview, I'd probably ask it too.

After the success of his 2008 debut feature film The Chaser, great expectations were put upon director NA Hong-jin’s shoulders as he was quickly urged to follow up on his psychopath action thriller. The film starred HA Jung-woo as a serial killer pursued by KIM Yoon-suk as an ex-cop running a “massage service” who is trying to catch him and save one of his girls.

Without a doubt, Bedevilled is one of the most outstanding Korean films of 2010, let alone the shiniest feature debut of the year. With the film’s winning major awards at PiFan2010 and CinDi festival after its world premiere at Cannes, JANG Cheol-su, a former assistant director of KIM Ki-duk, puts his name on the list of the most notable Korean filmmakers. Here is the in-depth talk with JANG about the film.

The Korean film market has recently experienced a new trend: the abundance of thrillers. This is somewhat of a shift in that thrillers have traditionally been considered a weaker genre when compared to comedies. People attribute this change to the so-called “Chaser Effect.” After the movie The Chaser was a big success at the box office, drawing more than 5 million audience members back in 2008, investors have raised their antennas towards thrillers. This led to the inevitability of theaters being filled with thriller movies with good performances.