CriterionCast

Fantastic Fest 2010 Preview: Jang Cheol-So’s Bedevilled

September will see an onslaught of film festivals screening across the world, but Austin’s own Fantastic Fest, will certainly be the one I’m most disappointed at myself for not being able to attend. While it would certainly be a treat to go to the New York, Venice, or Toronto film festivals, the films screening at Fantastic Fest, and some of the once in a lifetime events that I’ve heard rumor of, are seriously making me reconsider some of my priorities, and throwing the costs on a credit card.

Last week we brought you the second wave of films that were announced, and while there are still many more to be announced, we figured it was time to start previewing some of these titles more in depth, to give you lovely readers the chance to watch a trailer that you might have otherwise dismissed based on a short plot description.

I’m going to do my best to provide you with two previews per night, over the next few weeks, until the festival begins. Again, while we won’t be able to cover the festival first hand, we will do our best to share trailers, news, and maybe bring a special guest or two on the podcast, to discuss what will be screening, and any special Criterion Collection related events that may be happening.

First up in our series of Fantastic Fest previews is Jang Cheol-so’s South Korean film, Bedevilled.

From AsianMediaWiki:

In a small village on a remote island, seven people spread among five families are murdered. Kim Bok-nam (Seo Yeong-Hie) is a resident in the village, a girl with innocent looks but with a dark side as well. Bok-Nam tries to runaway from the island where she finds the residents to be cruel, but cannot escape. Tragedy soon awaits for Bok-Nam …

While there aren’t any screening times or dates announced yet on Fantastic Fest’s B-Side scheduling page, you will certainly want to keep your eyes out for this one. Over the past decade, South Korea has seen an incredible amount of love from the American film critics, and from the looks of this trailer, Bedevilled looks to be just as intense, as those that have come before it.

There will certainly be some higher profile films screening at Fantastic Fest this year, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my limited time here in the film blogging/podcasting world, is to really take advantage of those films that are unlikely to see a domestic release theatrically. So when you see Bedevilled on your schedule, make sure to highlight it.

If you are in the Austin area, or are able to make it to the festival, be sure to order your tickets as early as possible. At the time of writing, the complete Film and VIP badges are sold out, but you can still pick up “2nd Half” and Daytime-Only badges. When you look at all that you’ll get with these tickets, you’ll soon realize that the cost of these tickets is cheaper than actually going to regular films in theaters right now. Don’t hesitate, head over to FantasticFest.com for all the info.




Ryan Gallagher

Ryan is the Editor-In-Chief / Founder of CriterionCast.com, and the host / co-founder / producer of the various podcasts here on the site. You can find his website at RyanGallagher.org, follow him on Twitter (@RyanGallagher), or send him an email: [email protected].