The film is said to be a metaphor for the social reality of South Korea, and there are a lot of religious metaphors mainly Christian, such as The beginning is quoted from the text of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible. In the play, Qian Yuxi throws stones, wears white clothes, and croaks three times. But what is not mentioned in almost all the film reviews are various metaphors about Korean shamanism (actually a local shamanism that combines Taoism and Buddhist beliefs).
1. The earliest information about witchcraft was found by police officer Guo Duyuan on the pillar in front of the victim's door, which looked like a skeleton, and later found it in other victims' homes. It is generally believed that it may be some kind of barrier set up by Qian Yuxi to block evil things. However, it may also be related to Guomura Falcon and Huang Zhengmin.
2. Shortly after the murder, there were rumors of Japanese stories in the village. The hunter and Guo Duyuan saw the scene of the Japanese smearing blood on their faces and eating raw animal meat naked. As the plot suggests, this means that the Japanese are actually some kind of ghost. As Qian Yuxi said, it is to suck blood. However, if you understand the animistic beliefs of shamanism, you will know that in order to obtain the "spiritual power" of nature, shamans also take bloody sacrifices, drink blood, and eat raw animal hearts and livers. Similar to the blood on the face of Guocun Falcon, Huang Zhengmin also painted his face with blood when he held a witchcraft ceremony for Guo Duyuan's daughter (this is probably also a hint of the relationship between Huang Zhengmin and Guocun Falcon).
3. When the two policemen entered the residence of the Guocun Falcon, one of them witnessed the witch altar of the Guocun Falcon. With candles, black sheep heads, photos. The meaning of the black sheep's head in the movie is of course related to the Christian demon Satan, but cutting off the black sheep's head to engage in witchcraft rituals is actually a combination of the East and the West. Take pictures everywhere.
4. Guo Duyuan's daughter changed, and finally asked Huang Zhengmin for help. At this time, the film also shows the rituals on both sides of Guocun Hayabusa and Huang Zhengmin: before Guomura Hayabusa did the practice, he bathed in a waterfall, and then set up an altar and worshipped at his residence, and surrounded Park Chunbae's body with candles (I am the most fond of the whole movie. I want to complain, where did the country village falcon come from so many big candles... It's strange enough for a Japanese to buy candles in the village every day with a big bag... I guess Huang Zhengmin supplied them?), I went to the market and bought a bunch of them. Black chicken (the second slot, where can there be so many black chickens in a vegetable market in a village... It's not easy for the country village falcon), this time, there are also photos of two unidentified Japanese men and women enshrined on the jar. Considering that the setting of Kunimura Hayabusa is a character in the period when Japan occupied Korea, the photo characters he enshrines may be older. I guess it is the founder of emerging religions in Japan before and after the Meiji period, or the famous people of Shugendo or the shrine gods at that time. The country village falcon passed on white clothes, beat drums, and chanted mantras. I don't know much about Korean shamanism. Generally, shamans play drums and gongs with special meanings, but it is doubtful whether Japanese Shintoism and Shugendo, which have been closely integrated with Buddhism, have such rituals. I personally suspect that Kunimura Hayabusa's practice is still witchcraft from Korea.
Huang Zhengmin's witchcraft rituals include lighting fires, killing chickens, sheep, cutting stakes, and nailing stakes. Obviously a curse ritual. In the movie, it's easy to think he's targeting Hayabusa Kunimura, and it doesn't turn around until the end of the movie. In the interview with the director, it was confirmed that Huang Zhengmin and Kunimura Hayabusa were actually in a cooperative relationship, and it was confirmed that his witchcraft curse ceremony was actually aimed at Xiaozhen.
5. There are also traces of witchcraft rituals in Pu Chunpei's house.
6. When the hunter took the police up the mountain, he passed a big tree covered with cloth strips, which should be some kind of community tree.
Another list of things I don't quite understand in the movie:
1. Qian Yuxi played almost no role in the early days. Whether it helps other victims is not obvious in the movie. She appeared wearing the victim's clothes, which seemed to suggest that she had been in contact with those people.
2. Qian Yuxi told Guo Duyuan that she set a trap. Judging from her previous behavior of driving Huang Zhengmin away, the trap should not be a lie, but the actual purpose of the three rooster crows is unclear. Even if the police rushed home, they were powerless to prevent the killing of his wife and mother. And what Qian Yuxi's trap looks like and what effect it will have is not known at all.
3. The origin of Kunimura Hayabusa has not been explained at all. In the interview with the director, it was only vaguely said that there were witches who invited gods but they invited ghosts. This seems to mean that Guocun Falcon was also a wizard back then, but was possessed by a wild ghost, but it may also be that Huang Zhengmin's own lack of Taoism attracted Guocun Falcon.
4. The photos of Japanese people enshrined by Hayabusa Kunimura, his collection of bird paintings, and the erotic palace pictures are of unknown significance. Some people say that he had sexual contact with the victim, which of course makes sense for the female victim, but I clearly remember that there are also male victims... (the picture is too beautiful...)
5. After the hunter met the Kunimura Hayabusa Not sick, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. Because the police had seen the same scene, and the victim was his daughter instead. After the hunter was struck by lightning, his wife kept repeating how she had eaten a lot of game. Does this imply that the hunter is also guilty of gluttony and greed, or does it mean that eating game on the mountain like the Japanese can ward off evil spirits (or be easily struck by lightning)?
6. There are local sacrificial sites and sacred trees near the hunter activities.
Some other controversial points:
1. There are comments that the seven deadly sins may be implied in the movie. I agree with this, but don't think it's a "sin". Lust, appetite, etc. are actually very common ecology, and there is no obvious harm in this small village where the story takes place. The real sin is that after the arrival of Kunimura Hayabusa, various tragedies were catalyzed.
2. Guo Duyuan asked Huang Zhengmin why his daughter became a victim. Huang Zhengmin said "bait bite". The fisherman did not know what kind of fish they would catch, and all they caught were the fish that bit the bait. This echoes the Japanese fishing scene. And Qian Yuxi's answer is because the daughter's father committed a crime. Combined with the words in the director's interview, Luo Hongzhen believes that the interpretation of the world by modern religions is "too perfect", which means that the interpretation of religions in the world is somewhat unacceptable. Huang Zhengmin's answer is a folk view, and Qian Yuxi's answer is similar to a Christian (and somewhat Buddhist) view. But obviously none of them can explain the tragedy of Gucheng Village very well. What made the devil born, what made Huang Zhengmin an accomplice of the devil, and why Qian Yuxi, as a local god or guardian, was so limited, and why the villagers were victimized, there is actually no good answer. This kind of contradiction and chaos can further highlight the sense of tragedy and powerlessness of the whole story.
3. In the movie, the related characters of Christianity are not only the soy sauce, but also the mud. The priest said that you can't prove that people are ghosts. You think too much. If you don't believe it, you will either find a doctor or a wizard, and see you. There's no difference between that and nothing.... In fact, there is a story of Jesus exorcising demons in the New Testament, and the performance of the country village falcon and the victims in the village is similar to the so-called demon possession in the Bible. However, the Christians involved in the whole story are neither qualified nor conscious of exorcism. The deputy priest ran to Kunimura Hayabusa in fear and doubt, and he was still carrying a sickle (not a cross!)
Throughout the movie, Kunimura Hayabusa's performance was very good. In Japanese dramas, such as Honey and Strange Doctor Dolittle, Guomura Falcon acts as a kind of indifference, deep-seated parents whose joy and anger are indistinguishable, conservative and gloomy. In the movie, although his expression is the same, he can reflect an evil atmosphere in many places. Throughout the movie, he never smiled, except when he finally incarnated as a demon, he showed an evil smile.
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