Critical Essay Sample of the Movie The Wailing

Critical analysis essay example

The Wailing is an epic Korean horror movie directed by Hong-Jin Na. The film director has made great use of various literally elements such as sound, foreshadowing, color and themes to make the film interesting and to create the mood of specific scenes throughout the movie. As the film starts, it is introduced by a quiet instrumental music. This music accompanies a man who is shot sitting on his boat at the edge of a river. This instrumental music sound lasts for some minutes where we see the man sit on his boat from the wee hours of the night till dawn when the sun comes out and the audience can now see the beauty of the surrounding. The sound helps the audience to know that the man will have a significant role to play in the film and that he might have something to do with the events that will follow later as the movie progresses.

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Just as the officer approaches a place packed with many police cars, the director changes the pitch tone of the instrumental music which had just started. He intentionally changes the pitch of the sound making it fast, louder and fast to make the audience tense. The sound tells the audience that something horror, disturbing or bad is going to happen. As the police officers talk in loud voices as they move down the cliff to the village where crime seems to have taken place, the audience cannot fail to wonder what might have happened. The wailing sounds of the villagers and the scenes of dead bodies and men covered in mud, blood and wet cloths confirm that indeed something horrible had just taken place.

Critical essay example

The use of lots of voices has been used throughout this film. For instances in the scenes where the town folks are infected with the unknown disease, and some are dying or have died already, there are all sorts of voices. These include voices of the officers as they take the bodies away, calm the infected and affected people, securing the "crime scene" and discussing on what do. Other voices include the voices of the town folks as they wail, cry, mourn and talk in loud voices after losing their loved ones. Lots of voices have been used in this film to reflect fear, tension, and panic in the town. The film is filled with scenes of confusion, horror, and dismay (Warren 50). The police officers, residents and killers cause a lot of confusion especially in the scenes where an attack, murder of homicide happens and the police and citizens have to get together to rescue the people and arrest the suspects. The directors of this film have successfully selected the tone of voice to suit well in various parts and scenes to create different effects as needed. For instance in the scene where Jong-Gu (the main character and police officer) hallucinates about seeing a man hunting in the forest and almost being attacked by a naked strange looking man, the directors used high pitched voice. Pitched voices/ sounds were made by the man being attacked to show fear and intimidation while the attacker used deep tone voice which symbolizes bullying and overpowering.

Throughout the film, there is also the use of different sound effects. This help creates the mood of scenes as well as make the audiences understand what is happening or be carried away in the emotions brought by the film and different scenes. For instance, there is the use of echoed voices especially in two scenes where police officers think they have seen a strange looking woman across the office window. The police are going on with their regular daily chores of investigating what is happening in the village when suddenly creepily echoed sound is heard, and the police become scared that they might have seen a dangerous woman outside the window. The sounds of birds, police vehicle sirens, thunderstorms and heavy rain are prominent throughout the film, and they all have dreadfulness type connotations (Warren 49). They heighten the audiences' emotions, senses, and mood towards the events happening in various scenes thus creating a ghostly feel which is present in most parts of the film.

Critical response essay

The film is colored, but a few scenes are done in black to create a different meaning and to show the audience that something extraordinary, scary or disturbing is happening or about to happen. For instance, when Jong-Gu wakes up, there is an image of dead goats in black color to show that bad things are about to happen. The color of the film also changes depending on the time of the day that the film wants to show. At night, the color is darker compared to the daytime when the color tone is bright. The change in the color one helps bring the mood of the film.

The literary device of foreshadowing has also been used in this film to indicate things that will happen in the future or are just about to happen. The scene of the dead goats is an indication of the death of people in the town. Jong-Gu's hallucination of a man attacking him in the forest is a sign that his daughter will be infected with the deadly disease. The night before the police officers and town people found a dead woman hanging on a tree Jong-Gu had foreshadowed this event by thinking that he had seen that woman through the window. Foreshadowing has been used several times throughout this film to arouse the audience. The film has several themes, and the two most important ones are contradictions of belief and disbelief and evil versus justice. The townsfolk are faced with disbelief because they have never witnessed anything close to what they experience in this film.

In a nutshell, the movie uses nearly all the aspects that are needed in a good movie. The use of different colors, sounds, foreshadowing and music help to convey the different themes of the movie. The different styles also help to ensure that the moving is interesting to the viewers to ensure that people do not switch off their minds when watching the movie. The concentration of the viewers is needed to ensure that the intended themes are understood by the viewers.

Works cited

Warren, Alan. This Is a Thriller: An Episode Guide, History, and Analysis of the Classic 1960s Television Series. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2004. Print.