South Korean Film 2019
Svaha: The Sixth Finger (South Korean Film Review & Summary)
Svaha: The Sixth Finger poster
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, Fantasy
- Release Date: 2019
- Origin: South Korea
- Film: 122 min
Cast
- Lee Jung-jae as Pastor Park
- Park Jung-min as Na-han
- Lee Jae-in as Geum-hwa
- Jung Jin-young as Chief Hwang
- Lee David as Joseph
- Jin Seon-kyu as Monk Hae-an
- Ji Seung-hyun as Kim Cheol-jin
- Min Tanaka as Nechung Tenpa
- Cha Sun-bae as Manager monk
- Hwang Jung-min as Deaconess Sim
- Lee Hang-na as Park Eun-hye
- Jung Dong-hwan as Kim Je-seok
- Moon Chang-gil as Geum-hwa’s grandfather
- Lee Joo-sil as Geum-hwa’s mother
- Cha Rae-hyung as Detective Jo
- Oh Yoon-hong as Bodhisattva Yeon-hwa
- Kim Hong-pa as Prison governor
- Kim Geum-soon as Jecheon shaman
- Park Ji-hwan as Jang-seok
- Kim So-sook as Cheol-jin’s mother
- Kwon Gwi-bin as Na-han’s mother
- Moon Sook as Myung-hee
- Lee Dae-hyeon as Dr. Noh
- Bae Hae-sun as Autopsy doctor
- Yoon Kyung-ho as Cattle shed owner
- Jung Seo-in as Cattle shed owner’s wife
- Baek Seung-chul as Geum-hwa’s father
- Lee Sang-woo as Head monk
Reviewer & synopsis by P. Morton
Jean & I watched this movie yesterday evening. I found it very interesting & enjoyable. I had to follow the good subtitles carefully as a very ‘busy’ movie with lots going on. I liked the fusion of Christian & Buddhist theologies. The Christian cult busting pastor who has a good friend and advisor who is a senior Buddhist monk. The pastor with his deaconess & an undercover ‘agent’ mentee search out & investigate various cults with the aim to expose dubious or dangerous ones. He and his team were investigating a new Buddhist cult named Deer Garden, which appears as they got deeper into the investigation appeared to worship four ‘generals’ who were known as kings ruling areas the four cardinal points, North South East & West. These kings were former evil demons who when moved out of India served the Buddha and routed out evil knowing what to look for. Separately the police are investigating the killings of young teenage girls. Some years before, in a reformatory prison, there were four young men who had killed in circumstances that were regarded by authorities with a certain amount of reasonable justification due to abuse, violence etc. The powerful patron of the prison, who was a very senior Buddhist monk, believed born with 6 fingers on each hand, selected these four young men to be the next representative kings, to root out evil in this age. The monk set up an organisation and he trained these young men & other acolytes. The monk was so revered that it was understood he ascended to Buddhahood.
Parallel to this plotline & coming at the beginning of the movie, in a remote village, a baby girl to be named Geumhwa and her twin sister are born. Geumhwa’s twin is believed by the family to be a demon & while they are still in their mother’s womb, the ‘demon’ deformed twin savagely bites Geumha’s leg shortly before their birth/ This leaves Geumha with permanent deep warms and scars on her leg. After the birth in which the mother dies, it is expected that the demon girl twin will not survive & it is hidden away on the farm in a shed surrounded by fierce dogs and wire fencing. The father dies mysteriously & so the grandparents bring up the girls. Geumhwa seems terrified of ther sibling as are the grandparents, especially the grandmother asking for forgiveness from the gods because of it. They feed the child with basic food & she (it) survives to grow up with Geumha. Shamans who hear of the child try to exercise it but the girl can control snakes to scare them off. The girl appears to be feral, covered with hair, and has claw-like hands and sharp teeth. Both girls are now nearing puberty.
Meanwhile, the Pastor & his team find links between the murdered girls who are also near puberty and records who they were all born in a certain year & date, the same as Geumha & her sister. The Pastor tries to convince the senior police officer investigating the murders that there could be linked with these four generals and the cult.