SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE First film of Park Chan-wook's 'revenge' trilogy is released in the USA after the recent success of "Oldboy"! 2-1/2 stars (1st view) Co-written & directed by Park Chan-wook Co-writers: Lee Yong-jong, Lee Jae-soon, & Lee Mu-yeong [2005 USA release/Tartan USA] Characters/Cast Park Dong-jin - Song Kang-ho Ryu - Shin Ha-gyun Cha Yeong-mi (Ryu's girlfriend) - Bae Du-na Ryu's Sister - Im Ji-eun Yu-sun - Han Bo-bae Chief of Staff - Kim Se-dong Choe - Lee Dae-yeon [Boksuneun Naeui Geos/(2002)South Korea/Rated R] - (2 hrs. 9 min.) Review: At a festival screening of Park Chan-wook's SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, which followed the opening night NYC premiere of OLD BOY, the reverse-chronology proved to be slightly disappointing. Not because the two stories are connected beyond the theme of revenge, but due to the over-hyped advance reviews comparing this Park Chan-wook's trilogy opener with various Takashi Miike bloodletting operas which created expectations that weren't met ... until the last reel of the film. Another odd element in this film is having a deaf & dumb main character who might have been more effectively used with a lot more 'silent' POV shots to get the audience inside his head. That said, this film did have some really nice moments of the non-violent variety including the cutest little kidnap victim to grace the big screen. The interactions between the main characters and the kidnapped little girl before and ... **SPOILER ALERT** ... after her tragic death were marvelous to watch. The dual revenge plot which proved much deeper and more effective in OLD BOY did not work for me in this film since it occurred so late in the overall plot. The 'millionaire' character was not developed and ... well ... where he did he learn to be such an expert torturer? It seemed to me that director Park Chan-wook relied too much on an overabundance of knives (and scalpels) cutting into rubber-looking flesh to create shock moments early in the film, when they weren't really necessary nor very realistic. Overall, worth a look for 'trilogy'-completists but extremely low-key and no 'Takashi Miike' style violence till the last act, though it's more brutal than over-the-top funny, so don't go in expecting a gore-fest right from the top. I think this is one of those cases where I was mislead by the program synopsis and my expectations were let down. You've been warned, be patient if you want to enjoy this one in full. Now I'll have to see it again ... damn over-hyping critics (see blurb below). Film Comment's Travis Crawford: "Park Chan-wook's remarkable thriller Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was easily the highlight within the Korean program at Toronto International Film Festival 2002, a visually bold widescreen schlockfest that unfolds like a hardboiled Takeshi Miike fusion of Raymond Chandler and 'The Virgin Spring'. Almost comic in escalating brutality, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is strangely affecting as an exploration of grief and suffering." - Film Comment, Nov/Dec 02. [A Tartan Films release] Festival Website synopsis: RYU (SHIN Ha-kyun), a young factory worker, has recently quit art school in order to look after his sister, who is dying a slow, agonizing death for want of a kidney. When a doctor tells Ryu that he is an unsuitable donor and that the chances of finding one is slim, Ryu turns to the black market. But the old lady who runs an underground organ ring cheats him, taking both his life savings and his kidney and leaving him without the kidney she promised in exchange. Ryu’s girlfriend, a Raggedy-Ann leftist named YOUNGMI (BAE Doona), urges Ryu to kidnap the four-year-old daughter of industrialist owner PARK DONG-JIN (SONG Kang-ho). Dong-jin’s deep grief quickly turns to rage and he embarks on an implacable quest for vengeance. At the same time, Ryu goes after the organ traders, knowing that if they had come through, none of the tragic occurrences would ever have happened. LADY VENGEANCE Director Park Chan-wook ends his revenge trilogy on a philosophical note, but keeps the viewer engaged with stunning visuals and a great leading lady! 3-1/2 stars (out of 4) [Chinjeolhan Geum-Ja-Ssi/(2005)South Korea] - (1 hr. 54 min.) [In Korean (subtitled) / USA distrib: Tartan-USA] Co-written & directed by Park Chan-wook Co-writer: Jeong Seo-gyeong Starring: Lee Yeong-ae as 'Lee Geum-ja' (title character) Review: Well, Park Chan-wook's so-called 'revenge trilogy' is complete, but the third installment doesn't necessarily end with a bang. If you like gutwrenching drama, then "Oldboy" is still the best of the three, but if you want to watch the Korean director's progress as a visual (and aural) artist then this film is a gorgeous treat. Anyone who took in Wong Kar-wai's "2046" on the big screen this past year can attest to the visual beauty of the widescreen lensing in the right hands, and director Park Chan-wook reaffirms Korea's place as a crowd-pleasing, genre-pic industry with a strong potential for creative, visually satisfying cinema that fulfulls the tenets of both art and commerce. Basic plotline involves the title character being released from prison and then devising a plan to seek revenge on all of her former tormentors. She has strategically placed ex-inmates of where she was imprisoned in proximity to each victim. In this way she already has the inside info and can go for the kill in short order. Or so she thinks ... I don't want to spoil the plotline although it is far simpler than his previous two revenge opuses. Fans of "Oldboy" will also be happy to see actor Choi Min-shik is back for more torture and humiliation. Also, cinematographer Jeong Jeong-hun takes the work he started in "Oldboy" up to the next level and creates the most powerful images of the trilogy so far. In addition to the visual beauty, you definitely want to keep your ears wide open as the layered soundtrack makes use sound effects, dialogue, and music cues to link the flashbacks that the director is famous for. I could go on and on suffice to say this one will be well worth repeated viewing, though you need to see it at least once ON THE BIG SCREEN! This is a revenge-genre film for the ages, check it out!!! [Note: I know a lot of Asian cinema fans love to get these movies early on DVD due to the advent of region-free players and internet movie websites, but I say WAIT FOR THE USA RELEASE in the theaters. This is big screen movie if there ever was one, much like the recent Wong Kar-wai visual masterpiece "2046." Park Chan-wook has created his most lush and stylized work to date and watching this on a TV screen would sacrifice much of what makes this movie so wonderfully watchable.] Additional Characters/Cast Mr. Baek - Choi Min-shik Bakery Employee Geun-shik - Kim Shi-hu Det. Choi - Nam Il-woo Preacher Jeon - Kim Byeong-ok Bakery Owner Jang - Oh Dal-su Park Lee-jeong - Lee Seung-shin Woo So-yeong - Kim Bu-seon Oh Su-heui - Ra Mi-ran "The Witch" - Go Su-heui Kim Yang-heui - Seo Yeong-ju Kidnappers - Song Gang-ho, Shin Ha-gyun Weon-mo, as an Adult - Yu Ji-tae Korean website Cinematography by Jeong Jeong-hun Editors: Kim Sang-beom & Kim Jae-beom Original score by Jo Yeong-wook Production designer: Jo Hwa-seong Art directors: Choi Hyeon-seok & Han Ji-hye "Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?" Oldboy Second film is Park Chan-wook's 'Revenge' trilogy proves the old adage that "a rock and a grain of sand weigh the same in water" - WTF??? Just SEE THIS!!! 3-1/2 stars (out of 4) [Oldeuboi/(2003)South Korea] - (1 hr. 58 min.) [In English & Korean (subititled) / USA Distrib: Tartan USA] Co-written & directed by Park Chan-wook Co-writers: Hwang Jo-yun & Lim Jun-hyeong Source: an original 'manga' story by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi Cast ... Characters Choi Min-sik ... 'Oh' Dae-soo Yoo Ji-tae ... Lee Woo-jin Gang Hye-jung ... Mido Kim Byeong-ok ... Mr. Han Jin-seo Yun ... Su-a/Girl In Hairshop Review (from Festival Screening in NYC): "Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone." Forget "Kill Bill" or anything you may have heard about this film being a similar style bloodbath. Yes - there's violence, but it's all set up within a twisted revenge plot that turns into a total mindbender by the end of the film. This story is part of the director's 'revenge trilogy' following "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" and the upcoming "Lady Vengeance." Due to the nature of the intricate plotting I can not go into story details except to say that the film opens with a man being arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and then getting bailed out. A few moments later he is kidnapped and held in windowless hotel room for ... ... fifteen years. Then he is mysteriously released just short of reaching his long engineered escape plan. The rest of the film focuses on his search for the man that imprisoned him and exacting his due revenge ... Actor Choi Min-sik (as 'Oh') gives an Oscar-worthy portrayal of the varied mental states of an innocent man who's been drugged and brainwashed only to have his mind messed with even more when released from captivity. This guy's performance alone is worth the price of admission (you'll want to watch it more than once). So if you don't mind a little sadistic violence (including eating a LIVE octopus) then you better move this one to the top of you NetFlix cue!!! "I thought I'd lived a simple life. But I've sinned too much." MORE cast: Ji Dae-han, Kim Su-hyeon, Lee Seung-jin, Yun Su-kyeong, Park Myeong-shin, & Chi Dae-han From NYFF festival guide (Film Comment editor Gavin Smith): "Cannes 2004 served up Oldboy, a state-of-the-art helping of Extreme Asian hyperpulp, which was awarded the festival's Grand Prize. In this high-concept manga adaptation, already set to be remade in Hollywood (by Justin Lin), a defiantly antisocial misfit (Choi Min-suk) finds himself enmeshed in an infernally baroque mind-bender, steadily building to a denouement whose perversity is worthy of Jacobean tragedy." MOVIE TRIVIA [*SPOILER* ALERT] from the all-knowing IMDb.com Based on Japanese Manga "Oldboy" by Minegishi Nobuaki and Tsuchiya Garon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four live octopi were eaten for the scene with Dae-su in the sushi bar, a scene which provoked some controversy abroad. Eating live octopus in Korea is commonplace although it is usually sliced first. When the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the director thanked the octopi along with the cast and crew. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Min-sik Choi trained for six weeks and lost twenty pounds to get in shape for the role of Dae-su, and did most of his own stuntwork. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The telephone number (08-6600330) which is supposed to go to Oh Dae-su's daughter's foster parents home in Sweden, actually has been "shut down requested by the owner of the number" (that's what the voice says when you call the number). But you are referred to another number (08-54589400) which goes to "The Embassy of the republic of Korea" in Stockholm, Sweden. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The famous one-take corridor scene was shot in three days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The phrase "Like the gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like the bird from the hand of the fowler, free yourself," which was a clue to Woo-jin's residence, is actually from Proverbs 6:5 NOT Proverbs 6:4. The director once said that it was just a hoax, not a mistake. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scenes at Police Station with drunken and disorderly Dae-su Oh were the very last of scenes the director scheduled to film. Min-sik Choi (Dae-su Oh) adlibbed most of these "Drunken" scenes, including the scene of Dae-su Oh playing with toy wings that Dae-su Oh bought for his daughter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Han (@ left)doesn't speak a word throughout the movie. -------------------- Dae-su Oh bangs his head right after stopping Mi-do from reading his diary. This "head banging" was not a scripted action. However Hye-jeong Kang (Mi-do) kept her cool and continued on with her lines. The director, in an interview, said that he kept and used this supposely NG scene for its comical and emotional value. -------------------- The last scenes of the movie (with snow and footsteps) were filmed in New Zealand. After the ending credit completely rolls over, audiences can hear sound of the wind. It was actual sound of the wind recorded in NZ location. The director revealed in an interview that he was impressed by the scenary of NZ so much he saved the sound there for the (Korean) audience. -------------------- This is the second film of director Chan-wook Park's "Revenge Trilogy". The first one is 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance'. The third one 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance' is in production as of December 2004 (Opens in Korea July 29, 2005). Incidentally, the very first speaking character in Oldboy who commits suicide with his dog and whose story we never hears, is played by actor Kwang-rok Oh. In the first one of the revenge trilogy Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Kwang-rok Oh played an anarchist character that appears at the very end of the movie. Kwang-rok Oh is the only credited character that appears in both movies. -------------------- 'Park-Chan Wook' wanted a documentary feel during the police station scene by using jump cutting. As a result, most of 'Choi Min-Sik' 's ad libbed lines were trimmed. The full ad libbed scenes are found on the UK Tartan DVD. -------------------- According to the cast commentary, 'Choi Min-Sik' wanted the cameraman to follow his legs when playing with the toy wings. He was trying to do doing a "moonwalk" (originally done by Michael Jackson). -------------------- The restaurant that Mido works in is called "Mediterranean", which is the name of the restaurant in real life, but the director originally intended for it to be called "Akira" - not as a reference to the popular Manga, but to the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. -------------------- **MAJOR spoiler** Despite the movie's depiction of graphic (but mostly offscreen) violence, only five characters die on screen (some of the prison guards Oh Dae Su beat up in the one-take corridor scene appeared at Mi-Do's apartment with Mr Park joining them): The suicidal man at the very beginning, Joo-hwan, Mr Han, Woo-jin Lee and his sister. The number of deaths in total offscreen and on screen might be higher due to Oh Dae Su's family murdered and the the prison guards who fought with Oh Dae Su in the one-take corridor scene who died of their injuries. Thirst (2009) I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006) (Sympathy for) Lady Vengeance (2005) Three... Extremes (2004/SHORT segment "Cut") Oldboy (2003) If You Were Me (2003/SHORT segment "Never Ending Peace and Love") Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) JSA: Joint Security Area [Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA (2000)] Judgement (1999 short) Saminjo (1997) Moon Is the Sun's Dream (1992) ["Vengeance" Trilogy -bold type] ______________________ |
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