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.
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.