Mr. Vendetta

I know absolutely NOTHING about Chan-wook Park, but after watching 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' I would put him straight at the top of my most promising new directors list. This is a stunning piece of work which wipes the floor with contemporary Hollywood's so-called "thrillers". It's a very grim and depressing movie, full of violence, but also includes some great performances, some beautiful sequences, and characters you genuinely empathize with. Sadly very few people are going to see this brilliant movie, and the few who get to hear about it will be told about the more extreme and brutal scenes and will probably think it's just about shock for shocks sake. It's anything but. In many ways it harks back to the days when a dark and serious movie like 'Taxi Driver' could find a mass adult audience, rather than the moronic Bad Boys/Charlie's Angels movie culture we're now faced with. Ha-kyun Shin plays Ryu, an unemployed deaf mute who is desperate to help his sick sister (Ji-Eun Lim) who needs a kidney transplant. When his experiences on the organ black market fail (the movie deals with this and I don't want to spoil it) his politically extreme girlfriend Yu-sun (Bo-bae Han) hatches a kidnap plan. This sets off a tragic chain of events that you just have to see to believe! I was immediately fascinated with the movie and my interest never let up for a minute. The actors are all first rate, and Park's direction is difficult to fault. The movie continually surprises all the way up to its very compelling climax. 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' is one of the most impressive movies I've seen this decade. Make sure you get to see it!

The heir apparent to Sam Peckinpah is tucked away far from Hollywood. Chan-wook Park, I'm sure few people know of him outside of Korea but talent like this can not go unoticed for long. I knew nothing of this film or Mr. Park before seeing it at the Seattle International Film Festival. Human (political?) isolation permeates the film, connectiveness to others whether familial or conjugal comes with a steep price to pay. Vengence to reclaim honor is a staple in Asian cinema, Mr. Park's "Revenge" completely sidesteps the tired honor formula making us question what happens when normal folk take revenge into the realm of pyschotic? This is the type of film that you and your friends will passionately discuss over STRONG drinks afterwords, there is no nuetrality in opinions, like Solondz's "Hapiness" you love it or hate it. As the film ended, a packed house gave a tepid applause, not because of a lack of enthusiasm, a collective numbness left a pall over the audience, a raping of all the senses. Like Cronenberg's "Crash" and Tarkovsky's "Stalker", one becomes defeated by a hypnotic sense of forboding, you are forced to endure it, pummeled into submission. The violence is very graphic, but as much as Mr. Park show's, it's what he doesn't show that makes him so talented, the subtle use of sound to advance the film is outright brilliance. Like Takeshi Kitano's early films, the extreme violence is never gratuitous yet the like offbeat humor, very unsettling. "Sympathy For Mr. Vengence" is not 'dark' it is uncompromisingly bleak, ah but bleakness never looked so good!

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is, simply put, the best film I have seen all year.

Chan-wook Park's mastery of cinematic language is stunning. I Recently saw Oldboy, and was intrigued by the style and freshness of that film. but where Oldboy sometimes degenerates (albeit in a very entertaining fashion) into simple violence and visceral satisfaction, Mr. Vengeance does not.

Those not accustomed to a slower paced film may say that there is too much postulation and ambiguity in this film, but they would be completely wrong. Never has a film managed to capture my attention so fully as this one. The majority of the time, we are left in quiet reflection of the events hat have taken place. The setting is rich and South Korea is shown in all its glory as a culture emerging from a somewhat torn past.

Every moment is beautifully framed and executed, and there are multiple ways in which the viewer is drawn into the lives of the characters that exist in this space. Colour is obviously very important to park, as each moment is perfectly balanced and flows from frame to frame in a way that would make most Hollywood directors green with envy.

The themes of vengeance and tragic fate are intertwined in such a way that almost numbs the senses after a time. Even though there is no "hero" or "villian" in this film, each character shares the spotlight in turn and the motivations for their actions are slowly revealed, justified, and then torn apart as fate intervenes to bring everything to a point of complete helplessness and futility.

A very powerful, beautiful film.

All I could think of during the last 20 minutes of this amazing film is how I am feeling the exact same way I felt as the final act played out in "Taxi Driver", were the only word floating through my brain and out my mouth was "Jesus". Anyway I was blown away.

I must admit that violence has not bothered me too much in my 25 years of watching films. It did affect me when I saw "Taxi Driver" for the first time, and it did truly mess me up when I saw "Irreversible" and now this film. I don't think I can handle too much anymore. I am glad that I was not prepared for the last act of this film. I was lulled into trance while watching the film unfold, it was mesmerizing. I loved everything about it, the acting, the story, again I had no Idea where it was going, I say again because I have mentioned this point in previous reviews, Asian films kick ass because they don't pander to focus groups or near sighted Hollywood suits, they take you places you either have no Idea where your going or take you places where you may feel the need to turn back but can't.

The relationships in this film are so pure, so real and beautiful, especially between the little girl and her captures. I love the way they set up the scene that would be the catalyst for the ensuing mayhem, even until the last second you aren't sure how far they were going to take it. I don't want to ruin anything so I will stop now.

I recommend this film to anyone who appreciates a films that break all the rules, films that are not easy to digest, films that are beautiful and tragic at the same time, and guaranteed if you see this film you will feel sympathy for anyone who is put into that postion, sympathy on both sides, Vengeance is like a pebble in the water.

There aren't to many times when credits roll on a film and I want to immediately start watching it through again. This is one of the rare exceptions.

Visually stunning with artistic merit to almost every shot. Deliberate frame composition with the eye of a classical painter married to lighting that underscores the narrative with sublime control. The shots alternate between tight intimate shots with strong angles that elude to POV and deep staged shots in full focus throughout that nearly ride the axis like looking down the barrel of a rifle into the deepest darkest corners of our characters' lives.

The light and textures on screen are lush and rich and the focus generally deep like Seven or Silence of the Lambs. Solid DOP, solid Cinematographer, solid Production Designer, Solid Art Director, across the board this film stands up as tight, smart, unexpected, sometimes abusive and always engaging like a car wreck in all the charmed ways.

Dialogue, though minimal, is always apt and loaded. Sign language feels like Tai Chi, delicate here, fierce there, somehow clear I believe even without subtitles.

This gem is deliciously horrific, a complete study of tragedy and of theater grotesque. Like Scarface the film is laden with stomach clenching non-gratuitous gore which is somehow infinitely more disturbing.

The driving narrative is about vengeance, layer upon layer, constantly underscored by social commentary both direct and sub-textual addressing inequities, rights, justice and the cruelty / fairness of commerce, fate and basic karma.

Well crafted, well delivered, well done. Excellent. And absolutely NOT for people with weak gullets, true that.