Sympathy for Mr Vengeance

The blue haired man is Shin Ha-kyun and not Hyun-Joon Shin. Someone fix the detals above please. Anyway, brilliant film and Park Chan-wook's favourite, even over Oldboy. A movie that's worth watching at least three times.

This is possibly one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen, probably due to its realism in the nature of the scenes depicted. I had not heard of the Vengeance Trilogy until I mentioned to a friend that I had seen 'Oldboy' - my friend immediately told me of the other 2 films (of which this is one, as you may have worked out) and so I am now watching my way through them. Although I originally chose to watch Oldboy as a quick adrenaline fix, the spooky action thriller was one of the best (and the most scarring) films I have ever seen. Sadly, 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance' doesn't have quite the same effect.

There are some sick, sick scenes in this film. Many horror fanatics will probably look over these scenes without stirring, claiming to have seen it all before and worse in the likes of 'Saw', but in my opinion they are not on the same level. Whilst Saw delivers mindless killing it is sometimes so ridiculous that it is humourous. But I'm telling you now, there is nothing funny about this film.

Park's main theatrical technique for this entire film was under-acting. Apart from a couple of scenes of hysterics, everyone simply looks on gormless and reactionless to the things that happen (trying my hardest not to include spoilers here). We occasionally watch the film in first person in the eyes of the main character (Ryu) - a deaf-and-dumb simpleton - and this reminds us why under-acting is being used so often: he is narrating the story, so everything is portrayed in his perception. Due to his deafness he cannot hear the screams, the shouts, and the rest of it - he is oblivious, and so it seems as if he has no emotion. Somehow I think this increases the emotion caused in the watcher, as you feel like you need to carry the emotion of 2 people - yours and Ryu's - and so the feel becomes more gut-wrenching.

However, this film didn't achieve 5 stars for me, as you can see. It is a deep psychological thriller, with thought provoking scenes of the nature of justice and what justice means, along with some very karmic motifs making you think about whether it is ever right to 'bend' morals (e. g. white lies, kidnapping kids to get money for kidney transplants etc.) in your favour for short term gains. Nothing went right for anyone in this film, which is probably half a star lost for me - it depicted an endless circle of havoc which looked to spiral out of control, which simply frightened me too much. The other half star disappeared because, although I loved the under-acting in the relevant scenes, when it is ALL under-acted it just looks like laziness and gets a bit old, and scenes without Ryu in are similarly cold as those with him in, and so for these scenes you would hope for an explanation as to why such an approach has been taken.

This is a fantastic film, but don't watch it if you're squeemish. It's not the most gory film, but it definitely messes with your head. There are some great relationships thrown in (Ryu + Activist; Ryu + Mr Vengeance, Mr Vengeance + 'The Real World' [outside of his business bubble]) and good directing techniques and was also a good stepping stone towards the production of his later films - I can imagine Park learned from this film and worked on it in the year between its release and the release of Oldboy.

And the moral of the story? When all else fails, join an anti-capitalist terrorist group.

wanyted this to be amazing so badly but in reality this film is too long, poorly acted and the script isn't up to much either, the storyline is promising but never quite delivers watch OLDBOY again instead people!

I'v seen oldboy and lady vengeance which are both amazing films, but this one really got me. The devlopment of the story, the real human emotion. I really felt something with this one, not sure what. Maybe thats why I gave it 5 stars. Just watch and make your own mind up.

I think it's a shame that people are pointing to this as 'too bleak' and 'the weaker' of the Park Chan-wook trilogy. I disagree. This is a portrait of human suffering on many levels. The characters portrayed all perceive the wrongs committed against them as a reason for revenge. There is not one 'Mr Vengence', rather the whole subject matter of this film is human revenge.

Yes, it is bleak, revenge and vengence are bleak and desolate in nature. But too bleak? Revenge has been the subject matter of numerous and usually glamourised Hollywood flicks that are unrealistic and insult the viewer with a shallow glance at this human state.

Personally, I feel that this is the best of the Park Chan-wook trilogy (I still loved Oldboy and Lady Vengence). It's gritty realism and stark, unflinching look at the truth of human nature make this a brilliant film.

I do agree with one comment made about this film, it is potent and will get under your skin. But that is why it is good. It makes one think about what makes one human, is it the vengence part? Or, rather, is it the sympathy that the viewer feels for the various characters? You decide.