Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the bizarre and deeply twisted film by Park Chan Wook, is on par with the traditional spirits of Jacobean tragedies due to the extravagant violence, sentimental sibling relationships, brooding flair, and malcontents for piercing horror images.
The movie is a story about human beings descending into hell. Ryu (played by Shin Ha Kyun), a disabled man that cannot speak or hear, is fired from the factory since he takes too much time to take care of his sister - an ill patient that currently needs new kidneys. Desperate for money to afford the transplant, he decides to kidnap a small young girl, who's the child of a rich industrialist portrayed by Song Kang Ho. Things go horribly wrong afterward for Ryu, as he sees himself as an avenger, not hesitating to commit grotesque violence.
Many audiences are still debating whether the movie is convincing on human levels or narratives. We admit that the plots sometimes are opaque, and the sympathy of any avengers in the movie is impossible: something profoundly alienated and alienating about all of it is playing out on the screen.
Nevertheless, Park Chan Wook successfully put everything together in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance via exceptional visual style, which makes the film jangle in your mind even after the last credits are rolled.
Release: 2002
Genre: Drama, Crime
Stars: Song Kang Ho, Shin Ha Kyun, Bae Doo Na
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%
