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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
A deaf-mute factory worker, Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun), is fired from his job for spending
too much time caring for his ailing sister, who is dying of kidney failure.
There are no donors available for a transplant, and having a different blood type from her,
Ryu cannot donate his own. He decides to obtain one illegally through
the black market, but ends up swindled out of ten million won and his own
kidney, waking up naked in a rooftop parking lot with a new scar. To make
matters worse, Ryu learns that a kidney has become available for the same
amount he paid the organ dealers. Now desperate to get back his money, he
and his girlfriend kidnap the young daughter of his former boss, Park
Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho), and hold her for ransom, igniting a chain of tragedies.
Driving Ryu and his foil, Park, throughout the film is their contempt for
the people who have wronged them. As the movie draws out, nothing gives
these two men more satisfaction than revenge. Riddled with deadpan humor
and unbelievably dark, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance plays out like a Greek tragedy.
Though the film does have its share of guts, blood (a screwdriver to the
neck), and disturbing images (including an autopsy), this first installment
in Park Chan-wook's Revenge Trilogy should not be overlooked for those who
can stomach the violence. (The trilogy's second film, Oldboy,
was released earlier this year in the US). Unlike Oldboy, the director
has given these characters more depth and idiosyncrasies, which spark
sympathy from the audience. Seeing this film first will certainly make
its sequel less ambiguous. Michael Wong
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