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SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
Directed by: Park Chan-wook.
Produced by: Lee Jae-sun & Lim Jin-gyu.
Written by: Park Chan-wook, Lee Jae-sun, Lee Mu-yeong & Lee Yong-jong.
Director of Photography: Kim Byeong-il.
Edited by: Kim Sang-beom.
Music by: Pae Hyun-jin.
Released by: Tartan.
Language: Korean with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: South Korea. 121 min. Not Rated.
With: Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Du-na, Lim Ji-eun & Song Kang-ho.

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
August 19, 2005

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