You can't look away, not only because the carnage is so masterfully photographed, but because the director sucks you into his bleak, poetic, even sensible vision of cosmic brutality. Not for the faint-hearted!
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance's byzantine plot appears fairly straightforward at first, but slowly, deliberately moves into uncharted waters with the fluid grace of a tiger shark bumping up against a potential meal.
A very well done revenge film. The best thing about this film is that you really don't know who to root for by the end of the film. There really is no clear evil character or good character. The filming is great as well making good use of darkness and shadows when needed.
Well directed, well acted, well filmed chaotic greatness. Honestly I wasn't a big fan the first time I watched it because its so damn depressing, but on subsequent viewings it's brilliance was easier to grasp. Definitely underrated. Definitely depressing. Definitely bonkers. Did I mention it was depressing?
A revenge tragedy as brutal and Byzantine as "Titus Andronicus," Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance accomplishes a miraculous feat by being harrowing and humane in equal measure.
When it comes to serving up diabolical horror with bold, sophisticated glee, Park, best known for "Oldboy," is right up there with Dario Argento, Guillermo del Toro and Takashi Miike.
There is so much talent on display in Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, it is a drag that the film never rises to the level of its director's obvious ability.
With an intense story, fascinating characters, and notable visuals, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is a compelling and alluring film. While the biggest complaint from critics is that the film has nobody to root for, I couldn't disagree more. Characters do make sketchy choices, but as always it is never without reason. People who cant see themselves in dark choices more often then not are hiding from a part of themselves they don't like. Grey morals are in everyone. Reality is not so melodramatic.
Il y a les films coréens déjà sérieusement barrés en général et en particulier, puis il y a les films de Park Chan-wook encore plus mabouls que l'ordinaire du pays du matin calme, des films qui n'ont à dire vrai rien de calme, surtout dans le cas qui nous occupe ici, lorsque se déchaîne la rage de la colère de la vengeance... et tutti quanti !
Voici donc une sorte de parabole à moins que ce ne soit une fable terriblement cruelle sur la vengeance, une double vengeance, voire une triple si affinités. Le réalisateur coréen filme ses acteurs lentement et déplie son drame tout aussi lentement, ce qui peut agacer... à la longue. Mais on ne perd jamais rien pour attendre dans ce Sympathy, on est en effet toujours "récompensé" pour notre patience avec soit de la folie, soit de la violence, soit un humour grinçant, glaçant.
C'est sans doute le film le plus cynique qu'on ait jamais fait sur la vendetta (d'où souvent sa drôlerie complètement cinglée et décalée) qui se nourrit des malheurs et des drames des uns et des autres. Et tout se met en place et se répercute des uns sur les autres. On ne règle pas ses affaires au flingue mais à la batte de baseball et au tournevis, éventuellement au couteau ou avec la panoplie du petit électricien. Il n'y a d'ailleurs aucune espèce de morale, aucune leçon dispensée ici, sinon que le regard imperturbable et cynique sur un cercle infernal de violence. Oui, ce film est vraiment bizarre et déconcertant, heureusement interdit aux moins de 16 ans comme le Old Boy du même réalisateur... Mais contrairement à Old Boy qui sombre finalement dans le n'importe quoi à force de faire dans l'excessif, le Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance tient encore debout, même après tous ses morts. Car voyez-vous, il n'y a pas de rédemption dans la vengeance, ni d'espoir ou de message : seulement la mort. Et le rire narquois du spectateur.
The best part of watching Mr. Vengeance was the perspective it was presented from and how it included other persons into it. And also the fact that it was in linear style, while most of the director would have opted to do a non linear style with all the Ryu story in flashbacks but Park Chan Wook made this movie in his own way because he wanted to show the roots instead of glorifying film editing. Although one would expect something bigger and more astonishing act for which revenge is going on but it works the way it was presented. At moments the movie is so light as in the clouds and then it turns to be so stomach hurting intense which is amazing. Every one on the screen just fits the role they are performing. Every department has worked very good to create this cult movie.
"Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is the first installment in what is one of the bloodiest cinematic trilogies ever embarked upon. A stylish blend of surreal imagery intertwined with pitch-black humor, and stomach-turning violence. As a director, Chan-wook Park possesses a remarkable eye for detail and framing, and he is simply unrivaled in his approach to modern Asian filmmaking. The films intricate plot appears fairly straightforward at first, but slowly, deliberately moves into uncharted waters.
A deaf mute named Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) devises a kidnapping plot to pay for a kidney transplant for his dying sister that spins out of control into a bloody cycle of retribution. Ryu's scheme quickly, hideously backfires, making him one of two Mr. Vengeances in the film, both of whom are murderously intent on returning to a former state of grace that is no longer reachable.
"Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" relies heavily on its elaborate plot, which, when all else is stripped away, is really only a tale of family and the lengths people will go of the depths they will fall to to protect their own. Failing protection, vengeance rules the day and so Park's film descends, with its own stately grace, down the bloodied slope of life into the lowest reaches of humanity. The film is superbly made on all fronts, despite the morality issues and graphic violence. Once it crosses its own internal Rubicon, it becomes downright horrific, never allowing you to wake from a particularly arresting nightmare. Followed by "Oldboy" (2003) and "Lady Vengeance" (2005).
An somehow to subtle piece of horrifying vengeance. It shows the devastating Side of Vengeance ending in the Death of a lot of people. But overall a not very satisfying experience.
Production Company
CJ Entertainment,
Discovery Venture Capital,
KTB Network,
Bear Entertainment,
Dong Young I-tech,
CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics,
TMS Comics,
TMS Entertainment,
InfinityOne Comics Entertainment,
Moho Film,
Studio Box