Before you watch this film, just be aware that you're not going to walk away from it with a big smile on your face. More like you'll want to slit your wrists. To say that Mr. Vengeance is a powerful, gut-wrenching nightmare is like saying that DaVinci merely dabbled in art.

The plot is so simple yet so complex. The direction is so elegant yet so hard-hitting. The simplistic nature of the story makes the descent into hell so shocking and captivating. You don't realize there is no going back until it's far, FAR too late.

Ryu is a deaf/mute who works in the loudest factory in the world, doing a really depressing job. His sister needs a kidney transplant, but they don't have the money to pay for it. He cannot give her one of his own because their blood types do not match. Ryu decides to go to black market organ traders to trade one of his own for one that matches his sister. Waking up naked and kidney-less in an abandoned building he now needs to raise money for his own kidney.

Ryu is now fired from his job by President Park, who is downsizing the company. His anarchist girlfriend Yeong-mi convinces him to kidnap Park's daughter and hold her to ransom. From then on, things get very, very, VERY heavy and the idea of who exactly Mr. Vengeance is is blurred and sympathy is felt for almost everyone. Revenge comes at a high price and seemingly never ends. Not that I am saying forgiving and forgetting is the way. But this movie will make you think twice about getting your own back.

The violence is spontaneous and extremely graphic without ever feeling exploitational. Sometimes it has a darkly comic feel to it, the rest of the time it's goddamn hardcore. You'll wince a great deal during this movie, that's for damn sure.

Park Chan-wook directs with such beautifully composed images that are far from the the garish MTV-style action/thriller movies produced in Hollywood these days. I don't want to sound like some sort of snob who proclaims all foreign films to be great and all Hollywood to be crap but it's not very often that Hollywood makes a film like this unless it's a remake. Written in a mere 20 hours in a single massive, creative outburst, this movie seems to have genius laced through every minute of it's running time.

Not a date movie, not a whogivesadamn pig-out movie. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a film you will be sucked right into and you'll be far from happy when you emerge at the end. But what a horrific ride!

I know absolutely NOTHING about Chan-wook Park, but after watching 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' I would put him straight at the top of my most promising new directors list. This is a stunning piece of work which wipes the floor with contemporary Hollywood's so-called "thrillers". It's a very grim and depressing movie, full of violence, but also includes some great performances, some beautiful sequences, and characters you genuinely empathize with. Sadly very few people are going to see this brilliant movie, and the few who get to hear about it will be told about the more extreme and brutal scenes and will probably think it's just about shock for shocks sake. It's anything but. In many ways it harks back to the days when a dark and serious movie like 'Taxi Driver' could find a mass adult audience, rather than the moronic Bad Boys/Charlie's Angels movie culture we're now faced with. Ha-kyun Shin plays Ryu, an unemployed deaf mute who is desperate to help his sick sister (Ji-Eun Lim) who needs a kidney transplant. When his experiences on the organ black market fail (the movie deals with this and I don't want to spoil it) his politically extreme girlfriend Yu-sun (Bo-bae Han) hatches a kidnap plan. This sets off a tragic chain of events that you just have to see to believe! I was immediately fascinated with the movie and my interest never let up for a minute. The actors are all first rate, and Park's direction is difficult to fault. The movie continually surprises all the way up to its very compelling climax. 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' is one of the most impressive movies I've seen this decade. Make sure you get to see it!

I've been reading over user comments on Sympathy, and I'm pretty shocked. What gore- fest were you people watching? I remember only a couple of really "gory" moments, but there was nothing that was too extreme (save for Ryu's murderous assault towards the end, and the very very brief torture scene). If you have weak stomachs, don't watch movies with any bit of gore in them. You're the wrong kind of people to be reviewing this kind of film. As a critic you should be able to put personal biases aside and give a fair and balanced review of the movie in question, but you've let a little bit of violence offend you. And that's not a bad thing, it's just that letting biases get in the way can really ruin a review.

Violence in cinema isn't a terrible thing. When there's blood on the screen and people write off the film as tripe automatically, it bothers me to no end. It's blood. So what? When the movie turns into something that only progresses to get to another gory, violent scene, that's a problem, and if you felt that way about Sympathy I feel for you and I apologize. That said, I definitely did not see it as being something that sought to continue just to display more brutality. The scenes in question were meant to create tension and drama, and in some ways show progression of character. They were not meant to be there simply because blood = good, and again, I do feel badly for anybody who took it that way, because that really isn't any fun.

What was fun, for me at least, was the whole of this film. I tend to be wary whenever "different abled" people are cast in lead roles in films, although you'll never hear me use that term in a serious tone. I must admit, having the lead be deaf made me nervous, as I've seen some pretty bad films and television programs featuring deaf characters. In my junior year in high school, I learned ASL, and I furthered the experience for years beyond that. Whenever I see any character, be they deaf, blind, mute, crippled, etc, portrayed in any film, I pray that the filmmakers get it right and not make a stereotype and a mockery of the character.

In the case of Sympathy, Ryu was excellent. His signing, though not the American Sign Language that I'm familiar with (it's Korea, for crying out loud), was spot-on, from the way he physically articulated the signs, to his facial expressions per sign. Shin Ha-Kyun plays Ryu perfectly, in fact he's so good that I am tempted to say that he's probably deaf himself. The way that Chan-wook Park makes use of his protagonist's deafness also is excellent-- his cuts, from Ryu signing to a black screen with translations of the signs, are really great. The, "person-is-speaking-but-you-here-nothing" shots are also wonderful, as is the shot of Ryu in the factory wearing nothing to protect his ears while everyone else is. It's these little things that help create the atmosphere, and to build on Ryu. Wonderful stuff.

Chan-wook Park also tends to get very inventive with the camera in other ways as well, so much so that I think he's one of the most unique directors around today. I want to see more of his technique-- thus, I am looking forward to seeing Oldboy whenever I have the chance to. He doesn't, however, go too crazy with things, which I appreciate, since a lot of directors try to be inventive and ultimately give you annoying camera work that seems more like that of an amateur than that of an auteur.

The story follows a deaf man (Ryu), who gives all of his saved money to thugs in order to get a kidney transplant for his sister (he was going to use it to just have a legal transfer done, but nobody matches his sister's blood type). He wakes up to find himself down a kidney, down 10,000 won, and down all of his clothing, and he later finds out that the hospital has found a matching donor, much to his chagrin. With no other recourse (as they see it), Ryu and his girlfriend kidnap the daughter of Dong-jin Park and hold her for ransom. With cycles of vengeance firmly implanted in the story, Chan-wook gives us a riveting narrative as Dong-jin Park searches desperately for the people who took his child. In the end, does everyone get their revenge?

Chan-wook would have you believe so, but he's more interested in generating sympathy for each character, as everyone is a victim in their own way, even the criminals (hence the title Sympathy For Mr.Vengeance). Many people become their own Mr.Vengeance, whether it is Ryu kidnapping Dong-jin Park's daughter for money as well as for retribution (Dong-jin fires Ryu from his job early in the film, after all), or the aching father hunting down the kidnappers one by one. It's one of the the few films I've seen do this, and it's something that I appreciate greatly. Not all criminals are motivated by an uncompromising hatred lurking within them-- so what does motivate them? You'll see.

If you're looking for something creative and fresh, and you don't mind a few graphic scenes here and there, then I would recommend this. ********* (out of ten)

Vengeance is one of humanity's more lamentable instincts, and one we'll have to overcome as a species one day. When one acts out of vengeance one seeks only to hurt, and when people start hurting each other because they're hurt themselves, everybody ends up hurting and nobody really gains anything.

I think that's the main message Park Chan-Wook wants us to take away from SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, though the movie is complex and oblique and doubtless open to many interpretations. It is a challenging movie in many ways - the story is never spelled out clearly, leaving the viewer to deduce many key events and motivations. Dialogue is sparse, and this is not solely attributable to the fact that the main character is deaf and dumb. The movie also challenges - almost terrorises - with its bleakness and occasional scenes of quite disturbing violence and gore.

SFMV is an ambitious project, and one that doesn't fit into any established cinematic mould. The story, characters, themes and aesthetics are all very unusual and creative. I can't think of any other film that's quite like it, though at times I likened the experience to that of watching certain Takashi Miike movies. Actually, Kim Ki-Duk's movies are probably the closest point of reference, though Park Chan-Wook's film is smarter.

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is not a movie I'd choose for a movie night with friends, or one that I'd lend or recommend to most of the people I know. Perhaps I'm unfair in my assessment of my friends, but I can't think of many that would enjoy it. Actually I'm surprised that the film is held in such wide regard, as its not a conventional film or an easy film, and is far more art than entertainment. In my experience that narrows a film's audience significantly, but I've yet to hear anybody express a negative reaction to the film. I guess originality and technical virtuosity are still appreciated after all - perhaps more so by those that have gravitated to Korean cinema in recent years than in other groups, since they are most often to be found there.

With JSA and SFMV, Park Chan-Wook has definitely shown himself to be one of the brightest figures in the new wave of Korean directors. Both are very well crafted in pretty much every respect. The cast of SFMV also deserve commendation for their performances, which are all good. Song Kang-Ho steals the show with a wonderfully understated performance, though.

Recommended, but make sure you know what you're getting.

All I could think of during the last 20 minutes of this amazing film is how I am feeling the exact same way I felt as the final act played out in "Taxi Driver", were the only word floating through my brain and out my mouth was "Jesus". Anyway I was blown away.

I must admit that violence has not bothered me too much in my 25 years of watching films. It did affect me when I saw "Taxi Driver" for the first time, and it did truly mess me up when I saw "Irreversible" and now this film. I don't think I can handle too much anymore. I am glad that I was not prepared for the last act of this film. I was lulled into trance while watching the film unfold, it was mesmerizing. I loved everything about it, the acting, the story, again I had no Idea where it was going, I say again because I have mentioned this point in previous reviews, Asian films kick ass because they don't pander to focus groups or near sighted Hollywood suits, they take you places you either have no Idea where your going or take you places where you may feel the need to turn back but can't.

The relationships in this film are so pure, so real and beautiful, especially between the little girl and her captures. I love the way they set up the scene that would be the catalyst for the ensuing mayhem, even until the last second you aren't sure how far they were going to take it. I don't want to ruin anything so I will stop now.

I recommend this film to anyone who appreciates a films that break all the rules, films that are not easy to digest, films that are beautiful and tragic at the same time, and guaranteed if you see this film you will feel sympathy for anyone who is put into that postion, sympathy on both sides, Vengeance is like a pebble in the water.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is, simply put, the best film I have seen all year.

Chan-wook Park's mastery of cinematic language is stunning. I Recently saw Oldboy, and was intrigued by the style and freshness of that film. but where Oldboy sometimes degenerates (albeit in a very entertaining fashion) into simple violence and visceral satisfaction, Mr. Vengeance does not.

Those not accustomed to a slower paced film may say that there is too much postulation and ambiguity in this film, but they would be completely wrong. Never has a film managed to capture my attention so fully as this one. The majority of the time, we are left in quiet reflection of the events hat have taken place. The setting is rich and South Korea is shown in all its glory as a culture emerging from a somewhat torn past.

Every moment is beautifully framed and executed, and there are multiple ways in which the viewer is drawn into the lives of the characters that exist in this space. Colour is obviously very important to park, as each moment is perfectly balanced and flows from frame to frame in a way that would make most Hollywood directors green with envy.

The themes of vengeance and tragic fate are intertwined in such a way that almost numbs the senses after a time. Even though there is no "hero" or "villian" in this film, each character shares the spotlight in turn and the motivations for their actions are slowly revealed, justified, and then torn apart as fate intervenes to bring everything to a point of complete helplessness and futility.

A very powerful, beautiful film.

Chan Wook-Park is for my money, the greatest film maker alive today. His recent work (the second part in his "Revenge Trilogy" just won the Grand Prix at Cannes) has seen him grow even stronger! But with this, we saw the director of S. Korea's biggest ever film for it's time (Joint Security Area) grow up, and do something he HONESTLY wanted to do. Sympathy for Mr. Vengance is not a nice film, it's brutal, cold and very bleak, but who said movies cannot be like this? let alone be... dare I say... "Enjoyable"?

The acting, the camera work, the cinematography... hell, the whole production set a new standard for new-wave Korean art-house cinema, it showed how art can remain with it's roots but still show it's mainstream tendencies. Hence, Chan Wook-Park being able to bring truly personal movies, that he has control over 100% to out big screens, with out any producer BS, proving that film makers CAN make what they want, if they have the courage and heart!

This movie will never be liked by many, as many may find it deceiving, how such a pretty looking movie can turn out to be so brutal and attack there moral sense, but hey, if they don't want to be challenged they can stay home and watch the far more violent "Bad Boys 2"...

Roll one Sympathy for Mrs. Vengance... the final part in the "Revenge Trilogy"

There aren't to many times when credits roll on a film and I want to immediately start watching it through again. This is one of the rare exceptions.

Visually stunning with artistic merit to almost every shot. Deliberate frame composition with the eye of a classical painter married to lighting that underscores the narrative with sublime control. The shots alternate between tight intimate shots with strong angles that elude to POV and deep staged shots in full focus throughout that nearly ride the axis like looking down the barrel of a rifle into the deepest darkest corners of our characters' lives.

The light and textures on screen are lush and rich and the focus generally deep like Seven or Silence of the Lambs. Solid DOP, solid Cinematographer, solid Production Designer, Solid Art Director, across the board this film stands up as tight, smart, unexpected, sometimes abusive and always engaging like a car wreck in all the charmed ways.

Dialogue, though minimal, is always apt and loaded. Sign language feels like Tai Chi, delicate here, fierce there, somehow clear I believe even without subtitles.

This gem is deliciously horrific, a complete study of tragedy and of theater grotesque. Like Scarface the film is laden with stomach clenching non-gratuitous gore which is somehow infinitely more disturbing.

The driving narrative is about vengeance, layer upon layer, constantly underscored by social commentary both direct and sub-textual addressing inequities, rights, justice and the cruelty / fairness of commerce, fate and basic karma.

Well crafted, well delivered, well done. Excellent. And absolutely NOT for people with weak gullets, true that.

The heir apparent to Sam Peckinpah is tucked away far from Hollywood. Chan-wook Park, I'm sure few people know of him outside of Korea but talent like this can not go unoticed for long. I knew nothing of this film or Mr. Park before seeing it at the Seattle International Film Festival. Human (political?) isolation permeates the film, connectiveness to others whether familial or conjugal comes with a steep price to pay. Vengence to reclaim honor is a staple in Asian cinema, Mr. Park's "Revenge" completely sidesteps the tired honor formula making us question what happens when normal folk take revenge into the realm of pyschotic? This is the type of film that you and your friends will passionately discuss over STRONG drinks afterwords, there is no nuetrality in opinions, like Solondz's "Hapiness" you love it or hate it. As the film ended, a packed house gave a tepid applause, not because of a lack of enthusiasm, a collective numbness left a pall over the audience, a raping of all the senses. Like Cronenberg's "Crash" and Tarkovsky's "Stalker", one becomes defeated by a hypnotic sense of forboding, you are forced to endure it, pummeled into submission. The violence is very graphic, but as much as Mr. Park show's, it's what he doesn't show that makes him so talented, the subtle use of sound to advance the film is outright brilliance. Like Takeshi Kitano's early films, the extreme violence is never gratuitous yet the like offbeat humor, very unsettling. "Sympathy For Mr. Vengence" is not 'dark' it is uncompromisingly bleak, ah but bleakness never looked so good!

Handing out a 10 star rating for a film is not something that should be undertaken lightly. Each rating affects the overall score of the film. People may be persuaded to watch the film or avoid it based upon this score and the comments behind it.

A perfect score handed out to the most undeserving of Hollywood trash dramatically lowers the credibility of a rating system and takes away attention from genuinely deserving masterpieces. Sympathy For Mr Vengeance is most certainly one of these masterpieces, and deserves every single star there is going.

Here's the story.

Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin) is deaf and mute. His sister is dying. She needs a kidney transplant quickly or she'll die. Ryu, an intelligent sort of guy, gave up his education to work in a factory (which is eerily reminiscent of a vision of Hell itself) to pay for his sister's medical expenses. He has very little, but he is focused and motivated and never once whines about the myriad misfortunes that plague his life.

His girlfriend, Yeong-mi (the extremely cute Du-na Bae) is a minor league anarchist and activist intent on 'bringing down the corporations'. She is quite the rebel. Her relationship with Ryu began when she was a fellow student at a deaf school from which she was later expelled after it became apparent she was only pretending to be deaf.

After conversation with his sister's unhelpful doctor, Ryu decides he'll turn to the black market to get his sister a kidney. But his transaction with the organ traffickers ends catastrophically, propelling him to get involved in the kidnapping of his boss's young daughter so that the ransom money can save his sister. This kidnapping, of course, goes tragically wrong, and at this point we become ominously aware that all of the heart-breaking things we have seen so far are nothing compared to what's coming.

Things quickly spiral downwards into a magnum opus of misery for all concerned. Ryu's boss, Park (Kang-ho Song), grief-stricken and furious, haunted and genuinely mystified why anyone would do what Ryu has done, is set on an irreversible path of brutal vengeance.

Ryu, meanwhile, has his own tragedy to deal with quite apart from Park's rampage. As things around him disintegrate, he is also compelled towards vengeance, primarily on the organ traffickers, but later (in an idea we would see taken to dizzying extremes in Oldboy) he decides to take revenge on PARK for taking revenge on HIM.

Needless to say, none of this ends well for anybody. I've tried very hard to get the themes and ideas of this film across without spoilers, but really, it wouldn't matter if you knew what was coming. Surprises aren't really important here. You know right from the outset that nobody's getting out alive. What matters here are motives, emotions, reasons, and, ultimately, extreme and brutal displays of violence.

The director, Chan-wook Park, gives a story with no easy answers. In fact, it's debatable whether he's asked us any questions. He presents a group of characters in a certain set of circumstances and sets them loose. He never passes judgement over any of his creations, leaving the audience to judge for themselves. That's the mark of a masterful director who has faith in, and respect for, his audience. The actions of his characters take place in a moral vacuum, where there is no right or wrong, only choices and consequences. There is no divine or poetic justice, only revenge.

The title of the film relates to perhaps the only real question in the whole film - who do we sympathise with? Do our loyalties lie with Ryu, who is motivated only by love for his sister and subject to misfortunes on a massive scale? Or with Park, who has always tried to be a fair and honest man, only to have his beloved daughter kidnapped and killed, albeit accidentally? Both men do deplorable things. Both men become savage murderers. Both men are, ultimately, the 'Mr Vengeance' of the title. So to whom to we give our sympathy?

The acting in this film is of uniformly excellent quality, from the main characters to the smallest of walk-on parts. Ha-kyun Shin and Du-na Bae learned sign language for this film and give such effortless performances you'd believe they'd been doing it all their lives. Kang-ho Song's turn as Park is heart-breaking, particularly the scene where the camera stays on him and only him as he looks on in horror at his daughter's autopsy, complete with sounds of cracking bone and surgical saws.

The photography is beautiful, showing the beauty and the ugliness of South Korea in equal measures. There is no real soundtrack to speak of, only the background sounds of the city and the various locales within it. There's traffic, howling wind and trickling water, depending on where we are.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this film (doubly so if you've read this review to this point) is that it's a comedy. A very, very black one, but still a comedy. Chan-wook Park has given us the most tragic of revenge dramas through the filter of humour, and that's part of the reason it works so well. Unrelenting misery can only be tolerated for so long. Sooner or later you'll walk away from it unless you can give a wry smile or a genuine belly-laugh now and again. There are many of those here, although a few are definite guilty pleasures.

To sum up, this film is a solid gold masterpiece, vastly superior to anything spewed forth by Hollywood these last few decades.

The future of cinema is rising in the East.

It seems it set in the West a long, long time ago.

What an erratic and interesting ride it has been for violence infested movies throughout the long decades of cinematic experiments so far. Whether it was combinations of drama, horror, even comedy or the fusion of all three simultaneously, their results rarely attained much impact aside from delivering pure shock value and strong cult followings. Nevertheless, such unfortunate stereotypes didn't prevent me from seeking out films that most people proclaimed to be "hard to stomach". Better luck next time; Funny Games, Fingered and countless cannibal themed films from Italy, respectively of course.

I often come upon films that try very hard to make me look away from the screen and try even harder to make me empathize with the characters who are delivering and or receiving the poorly climaxed torment. Such cinematic pretentiousness finds no place in my mind and gets discarded as soon as processed.

And then came Mr. Vengeance. Possibly to aid the ever growing genre of dramatically pragmatic films, bravely dealing with real life stories in a bold and sometimes unseen fashion.

What made Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance all that much visceral was the fact that there was no pleasant music to tranquilize the painful story and beautify the scenery, nor was there any stylish before-and-after fight facial expressions and catchy lines to make the whole experience seem out of this world and cool. Not that there is anything wrong with using those elements in film. And it needs to be noted how interesting Kang-ho Song is always to watch, whether he's playing an aspiring wrestler, a small town inspector or a father on an avenging rampage. Credible acting is essential in films that have to deal with heavy biases for being mentally hard to digest and visually difficult to appreciate, gladly SFMV had those holes covered with an ease.

The entire flow of the story seemed very effortless and drag free. Both the action and reaction of each character seemed to be traveling at such fast speed that rarely gave you time to over-analyze their motives and directions, which ultimately helped the story to signify the depth and restlessness of each person on a mission to get their revenge.

Audiences are always mercilessly expressing their distraught over revenge flicks for one reason or another, so if you still have any room and temptation left to see a serious and sophisticated side of revenge then I can't recommend a better film, by a better director, to take you on the hybrid journey of pain, retribution and more pain.

I went to this film thinking I was going to see a fairly straightforward (for an Eastern film) revenge thriller, with a healthy side-order of blood. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

The film starts on a relatively high note - even though the Ryu's sister needs a transplant, and even after Ryu get his kidney stolen and they kidnap Park's kid, the film's style remains light. However, it slowly (and I mean slowly; this film is /very/ drawn out) blossoms into a complex web of vengeance, as the body count rises.

Having said that, there is not much gore - what there is, however, is concentrated and refined, so it cuts into your nerves. I was beginning to despair of seeing some actual violence until the baseball bat scene (which i *loved*) - don't get me wrong, i'm not a gore nut, but the film is quite, i don't know....minimalist. The violence is well-orchestrated, and used to maximum effect.

The ending scene with Ryu and Park in the river is one of those increasingly rare moments of genius - its not spectacular, or climactic, but it just fits excellently with the mood of the film, and says all that needs to be said. Having said that, I did feel Park's death was a let-down - not especially bad, but story wise, just not up to par with the rest of the film (though the direction was still spot on).

The only oddity i found was the water still being on the floor when the police guy comes round to Park's house....i presumed the scene with his daughter was a dream =S

*CONCLUSION*

In short, this is an excellent (and very personal) film, but could benefit from an increased pace - it felt like much longer than the two hours of its running time, and partway through I was having doubts about its quality. However, the storyline is nicely formed, and easy to follow, and the characters, while not being the most openly emotional, still have a roughness which makes them believable.

Stunning acting from Ha-kyun Shin and Kang-ho Song, and if the rumors of Oldboy being even better are true, then this director is definitely one to watch.

This extremely grim tale deals with a deaf mute who's fired from his job for a minor detail of neglect, he then gets ripoffed by vicious organ dealers and loses a kidney when he tries to raise money for his sister's kidney operation. He then kidnaps his rich boss' daughter inspired by an anarchist girlfriend, but things go fatally wrong and the daughter drowns. His boss is devastated by grief and sets out to kill him, meanwhile our deaf mute are after the organ dealers looking for revenge.

A 129 mins long flawless masterpiece which is incredibly gruesome and gory (not in a flashy Miike kinda way you can distance yourself to) but also very humane and beautiful. You really feel for both of these desperate people in their sad quest for 'justice'. The cinematography and especially the sound is top notch so try see it in a theatre.

Everybody was laughing during "Ichi The Killer" at the last Copenhagen Filmfestival, but not during "Sympathy", some were actually gaging in disgust of harsh images. There are also social comments on the have and have-nots and the conflict between the neighbor in the North, but not in the easy preachy way.

Chan-wook Park is a genius and has singlehandedly changed South Korea from an somewhat uninspired HK/Japanese copycat nation to a country one should look out for, in my humble opinion. 10/10

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, a work by one of my favorite new directors, was a very different movie then what i originally expected. Having seen Oldboy, I was expecting a much different film. However, Chanwook Park pleasantly surprised me with the first part of his revenge trilogy. The plot line is brutal, but the visceral appeal of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance lies in the motives. Nothing is random, everything is explained, and the viewer can understand why every action is called for. However, this is a brutal movie. The action is tough, the dialogue minimal, with no quick cuts or mindful music. That being said, it is never grotesque and the gore never gets to be too much. The visual images in this movie will stay with you for days, and the cinematography is flawless. I would recommend this movie for fans of the horror genre looking for an exciting new film, and people that do not watch horror movies because they are usually pointless works in gore. Few if any criticisms, the lack of music works both for and against the film, as I found myself sometimes shifting away from the screen. 9 out of 10, highly recommended, but brutal.

Director: Park Chan Wook Duration: 121 minutes

After watching Park's film _Oldboy_ the night before, I decided to also watch his earlier film _Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance_ as well. Unlike _Oldboy_, I had heard very little concerning _Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance_, but considering the exhaustively emotional experience of watching the newer film, I definitely wanted to check out Park's earlier work. I must say that I found this film to be more disturbing than Park's blockbuster.

The film opens with a quite touching scene in which a letter sent by the death-mute Ryu is read at a radio station. The letter states how much Ryu appreciates the sacrifices his sister has made for him throughout his life and now, because his sister needs a kidney transplant, it is time for him to repay her kindness.

Sounds like the opening for a great tearjerker, but, being a Park Chan Wook film, things begin to go hideously wrong. Stuff begins to hit the fan when Ryu learns that his blood type is B while his sister's is A, so his kidney is useless to her. Not wanting to give up the fight, Ryu exchanges his kidney and 10 million Won, around ten thousand dollars, for a type A kidney. At least, this is what he had hoped to do. So penniless, and without one of his kidneys, Ryu soon learns that a kidney is available for his sister and he only needs to pay the ten million won to make his sister well. Of course Ryu is broke and to make matters worse he has also been fired, so what is our green haired protagonist to do? Teaming up with is sprightly revolutionist girlfriend Cha Yeongmi, Bae Du Na, Ryu plans to kidnap the daughter of his former boss. Things go well at first, but, of course, the situation becomes worse and worse for Ryu.

This is a frightening film. There were some truly terrifying moments in _Oldboy_, but this films works on a more visceral level. One can almost feel the tension boiling within Ryu and the desperation that he must feel in his desire to aid his older sister. Also, it should be mentioned that the acting of Sang Gang Ho, playing the part of the kidnapped girl's father, is extraordinary. He is definitely the most aggressive and frightening character in the film.

This was a wonderful and compelling movie. Chan-wook Park as done a brilliant job with the themes he introduces, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I did 2003's Oldboy (which is enjoyable too, if you're able to suspend your disbelief from a great height!). Firstly I'd have to comment on the fantastic cinematography. Byeong-il Kim did such a good job. Every frame seems full of meticulous detail, every scene filled with such an atmosphere that it's hard not to be pulled in to the film without realising it. Every shot was great, and was so carefully thought out.

The plot of the film kept me intrigued. At first I felt that I wasn't being shown enough of what was going on, but i came to realise that although not all events were portrayed with absolute clarity, I knew exactly what was happening. I knew what was going on despite hearing little from the character's mouths and knowing few of their thoughts, such was the quality of Park's direction. It was almost like I was viewing the film from the perspective of a deaf mute myself, hearing little but still picking up on everything that occurred. It was an excellent way of portraying the story.

The narrative revolves around the motivations, intentions and consequences of revenge, and relates these abstract matters in a clever way. It forces us to question the very nature of revenge, and it is hard to come out with any clear answers. On one hand you fully understand the motivations for vengeance, but on the other the film is full of motifs that make us question if it really is the right course of action. This moral ambiguity prevents us from any simplistic moralising, and as we watch good people doing bad things we really have to question the meaning behind the title 'Sympathy For Mr Vengeance'. Who should our sympathies lie with? Is it an ironic title? After seeing the movie such questions were prominent in my mind, and I think that a film that sticks with you like this cannot be regarded as an average attempt.

There was an amount of violence in the film, but I did not find it as shocking as I had expected, and I have seen far worse. The violence was well crafted, and became part of the plot and substance of the film instead of being another reason to splash blood and gore in every direction. Instead the violence built on the already prominent themes, making me wince at times but also aiding me in coming to terms with what the film was trying to say.

Overall this movie is a great study of revenge and its effects on the soul. Check it out!

Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun), a young deaf mute, is fired from his factory job for spending too much time away caring for a sister fighting kidney failure. A black market cash-for-kidney scheme leaves Ryu without either. Joined by his leftist girlfriend Youngmin (Bae Doona), the two decide to raise organ money by ransoming off the four-year-old daughter of Ryu's former employer. And that's just the first eighteen minutes! There's six more reels of multiple vengeance, murder, torture, suicide, electrocution, and Baskin-Robbins' 32nd flavor, kidney. Stop me if you've heard this one.

Completed a year before 2003's Korean box office sensation "Oldboy," "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is the second Chan-wook Park film to play San Diego this year. Its welcome arrival shatters the customary end-of-summer blahs. According to the press notes, this was Korea's first "hard-core, hardboiled crime drama." As the title implies, there is a sense of irony at work, but don't expect any tension easing guffaws to dwindle the intensity; no edge-softening or sticky sentiment will act as a monkey wrench in this dark psychological thriller.

German director Fritz Lang noted that in talking pictures you either show a door close or you hear it, never both. Sound plays a crucial role in Park's narrative. Along with this year's delirious "It's All Gone, Pete Tong," "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" continues to explore new ways of filming deafness. Instead of muffled audio every time we adopt Ryu's point-of-view, a favored Hollywood approach, Park amplifies his handicap through heightened ambient noise. Downstairs they fight, upstairs they screw and a sitcom across the hall provides an accompanying laugh track. Spared the annoying din of thin-walled apartment dwelling, Ryu is equally oblivious to his sister's sickbed cries. They don't go unnoticed as four neighbor boys, believing the groans to be of a sexual nature, line up for a circle-jerk.

The film employ's a subtle use of green and orange to shade both story and character. Ryu's green hair meshes with the factory's neon hues making him little more than a part of the environment. Moving from green to orange, Park highlights the father's path to pay the ransom as skillfully as Hansel dispensing breadcrumbs. The relationship between the young hostage, wearing an orange outer-coat, and her kidnapper with a spring-green dye-job are mirrored by a televised fox and frog cartoon.

When a filmmaker chooses to strap on an anamorphic lens, one hopes the decision was premeditated. Even a genius like Wong Kar-wai failed to impress with his pragmatic application of 'Scope in "2046." On the basis of only two films, Park has proved to be a master of widescreen composition. Note the way he composes around a dresser when we first encounter Ryu and Youngmin in bed together. More than arty playfulness, the scene presents a couple separated by something so vast and insurmountable that they barely fit in the small space that life (and the frame) affords them.

Given the current political climate, audiences are reluctant to drop ten dollars on a tale embroidered with despair. "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" has cinematic a vision backing it up. Were that not reason enough, this summer screens were dominated by not-so-super heroes, wretched TV knockoffs, jock comedies, and a band of lovable penguins that somehow migrated from the Discovery Channel to local multiplexes.

In Seoul, the deaf and dumb worker Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin) is very attached to his sister, who needs a transplantation of kidney. He tries to donate his own kidney to his sister, but his blood B type is not compatible with her. When Ryu is fired from Ilshin Electronics, he meets illegal dealers of organs and the criminals propose Ryu's kidney plus ten millions Won per a kidney suitable for his sister. Ryu accepts the trade, but he does not have money to pay for the surgery. His anarchist revolutionary girlfriend Cha Young-mi (Du-na Bae) convinces him to kidnap Yossun (Bo-bae Han), the daughter of his former employer Park (Kang-ho Song), who owns Ilshin Electronics. However, a tragedy happens, generating revenge and a series of acts of violence.

"Boksuneun Naui Geot" is the first movie of the Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy and also excellent. The story is very well developed, using ellipsis in a very appropriate way without disrupting the sequences. The characters and the situations are credible and there is no apology to revenge. On the contrary, the lead character does not find any redemption with his acts and even questions them in the end. The movie is very violent, therefore it is not recommended to sensitive persons. The relationship of the gorgeous Du-na Bae (Ruy's girlfriend) and Ji-Eun Lim (Ryu's sister) is a little confused to understand in the beginning, but becomes clear when Cha Young-mi convinces Ryu to abduct Yossun. However, I have not understood how the couple brought the little girl to their place. The masturbation scene supposed to be funny is actually very silly, but does not spoil this great film. The angles of camera work are magnificent. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Mr. Vingança" ("Mr. Vengeance")

There are two reasons to watch Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The violence and the sound. Or rather, the sound and the violence.

The main character's lack of one sense drives the film, both form and function wise. Occasionally, we lose one of the two ways in which we interact with the film (sound, sight). The loss of one sense adds value to the other. It makes the normally assumed other seem all the more there. Unlike most Hollywood takes on this particular sense absence, we get a bit of a glimpse into what the absence means to the character, and not just what it means to us looking at the character as third person. What results are some very nice moments that are film using itself as a medium to one of its potentials.

This movie is well titled (english translation), but why won't become obvious until the last third of the film. The violence is a bit overwhelming, especially given the tone of the initial third. We start off thinking that maybe all planned actions will go as they should, without harm, and without significant consequence, that implied violence might only exist beyond the threshold of common sense. As plans slowly unravel, and as tragedy exerts its sometimes tender hold, we see an escalation of blood with few limits in depiction.

Mr. Park (and here I'm paraphrasing a translator's take) has stated that the violence in this film is less bloody, and less realistic (?) than that found in horror movies, or movies of other persuasion (action?). What he says is true, but in those movies we are distanced from the events via a somewhat thick veil of disbelief. Unlikely characters and unlikely events combine for a combustion that makes it easy for to be distant from the gore. While the characters in this film might be unlikely, they are drawn with the kind of SYMPATHY that allows their environs to seem more plausible (or possible). Mr. Park also stressed the elements of class struggle, although my familiarity with South Korean culture leaves me uncertain of all their applications. There certainly is a sense of have vs. have-not in the film, and this seems to reveal itself most significantly near the end.

The story may be told somewhat elliptically, so English (only) audiences beware, especially if you require the tried and true formulas that Hollywood so often provides.

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (4+ outta 5 stars) Wonderful movie... the title and plot might tend to make you believe that this going to be some straight-ahead violent revenge movie but this movie delves much deeper than that. Who are the "bad guys"? Who are the "good guys"? It's never clear... even after it's all over you will left wondering whether or not justice has been served and if *anybody* is deserving of "sympathy". A young mute, with a sick sister in dire need of a kidney transplant, is abruptly fired from his job. He attempts to get a kidney on the black market but he is horribly taken advantage of. Suddenly a donor for his sister is found, her last chance for survival, but they don't the money to pay for the operation. The mute and his anarchist girlfriend decide to kidnap the young daughter of his rich ex-boss and hold her for ransom. The money isn't much to a rich guy like him and he would gladly hand it over to get his daughter back safely. Then an unfortunate accident sets in motion a series of extremely violent attacks and counter attacks. Another masterpiece of suspense from the Korean director of "Oldboy", Chan-Wook Park. Gee, I can hardly wait for the lame American re-make...

I'd never watched a Korean film before this one and I will now try to find all of this director's work. So beautifully filmed a devastating tragedy I've not seen in years. Someone has already mentioned the use of sound in this film. I agree. This is a sense that most directors under-utilize. Chan-wook Park, however, is masterful- toying with us, making us imagine horrific scenes and feel choking anxiety for the characters. Of course, he's brilliant for the eyes, too. The image of Park Dong-jin following the organ dealers up the stairs of the abandoned building is able to convey the desolation of that building and the difficulty of the climb with simple layout and angle. This is one of those films where you watch horrified as the story takes yet another turn further towards the dead-end that has been hinted at all along. A dead-end that no one escapes. If you want to feel suffocated in beauty and hopelessness, this is the film for you.

Maybe its just me, because I am not from Korea, so I have trouble understanding these plots that maybe make sense in their culture. What do for example the four guys that masturbate have to do with anything? Is there some kind of point there? For me the whole movie - like so many Korean movies - is just a collection of grotesque ideas, with basically no connecting arc. Most of the events and twists are completely random, which makes it impossible to derive any message or meaning. And whats this fascination with deranged and disabled people? And why do they always do random acts of violence? Granted the imagery was powerful and of highest quality. That's just not enough to make a good movie.

Oh my god. I don't think I've seen a movie as awful as this all year. Hardly any meaningful dialogue in the entire movie. Everything is done through implication, and very poorly at that. Extremely, extremely boring. More waiting around than anything actually happening. I find this odd because I loved Oldboy, but I registered on IMDb just to say what a god-awful movie this was. I mean, seriously. Just awful. People keep talking about how it's thrilling and gruesome? Yeah, maybe for the last ten minutes of it. The rest is wasting time and making the viewers say to themselves, "So, wait. This happened, and then he did this, so she's doing this... I think. They never actually showed it or had anyone say it, but that seems to make the most sense." There was no sense of continuity at all. It was like they weren't even trying.

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is a very original and well-done film. It takes a very common theme(especially for Asian films...) - revenge - and turns it on it's head. Usually in a revenge-style film, there are clear-cut "good guys" and "bad guys". The good guy is wronged and seeks vengeance against the bad buy - end of film. But SYMPATHY is very different, as there are several people wronged in one way or another, and the only clear-cut "bad guys" may be the shady organ dealers (explained below), but are really just bit players in a much larger and more complex picture. SYMPATHY is really a sad film of desperation, and the lengths that individuals may go to for family.

Ryu is a deaf/mute whose sister suffers from kidney failure. Ryu tries to donate his own kidney, but his blood type is wrong. Desperate to help his sister and with no donor in sight in the near future, Ryu goes to a black market organ dealer who offers to provide a kidney - in return for $10 million won (roughly $10 thousand U.S. currently) and one of his own kidneys. Ryu agrees - but is ripped-off and left with one kidney and no money. As (bad) luck would have it, a legit donor turns up for Ryu's sister - but now, they have no money and no way to come up with the cash in the one week before the scheduled operation. Out of sheer desperation, Ryu and his girlfriend hatch a plan to kidnap Ryu's rich ex-boss's daughter to ransom her for the money for the operation. When the kidnapping accidentally goes horribly wrong - a chain of events is set into motion that will cause great suffering for everyone involved...

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is really a sad film of desperation, loss, and of course - revenge. Beautifully filmed and acted - this is not an action packed film, but everything is developed and handled methodically - up to and including the explosive ending. The very last scene seemed a little out-of-whack to me...but it was a decent way to tie up any remaining "loose ends", and to make sure that everyone involved was dealt an equal hand of "justice". An excellent film and highly recommended . I also enjoyed Chan-Wook Park's OLDBOY - but SYMPATHY is definitely the better film. With two of the three "vengeance" films under my belt - I'm anxiously awaiting Park's final film in the series - LADY VENGEANCE. 9/10 for SYMPATHY

After watching 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' contemporary Hollywood movies looked worse than it is. Though it is dark and violent, this movie is truly great for a number of reasons: great acting, nicely paced, and original plot with great characters. There is however one more reason why this movie is truly great. This movie has social context embedded into the plot making the movie more meaningful and significant.

Some people might see this movie and be shocked at some of the violent scenes, which might lead them to compare this movie with mindless Japanese movies (though I'm not bashing Japanese films). However, in my opinion, 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' uses its shocking scenes to show the tragic situation and meaninglessness of the division between the two Koreas. Though there are so many small components that support this claim, the two characters epitomizes this: Ryu's girl friend (i.e., Du-na Bae's character) who is a communist; Ryu's former boss (i.e., Kang-ho Song's character) who is a capitalistic owner of a big company. Both characters end up killing each other though they really meant no harm. Ryu, I believe, represents the common people who are hurt just because they are involved. Then, Ryu's sister represents the idea of peace and love. If this interpretation is correct, the director, Chan-wook Park's forecast of the two Koreas are also grim like this movie.

I strongly want to encourage others to watch this movie and make their assessment on what this movie is trying to say. Otherwise, this movie is just another great 2 hour entertainment.