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.
First of Chan-Wook Park's Revenge Trilogy
Korean cinema continues to impress as Chan-Wook Park proves "JSA: Joint Security Area" was no fluke. "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is not an easy movie to stomach. It contains some of the most graphic scenes of violence I've seen in a long time, and many of the subject matters it deals with are unsettling and downright depressing. It's an absolutely gripping film, however. As with JSA, the major strength is the solid premise and plot -- a chain reaction of tragedies of Shakespearian proportions. There is no clear line between good and evil -- it's merely a conflict between two groups of people who just happen to be on the opposite sides of the fence (metaphorically, this time).
There is very little dialogue (Park says he tried to limit it to bare minimum), but the superb acting (especially Du-Na Bae playing the villain against type and Ha-Kyun Shin as the deaf/mute protagonist) and stylish widescreen shots are more than enough to carry the story.
This is the first installment of Chan-wook Park's Revenge Trilogy (followed by "Oldboy" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance").
In the realm of revenge thrillers, you'd be hard pressed to find more ultra-violent vengeance and psycho thrills than in the creepy story of Oldboy. This Korean import made a pop splash at the Cannes Film Festival and during its limited theatrical run thanks to the imprimatur of Quentin Tarantino, who raved about it and its visionary director, Chan-wook Park, to anyone who would listen. It's easy to see why QT fell in love with the grindhouse attitude, fast-paced action, violent imagery, and icy-black humor, but it's a disservice to think of Oldboy as another Tarantino homage or knockoff. The darkly existential undercurrent in the themes that Oldboy traces over its life-long narrative arc is much more complex and deeply disturbing than anything of its kind. The... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Min-sik Choi - Ji-tae Yu - Hye-jeong Kang Director(s): Chan-wook Park DVD Release Date: Released the 23 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As its title suggests, Layer Cake is a crime thriller that cuts into several levels of its treacherous criminal underworld. The title is actually one character's definition of the drug-trade hierarchy, but it's also an apt metaphor for the separate layers of deception, death, and betrayal experienced by the film's unnamed protagonist, a cocaine traffic middle-man played with smooth appeal by Daniel Craig (rumored at the time of this film's release to be on the short list for consideration as the next James Bond). Listed in the credits only as "XXXX," the character is trapped into doing a favor for his volatile boss, only to have tables turned by his boss's boss (Michael Gambon) in a twisting plot involving a stolen shipment of Ecstasy, a missing girl, duplicitous dealers,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Matthew Vaughn DVD Release Date: Released the 23 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Yimou Zhang DVD Release Date: Released the 19 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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