Review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) by Chads. — 19 Oct 2005
There's a scene in "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" that uses the long take in a most brilliant manner. It starts off so innocuously, and then the little girl hands her captor a letter... Another brilliant scene shows a crime in the background which had the uncanny effect of making me whisper directions to the character.
Director Chan-wook Park is obviously talented and doesn't need to turn little girls into cadavers. That scene in the autopsy room plays like an ode to Janet Leigh's violent exit from "Psycho", but here, instead of edits to convey the notion of gory violence, Park makes effective use of sound and reaction shots from the father.
It's almost bloodless, but incredibly disgusting. This is a brutal, brutal film, redeemed by great screen compositions and gravitas. Don't bring grandma.
This review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) was written by Chads. on 19 Oct 2005.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has generally received positive reviews.
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