Review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) by Joe F — 03 Nov 2009
As they would be throughout his informal ?revenge series?, Park Chan-wook?s sizeable talents are on display in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Unfortunately, his self-indulgence is as well. Sure it hints at sociopolitical issues like class struggle, but as is always the case with Park, the subject is stifled in a barrage of gratuitous violence as a means to offset our chances of seeing how half-baked his opinions on such matters are.
It?s either that or Park just wrote up a list of grotesque brutishness, asked Lee Jae-sun, Lee Mu-yeong and Lee Yong-jong to format it, and then asked them to see if they could fit in a subtextual class struggle.
With a more sensitive filmmaker at the helm, something like Ryu?s dispositional iconography would be used as an effective typification of society?s inability to sympathetically communicate with one another.
The trouble is, Park hasn?t a sympathetic bone in his body, thus making him part of the problem, thus making him inadequate at effectively handling such issues. Ryu is fired from his job and left penniless after a meeting with some black-market organ peddlers; thus leaving him unable to pay for his sister?s kidney transplant.
As a result, Ryu and his girlfriend decide to kidnap his ex-boss? daughter. What ensues is a grotesque parade that consists of circle-jerks, suicide, self-mutilation, and an autopsy. If all this isn?t nauseating enough, there?s still the bothersome idea that Park thinks he?s saying something important.
I think he thinks he is. How frustrating. If Marquis de Sade was alive to adapt Everyman, it would play like a Park film.
This review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) was written by Joe F on 03 Nov 2009.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has generally received positive reviews.
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