Review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) by Ivan D — 02 Aug 2010

"Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance", Chan Wook Park's two other films in his "vengeance trilogy", were made to almost look like a bittersweet cinematic poem for the much wretched theme.

But "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", his first attempt at tackling revenge and its consequences, has shown it raw and unabated, with hardly any musical score. Unlike the two films mentioned above, this film does not concern a single protagonist, but generalizes everyone treading the same path as the characters portrayed, and brought out a notion that "Mr.

Vengeance" can be anyone. With much bloody retributions happening on the screen, Chan Wook Park chose to set it in a Korea not inhabited by blithesome people , but instead depicts it pestered with ennui, with which even a suffering lady inspires masturbation.

Revenge depictions usually contain man-to-man conflict, in which this film departed itself from. It shows it in an endless haze, in which every action is connected, every act of violence intertwined. The end was quite extreme a pay-off, as if diminishing everything we cared for about the characters, and left a bitter taste in my mouth, but may ultimately be Chan Wook Park's intent.