Review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) by Morgan T — 20 Feb 2009

It seems that, undeniably now, the best cinema of the last five years is coming out of Korea. Having dominated the horror genre with such astonishing films as "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "The Host", Korean cinema has evolved and surpassed our own efforts, and resulted in some absolutely amazing fare.

"Sympathy for Mr Vengeance" might be one of the best and most appropriate titles in recent memory, and it dolls out extremely potent doses of both in its tight-as-a-drum timeline. Directed by Chan-wook Park, who also brought us the cult classic "Oldboy", "Sympathy" is part of Park's "Vengeance Trilogy", which includes "Oldboy" and the final installment, "Lady Vengeance".

The revenge film has been done and done to death, to various degrees of success over the years. But Park elevates the revenge film into a work of art, and into one of the most morally complex films I've ever seen.

The story focuses on Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin), a deaf and mute young man whose sister is in desperate need of an organ transplant. He is a good guy, he loves his sister, and when the hospital tells him he's not a match he desperately turns to the black market to find an organ. He's robbed blind, and when a real donor finally arrives, Ryu no longer has the money required for the operation.

Desperate, he and his revolutionist girlfriend hatch a scheme to kidnap the daughter of Ryu's wealthy former employer Mr. Park (Kang-ho Song, who also starred in the brilliant "The Host"). They promise each other that no one will get hurt, they just need the money, and will return the girl unharmed.

There's nothing original about this set up, and of course we know that everything WON'T go okay, that people will be hurt, and that things will go horribly wrong. They do, in a series of sequences that are jarring and gutwrenching, and when the dust settles there are two men hellbent on vengeance. There's our "hero" Ryu, who will find the black market organ theives and exact a much deserved revenge. And then there's Mr. Park, whose revenge is equally deserved, except that he will visit it on ... Ryu.

This is essentially a study of two basically good men who are engulfed by grief and rage. The movie sets them up so well, and the actors handle the emotional requirements of their characters so honestly, that I felt almost unprecedented amounts of sympathy for both men. That makes for some serious complications, as the film is headed for a showdown that will leave one (if not both) dead. It's your sympathy for their situations that fuels what is an agonizing conflict, made worse because their motives throughout are out of intense, genuine love for the people in their lives. I honestly didn't know how I wanted this movie to work out. I felt for both of these men, so much that I was suddenly being tied in knots by the conflict. That this brilliantly complicated emotional story can play against the kind of art-house violence that Chan-Wook Park is known for makes for a hypnotic, impactful film.

And let's talk art-house, shall we? This film is stunningly well made. Park frames his story in long, static, geometrically fascinating shot compositions of beautiful color, light, and shadow. Simple moments like three men walking up a staircase take on the look of absolutely groundbreaking visual style, and I honestly believe that you could just go shot by shot and realize that each carefully composed image in the film would sustain itself just fine hanging in a frame in an art gallery somewhere. It's that beautiful to look at. Park's dynamic understanding of framing (look for his geometric eye and what seems to be an obsession with symmetry and balance) makes this one of the most beautiful films to watch I've ever seen.

More impressive than the visuals is the audio, or rather its lack. 70% of this movie happens in total silence. Dialogue seems to have been used only out of absolute necessity, only when Park realized there was simply no visual way to convey the information. What results is a film of hypnotic power. There's an electricity to the whole experience, and I found myself sitting there wide-eyed and even holding my breath, not wanting to make noise and break up the atmosphere.

Without a doubt, this film is a piece of art that transcends the revenge genre while simultaneously meeting each and every requirement of that genre. People that like revenge flicks for the violence or blood will be thoroughly satisfied with the movie, while people who enjoy art-house, thought provoking cinema will be equally satisfied. That's a nearly impossible balance to strike, but it does.

There's an inevitability to the way things must and do finally play out, and it would be a crime for me to spoil a moment of it. The film is ultimately a tragedy, and a meditation on how vengeance breeds vengeance, how good people are consumed by their own best intentions, and how "an eye for an eye leaves the world blind". It's funny, because these are the EXACT plot points pondered by recent Oscar-bait such as "Munich" and the upcoming "Rendition". That these heavy, deeply human ideas can be meditated on so effectively in a film that could have been nothing more than a piece of pop-culture violence is a testament to everyone involved.

To look at our own Best Picture of last year, "The Departed" (itself a remake of an Asian action film), this easily trumps and surpasses Scorcese's film. That it hasn't been remade by Hollywood yet is surprising. That it shouldn't be remade by Hollywood is certain. It's just about perfect the way it is. It's the first movie in a very long time that, the moment it ended, made me want to watch it again immediately.

An exceptional, deeply rich movie, and instantly one of my all-time favorites.