If you've ever been poor & if you ever had to work by a dirty machine for minimum wages just to be able to stay alive, you'll appreciate that director Chan-wook Park knows something about the pure desperation such conditions can bring about. And if you've ever lost somebody that you truly loved more than yourself, the most emotional scene in this film will probably make you cry.
'Sympathy For Mr Vengeance' deals with some very strong issues & grim facts. Chan-wook not only shows some real insight to these things, he also understands that he must use some artistic touch so the story doesn't develop as something that's just completely depressing from start to end. So a big part of this movie is told with a dark sense of humor & a twist of surrealism. I like this approach & I think there are some very good things both to enjoy and to contemplate in this work.
The plot revolves around a young man who tries to find a way to help his sister get a kidney she needs for a vital transplant. Since his economic resources are small he resorts to desperate measures which starts a devastating chain of assault & retaliation. Within the basic story there's exposition of some big subjects: the impossibility of true justice, the fact that what human rights you have mostly depend on where you happen to be born, and the sad truth that many of us value money more than human life.
As I said I like that Chan-wook applies a twisted touch to the story, but I also think that he goes a little overboard with these elements. Through the first half I felt like there was only a handful of scenes that was somewhat ordinary, and this both alienated me a bit from the characters & made some parts less believable. For instance, I certainly hope that it's not Korean reality that ordinary people take part in forensic autopsies. . . Then in the second half the movie becomes much more melancholy & straight forward, and people with a weak stomach should be prepared for some brutal violence. This left me with the impression that the first & second half of the movie was somewhat disjointed. I think the film would've felt more cohesive & convincing if the slightly twisted & the more somber parts had been more evenly dispersed throughout the story.
But all in all, Chan-wook Park still manage to tell an original & difficult story in a way that is much more impressive than depressive. That's worth 7/10 in my ratings. And he definitely made me feel very fortunate that I live in a country that values human life enough to ensure that everybody has the right to advanced medical care, regardless of the patient's bank account.
'Sympathy For Mr Vengeance' deals with some very strong issues & grim facts. Chan-wook not only shows some real insight to these things, he also understands that he must use some artistic touch so the story doesn't develop as something that's just completely depressing from start to end. So a big part of this movie is told with a dark sense of humor & a twist of surrealism. I like this approach & I think there are some very good things both to enjoy and to contemplate in this work.
The plot revolves around a young man who tries to find a way to help his sister get a kidney she needs for a vital transplant. Since his economic resources are small he resorts to desperate measures which starts a devastating chain of assault & retaliation. Within the basic story there's exposition of some big subjects: the impossibility of true justice, the fact that what human rights you have mostly depend on where you happen to be born, and the sad truth that many of us value money more than human life.
As I said I like that Chan-wook applies a twisted touch to the story, but I also think that he goes a little overboard with these elements. Through the first half I felt like there was only a handful of scenes that was somewhat ordinary, and this both alienated me a bit from the characters & made some parts less believable. For instance, I certainly hope that it's not Korean reality that ordinary people take part in forensic autopsies. . . Then in the second half the movie becomes much more melancholy & straight forward, and people with a weak stomach should be prepared for some brutal violence. This left me with the impression that the first & second half of the movie was somewhat disjointed. I think the film would've felt more cohesive & convincing if the slightly twisted & the more somber parts had been more evenly dispersed throughout the story.
But all in all, Chan-wook Park still manage to tell an original & difficult story in a way that is much more impressive than depressive. That's worth 7/10 in my ratings. And he definitely made me feel very fortunate that I live in a country that values human life enough to ensure that everybody has the right to advanced medical care, regardless of the patient's bank account.