After watching the film 'Lady Vengeance' I was left absolutely spooked by the full frontal shock factor of the whole thing (and trust me, it usually takes quite a bit to shock me) but it was undeniable that the film was superb and left me aching for just a drop more. When I found it was part of a trilogy, I was delighted! And so I went backwards and watched 'Oldboy' (a film which I also sincerely recomend) and then finally came to this gritty piece of film making 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance'.
'Mr Venegance' is, ofcourse, a story about revenge. Not the kind of revenge that is glorified in the likes of a Holywood action blockbuster or kung-fu flick... but the kind of revenge that would eat away in the back of your mind and slowly begin to take over your life and, trust me, revenge is absolutely not sweet in this Korean thriller.
This story is bare knuckle, mature and a little bit complex so be sure before watching that you're prepared to spend a couple of hours of full… more »

After watching the film 'Lady Vengeance' I was left absolutely spooked by the full frontal shock factor of the whole thing (and trust me, it usually takes quite a bit to shock me) but it was undeniable that the film was superb and left me aching for just a drop more. When I found it was part of a trilogy, I was delighted! And so I went backwards and watched 'Oldboy' (a film which I also sincerely recomend) and then finally came to this gritty piece of film making 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance'.
'Mr Venegance' is, ofcourse, a story about revenge. Not the kind of revenge that is glorified in the likes of a Holywood action blockbuster or kung-fu flick... but the kind of revenge that would eat away in the back of your mind and slowly begin to take over your life and, trust me, revenge is absolutely not sweet in this Korean thriller.
This story is bare knuckle, mature and a little bit complex so be sure before watching that you're prepared to spend a couple of hours of full attention on what's going on onscreen. Yup, there's a lot going on in this with different characters in different relationships. Even I myself half way through this movie got a bit lost and had to actually pause the movie to think about what was going on... I've never done that before :). But once the finale has graced the screen you do understand what on earth has just happened... a story of love, loss and brutality.
The film is more psychological than anything else. The actual film looks a bit cheap but this is competely made up for with top notch directing. There isn't much action in this, it's a lot of talking and drama but when action does occur it brutal and very, VERY graphic. The drama is very intense and the imagery throughout the film will mess with your mind.
Overall, it's one of the most extreme and graphic films of its kind. Director Park Chan-Wook as earned a place in my book as a top notch director because of this amazing film and the trilogy of which it is part of. I recomend this but I must insist that this film is raw, complex and pretty dark.