Sympathy for Mr. Vengence / Boksuneun naui geot

Director: Chan-wook Park (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance / Chinjeolhan geumjassi)
Cast: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Du-na Bae, Ji-Eun Lim
South Korea, 2002

Seen: June 18, 2006 on TMN

Reason to see: Heard amazing things about the director, and the third in this trilogy Lady Vengeance / Chinjeolhan geumjassi was recenty in theatres as well as the highly acclaimed Oldboy.

Too brutal for me. I have to remember not to watch revenge films as they don't do anything for me. There were some excellent shots and choices, the pacing was very good. It did keep you guessing, but it also felt like every turn something worse would happen, and then worse, and then worse, ... I will admit it was interesting to see the this kind of film not where all the violence was highly co-ordinated to music and flashy and stylized. It was very quite, cold and matter-of-fact. Also showcased brutality and apathy. Not for me, but I'm sure its got its audience.

Warnings: Extreme violence, torture, rape, kidnapping

Shannon's Overall View:
I'm not sure how I feel about it
I would not watch it again
I would only recommend it for those would like revenge films and can handle the warnings listed

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© Shannon Ridler, 2006

Favorite Moment: When the girl hands out her manifesto flyers to the organ donor people