Movie Information
Overall Rank: 965
Average Rating: 3/4
# of Ratings: 88
Theatrical Release Date: 03/29/2002
Language: Korean
Genre: Drama, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Chan-wook Park
Actors: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Du-na Bae, Ji-Eun Lim, Bo-bae Han, Se-dong Kim
Plot: A man desperately wants to save his sister from dying of kidney failure - but he goes from being conned in a black market operation to kidnaping the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. As things go from bad to worse, anger and revenge take over.
Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
mitchellyoung - wrote on 01/27/2012
As a beginning of Chan-wook Park's revenge trilogy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is brutal and emotionally-scarring. The film is, visually, a masterwork (especially with the way Park plays with negative space and wide shots to reduce emotionality), and, plotwise, packs quite a punch, as well.
Rating of
3.5/4
Chris Kavan - wrote on 02/19/2007
If revenge is a dish best served cold, Chan-wook Park serves his in Siberia. The first in the "vengeance" trilogy comes at you fast and furious. You won't know who to hate and who to sympathize with in this film. In the end that's the point
Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
Sympathy for the rich and the poor
Rod - wrote on 06/11/2020
A top-tier thriller film which managed to present a dichotomy in seeking vengeance. The film's strongest attribute is its visual story-telling that engages viewers not only to the whole film narrative but to every sequence, every scene, and every shot. The narrative in itself shows brilliance in juxtaposing two characters who share the same goal of avenging the death of their loved one in a society where one cannot rely with the police and other institutions. ***SPOILER ALERT*** They both decide to put justice in their own hands, reaching the extreme point of killing the people responsible for their loved-ones' death. The difference, however, is that the poor one does this because of the absence of necessary resources while the rich one does it because of the absence of compassion. In …
Rating of
3/4
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 05/24/2013
The first from the The Vengeance Trilogy. Compared to Lady Vengeance and Oldboy, this had more long tracking shots and slow pace. Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun), is a deaf-mute man trying to aid his sister to have a kidney but gets fired. Yeong-mi (Bae Doona), Ryu's radical anarchist girlfriend suggests that he kidnap Yu-sun, the daughter of factory President Park. The humor in the beginning turns to a dark crime drama. The detective Choi was not much emphasized and score not as enticing. Highlights would be the engaging story and powerful acting. Song Kang-ho just expresses sadness and a look of revenge, which makes him an unlikely killer. The defying line from the picture: "But why? I don't understand." from Pres. Park. It definitely encompasses the themes of karma, unexpected deaths, …
Rating of
3/4
"Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/05/2012
A deaf-mute tries to sell a kidney on the black market to pay for a life saving operation for his sister, but when he wakes up left for dead minus both the money and his kidney he hatches a scheme to kidnap his ex-boss' daughter for the ransom. When she is accidentally killed it sets in motion a sequence of events that result in bloody vengeance for both men. The first chapter in Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy reminded me very much of a Tikeshi Kitano film; beautifully shot but very understated with moments of surreal humour, brief outbursts of grim violence and a typically nihilistic ending. He attempts to show the motivations and context of the actions of all involved and so the brutal acts of vengeance perpetrated by the characters who have become increasingly black-hearted …
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