Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Director: Park Chan-Wook
Year Released: 2002
Rating: 3.0
Carefully interwoven revenge picture - about a brother's trying to save his sister's life - that spirals into a nightmare of violence all because South Korea doesn't have an effective health care system (you listening, America? Didn't think so...). The bitter nastiness of the last half-hour is gratuitous (it's not symbolic like in Audition) and Park's trying to appeal to too big an audience, often mixing tones (there's comedy, there are your gorgeous compositions, there's all that blood and torture), but I liked the way it all came together. I was on the fence with the follow-up to this, Oldboy, but despite a few reservations, felt like this was a smart little picture. Plus, any movie that ends with a group of Anarchists having the last say earns a small but considerate pat on the back.
