Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (DVD)
APPROX. 129 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2002 - MPA RATING: R
" While "Oldboy" was a tangled mystery that needed to be unraveled, "Mr. Vengeance" works in the opposite direction. It is a series of events that criss-crosses into a tightly-wound knot.
Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.
Chan-wook Park tries to infuse his film with a sense of social consciousness. The plight of the poor and an unjust medical system are the obvious themes. When we first meet Dong-jin Park, he arrives home to find Peng, an ex-employee begging for his job back. Peng cuts himself across the stomach, before being tackled to the ground. Later, Peng (now a suspect) is found to have poisoned himself and his family. A quick death preferable to a slow one of poverty and starvation. In another scene, a police detective assigned to the kidnapping receives a call that his daughter needs an organ transplant as well. Both are mere footnotes to the overall story. The social commentary comes off a bit heavy-handed, but not nearly as overbearing as a film like "John Q."
There's just enough violence in "Mr. Vengeance" to send the squeamish running into another room, but, perhaps, not enough to satisfy those expecting the same level as "Oldboy." However, in my opinion, the most uneasy scenes are a result of what is not being shown. During the daughter's autopsy, the camera remains on the father's face, yet we do hear the sounds of saws cutting through bone and organs being pulled out.
VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The colors are vibrant and the picture is without any discernable flaws.
AUDIO:
The audio is presented in three tracks, all in the original Korean language with optional subtitles. They are in 5.1 DTS, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, and 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.
EXTRAS:
There is an audio commentary track by Chan-wook Park and fellow director Seung-wan Ryu ("No Blood No Tears", "Crying Fist"). It is in Korean with English subtitles. You'll also find a photo gallery, trailers, and a brief look at the final film in the trilogy, "Sympathy For Lady Vengeance."
A behind-the-scenes documentary is advertised on the packaging, but is nowhere to be found on this release.
FILM VALUE:
"Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance" feels like a prototype for what would come later. It was as if Park threw everything against the wall to see what could stick. If that technique helped make "Oldboy" such a masterpiece, then more power to him. "Mr. Vengeance" could have used some tighter editing and trimming of extraneous sections. It is certainly worth a look at and I anxiously await the final chapter, "Lady Vengeance."
Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.
Learn more about our rating system »
