Fulltime Casual - An Australian Film and TV Podcast

World Cinema > Drama

My love for Korean cinema is largely the result of watching films directed by Mr. Chan-wook Park. Now when a white guy such as myself mentions an affection for any flavour of Asian movies, there’s an understandable assumption that he’s a filthy fucking Weeaboo. Let me state quite categorically that this is not the case: no Dragon Ball Z figurines dangle from my satchel, you will never catch me cosplaying for any reason, and I don’t have a subscription to some sad online Japanese language course. I still love Korean movies, and especially those by Chan-wook Park because while they’re so unflinchingly brutal, they’re also horribly, terribly, touching.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is just such a film, it tells the story of green-haired Ryu, a deaf-mute who’s sister is dying of kidney failure. He pledges to save her and offers his own kidney as transplant, however his blood type isn’t compatible and both he and his sister must wait for a suitable donor to be found, a potentially expensive and lengthy process.

Ryu is suddenly retrenched from his job at a smelter. Without a source of income to pay for his sisters operation his only option is to buy her a kidney on the black market. Unfortunately he doesn’t have enough money to purchase one outright, instead he’s offered a trade: his kidney and what money he has in return for one for his sister. He wakes up from his own backyard surgery poorer, minus a kidney, and with nothing in return. Faced with even fewer options than before, Ryu and his girlfriend Cha decide to kidnap the daughter of his former employer and use the ransom used to pay for his sisters operation and care.

This film is the first of three that revolve around the subject of revenge, and this one focuses on the theme of people’s utter lack of interest in each other. Whether it be tenants of a thin-walled apartment complex ignoring the sounds of fucking and domestic violence just meters away from them, or cars failing to stop for someone in need, the story highlights peoples isolation, even when in physically close. Contrasted to this is Ryu, while his deafness leaves him cut off from the world it’s not by choice, and he frequently reaches out to people as if his deafness was a shield from the inability of others to empathise.

The film is nicely shot with excellent use of colour and attention to detail, and like the experience of the protagonist there’s no score to add context. Without music the film feels more unsettling and alien.  This brings me to the more visceral side of the work; with no music to subtly remind you that you’re watching something crafted, what you see on screen becomes especially brutal and distressing. It’s not just the violence, it’s the grief, pain, and horrifying detachment that leave the biggest impression on the viewer.

The cast is generally great and Kang-ho Song who plays Park Dong-jin, the father of the kidnapped girl, is a real highlight. If anything the third act uses serendipity a little too much to push the story along, and coupled with the occasionally bad CG prop, gushing arterial spray, and seemingly random additions to the plot it does detract from the finish of the film. Still, it’s still a grim and well shot story, if not the strongest of the three films in the vengeance theme. If you can deal with the pacing and can stomach the really quite disturbing story elements then its definitely worth grabbing the DVD.

3.5/5