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Movies / On DVD / Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

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Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2005)

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Reviews Counted:53

Fresh:29

Rotten:24

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: Though Park directs with stylistic flair, this revenge thriller is more excessively gruesome than thrilling.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong gruesome violence, strong sexuality, language and drug use

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Aug 19, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: RYU (SHIN Ha-kyun), a young factory worker, has recently quit art school in order to look after his sister, who is dying a slow, agonizing death for want of a kidney. When a doctor tells Ryu that... RYU (SHIN Ha-kyun), a young factory worker, has recently quit art school in order to look after his sister, who is dying a slow, agonizing death for want of a kidney. When a doctor tells Ryu that he is an unsuitable donor and that the chances of finding one is slim, Ryu turns to the black market. But the old lady who runs an underground organ ring cheats him, taking both his life savings and his kidney and leaving him without the kidney she promised in exchange. Ryu's girlfriend, a Raggedy-Ann leftist named YOUNGMIN (BAE Doona), urges Ryu to kidnap the four-year-old daughter of industrialist owner PARK DONG-JIN (SONG Kang-ho), who recently laid off Ryu and many other workers from his factory. Ryu agrees, but just as the plan is on the verge of success, Ryu's sister discovers what Ryu and Youngmin have been up to, and kills herself in despair. Compounding the tragedy, Ryu loses track of his little illicit charge during a visit to his childhood haunts, and she drowns in the river Ryu and his sister played in as kids. Dong-jin's deep grief quickly turns to rage and he embarks on an implacable quest for vengeance. At the same time, Ryu goes after the organ traders, knowing that if they had come through, none of the tragic occurrences would ever have happened. Bound by their common sense of loss and deep-seated anger, the two are on a collision course of revenge. --© Tartan Films [More]

Starring: Ha-kyun Shin, Kang-ho Song, Doo-na Bae

Starring: Ha-kyun Shin, Kang-ho Song, Doo-na Bae

Director: Chan Wook Park

Director: Chan Wook Park
Screenwriter: Chan Wook Park
Studio: Tartan Films

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Release:

Nov 22, 2005

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Reviews for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Park forces us to consider a world where good intentions go awry, decent people do bad things, and fate deals cruel cards. But even at its darkest moments, Sympathy finds surprising and heartbreaking shreds of humanity.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
04/19/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Even more brutal than Oldboy, but sadly less focused and with less intrigue

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
08/29/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Park's deliberate direction is full of serene scenes and lovely images for a film so full of violence and death...

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/09/05
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Almost every scene contains something surprising, even startling -- we feel as if Park is searching for a new way of seeing...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
10/07/05
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

You can't look away, not only because the carnage is so masterfully photographed, but because the director sucks you into his bleak, poetic, even sensible vision of cosmic brutality.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
08/19/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Slowly degenerates into a gory revenge thriller that is never thrilling, but is often boring and frequently repulsive.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
08/18/05
Brendan Bernhard
Brendan Bernhard
L.A. Weekly

Park pays most of his attention to visceral style, but he sketches in enough about his characters to make them frighteningly relatable.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
08/28/05
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

Executed with style and it sets up a situation that provides some food for thought.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
01/26/06
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance accomplishes a miraculous feat by being harrowing and humane in equal measure.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
08/16/05
James Crawford
James Crawford
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is so much talent on display in Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, it is a drag that the film never rises to the level of its director's obvious ability.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/18/05
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie begins as a tragic tale of sacrifice and love... intense and understandably moving. It gets a little less interesting when it turns into a gore-fest.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
09/30/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Slow pace and the lack of clear definition between good and bad makes it a less immediate effort than Oldboy.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
08/19/05
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Confirms Park's mastery of a niche style of cinema that is glossy, morbid and childishly provocative.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Daniel Eagan
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International

SFMV is a cinematic tour de force, if an unrelentingly cruel one.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
08/22/05
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is so badly told that it ends up dissecting a corruption that exudes from nowhere but itself.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
08/17/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A daisy wheel of revenge-fueled gore speciously intercut with delusions of social commentary.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/14/05
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

The best way to describe it is as the work of an artist -- director Chanwook Park -- who possesses both a conscience and a burning desire to use images to tell stories.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/10/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Lucidly [explores] the grey-area complexities of guilt, morality, and the reactionary justifications that lead humane people to seek unspeakable retribution.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
08/19/05
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

It is a worthy start to a trilogy and to a director who is fast establishing himself as a new light in Asian cinema.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
09/23/05
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Two hours that didn’t entertain much, thrill much or do much of anything…much.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
08/26/05
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
 
 
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Latest News for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

May 15, 2009: Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report – Thirst’s Vampires Descend on the Croisette
Park Chan-wook is best known for his exceptional Vengeance Trilogy -- Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance -- three blood-soaked, expertly drawn films that... More...

March 17, 2008: Charlize Theron Has Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
She'll spend the summer blending humor and superhero action with Will Smith and Jason Bateman in Hancock, but Charlize Theron already has Vengeance on her mind. More...

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