Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) Boksuneun naui geot (original title)

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Mu-yeong Lee
Chan-wook Park
(more)

Release Date:

29 March 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Revenge Was Never This Sweet

Plot:

A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.

Plot Keywords:

Kidney Transplant | Violence | Revenge | Blood | Blood On Shirt

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Kang-ho Song	...	Park Dong-jin
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Ryu
Doona Bae	...	Cha Yeong-mi
Ji-Eun Lim	...	Ryu's Sister
Bo-bae Han	...	Yu-sun
Se-dong Kim	...	Chief of Staff
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Choe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Masashi Fujimoto	...	Peng
Ju-bong Gi
Gyu-su Jeong
Jae-yeong Jeong	...	Husband of Dong-jin's ex-wife's
Kan-hie Lee	...	Park Dong-jin's ex-wife
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Anarchist
Seung-wan Ryoo	...	Delivery Boy
Seung-beom Ryu	...	Retarded Boy at River

Directed by
Chan-wook Park

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jae-sun Lee
Jong-yong Lee
Mu-yeong Lee
Chan-wook Park

Produced by
Jae-sun Lee	....	producer
Kang-bok Lee	....	executive producer
Jin-gyu Lim	....	producer
Dong-jun Seok	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Byeong-il Kim

Film Editing by
Sang-beom Kim

Production Design by
Jung-hwa Choe

Art Direction by
Sang-man Oh

Costume Design by
Seung-heui Shin

Sound Department
Eun-ah Choi	....	dialogue editor
Sung Rok Choi	....	sound effects editor
Chang-seop Kim	....	sound designer
Seok-weon Kim	....	sound
Seung-cheol Lee	....	sound
Ju-kang Park	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Seongho Jang	....	visual effects supervisor: Mofac Studio

Production Companies

• CJ Entertainment
• Studio Box

Distributors

• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cine Qua Non Films (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2006) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• MTV Netherlands (2006) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Palisades Pictures (2005) (USA) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2002) (USA) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• SBP (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2003) (Finland) (video)
• YLE Teema (2010) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Mofac Studio (visual effects)

Also Known As:

"Boksuneun naui geot" - South Korea (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong gruesome violence, strong sexuality, language and drug use

Runtime:

129 min | Japan:117 min | UK:121 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | Korean Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-18 | Norway:15 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:16 | Singapore:R21 | Finland:K-18 | New Zealand:R18 | France:-16 | Iceland:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Basel-Stadt) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Argentina:18 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Trivia:

Ha-kyun Shin complained of being hurt by Kang-ho Song in the scene where he slaps his face recklessly. The filming crew noticed his face looked different from injuries.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene where engineer Peng slashes his stomach four times, notice his strokes. He makes a semi-short stroke, then two strokes that are similar in length, and then a very long stroke on the bottom. All of these strokes are relatively straight; although, when you see the close-up of his gashes bleeding, you see that the first stroke is very short and angled down, and the bottom stroke is much shorter than the middle two, even though it should obviously be longer.

Quotes:

Park Dong-jin:I know you're a good guy... but you know why I have to kill you...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Greatest Expectations (2003)

Crafted well enough to carve through the soul.

There aren't to many times when credits roll on a film and I want to immediately start watching it through again. This is one of the rare exceptions.

Visually stunning with artistic merit to almost every shot. Deliberate frame composition with the eye of a classical painter married to lighting that underscores the narrative with sublime control. The shots alternate between tight intimate shots with strong angles that elude to POV and deep staged shots in full focus throughout that nearly ride the axis like looking down the barrel of a rifle into the deepest darkest corners of our characters' lives.

The light and textures on screen are lush and rich and the focus generally deep like Seven or Silence of the Lambs. Solid DOP, solid Cinematographer, solid Production Designer, Solid Art Director, across the board this film stands up as tight, smart, unexpected, sometimes abusive and always engaging like a car wreck in all the charmed ways.

Dialogue, though minimal, is always apt and loaded. Sign language feels like Tai Chi, delicate here, fierce there, somehow clear I believe even without subtitles.

This gem is deliciously horrific, a complete study of tragedy and of theater grotesque. Like Scarface the film is laden with stomach clenching non-gratuitous gore which is somehow infinitely more disturbing.

The driving narrative is about vengeance, layer upon layer, constantly underscored by social commentary both direct and sub-textual addressing inequities, rights, justice and the cruelty / fairness of commerce, fate and basic karma.

Well crafted, well delivered, well done. Excellent. And absolutely NOT for people with weak gullets, true that.