Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

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

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Jae-sun Lee, Jong-yong Lee

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Doona Bae

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kang-ho Song	...	Dong-jin Park
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Ryu
Doona Bae	...	Yeong-mi Cha
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	...	Dong-jin Park's ex-wife
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Anarchist
Jae-woong Park
Seung-bum Ryoo	...	Retarded Boy at River (as Seung-beom Ryu)

Storyline

In Seoul, Ryu, a deaf worker has a sister who needs a kidney transplant. He tries to donate his own kidney to his sister, but his blood type is not compatible with hers. When Ryu is fired from Ilshin Electronics, he meets illegal dealers of organs, and the criminals propose that he give them his kidney plus ten millions Won to obtain a kidney suitable for his sister. Ryu accepts the trade, but he does not have money to pay for the surgery. His anarchist revolutionary girlfriend Cha Young-mi convinces him to kidnap Yossun, the daughter of his former employer Park, who owns Ilshin Electronics. However, a tragedy happens, generating revenge and a series of acts of violence.

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Plot Keywords:

sign language | three act structure | dead woman in a bathtub | four word title | make love | 

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Taglines:

Revenge Was Never This Sweet

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean Korean Sign Language

Release Date:

29 March 2002 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,827, 21 August 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$45,289, 16 February 2006

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,954,937, 25 March 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Discovery Venture Capital, KTB Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Kang-ho Song's character waits for Ryu while lying down, it's suggested that he makes snoring noises to pretend that he is sleeping. However, Ryu is deaf and this strategy would prove useless.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Cha Yeong-mi: The bad image kidnappers get is because of kids getting killed. But we're different. Give us the money and we'll return the kid pronto.

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Crazy Credits

The title card of the film is shown in both Korean and English.

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Connections

Referenced in Growing Up Fisher: Trust Fall (2014)

User Reviews

Absolutely Stunning

All I could think of during the last 20 minutes of this amazing film is how I am feeling the exact same way I felt as the final act played out in "Taxi Driver", were the only word floating through my brain and out my mouth was "Jesus". Anyway I was blown away.

I must admit that violence has not bothered me too much in my 25 years of watching films. It did affect me when I saw "Taxi Driver" for the first time, and it did truly mess me up when I saw "Irreversible" and now this film. I don't think I can handle too much anymore. I am glad that I was not prepared for the last act of this film. I was lulled into trance while watching the film unfold, it was mesmerizing. I loved everything about it, the acting, the story, again I had no Idea where it was going, I say again because I have mentioned this point in previous reviews, Asian films kick ass because they don't pander to focus groups or near sighted Hollywood suits, they take you places you either have no Idea where your going or take you places where you may feel the need to turn back but can't.

The relationships in this film are so pure, so real and beautiful, especially between the little girl and her captures. I love the way they set up the scene that would be the catalyst for the ensuing mayhem, even until the last second you aren't sure how far they were going to take it. I don't want to ruin anything so I will stop now.

I recommend this film to anyone who appreciates a films that break all the rules, films that are not easy to digest, films that are beautiful and tragic at the same time, and guaranteed if you see this film you will feel sympathy for anyone who is put into that postion, sympathy on both sides, Vengeance is like a pebble in the water.