this film is by far one of my favourite films that i watched this year(the
film came out in 2002 so it's fairly recent). the only other film that
completely blew my mind this year off the top of my head is motorcycle
diaries and birth. i don't want to write about this one too much because this
movie should be felt instead of understood. not that there's alot of complications
in the script and it does have simple storyline that's part lars von trier,
quentin tarrantino, guy ritchie, coen brothers, and david fincher. if you've
been reading my movie entries, you know i'm a huge fan of those boys. if i
had to compare this film to others, i would get a scoop of dancer in the dark,
reservoir dogs, fargo, dirty pretty things and sprinkles of lock, stock. but
here's the kicker.

last year i wrote extensively about a korean film called oldboy that pretty much swept
the festival circuit including a major award at cannes. sympathy is by the same dude,
chan-wook park, both films are part of park's vengeance trilogy.

the closing film is coming out in korea at the end of july, called sympathy
for lady vengeance, appropriate enough, korean title is different. sympathy's
original korean title is "vengeance is mine".

if you've seen oldboy, you know what to expect. but unlike oldboy, sympathy does
not have a great mystery that keeps you hanging until that mystery is revealed
at the end and to me that's a good thing. for one thing, by forcing the audience
to hold their collective breaths until final moments of the film, the director
creates an impossible expectation that usually end up being a let down. and
that's sort of how i felt with oldboy. i absolutely loved every minute of it
until the antagonist explains why he imprisoned the protagonist for 15 years.
i thought to myself, "so..... you had a little grudge?" sympathy
starts off with the main character's motive and how his action creates ripple
effect that drives ordinary ppl to their extremes and turn them against each
other in a vicious circle. but the heartbreaking part is that all this started
with good and pure intentions. sympathy feels so much more real, as if something
like this can happen in my neighbourhood or i could possibly know someone who
may be in this situation. it's easy to imagine for someone without money(or
lost a great deal) to scheme in order to save a loved one, and the immediacy
of the desperation that follows. this film portrays the extreme limits of how
far a brother and a father will go to save respective sister and daughter,
and what happens when they clash.

there were alot of scenes or 'moments' that blew my mind away, in particular,
the first autopsy scene(no gore, just a powerful reactive acting), the river
scene(i don't wanna give any details because it's a spoiler but there's one
unique shot that freaked me out so much...), the protagonist playing with the
child(he's on the floor, she sits on his stomach, he crosses his legs, she
leans on his knees as she watches telly, then hands him a note), final act
by the river, and so much more. many of the striking/memorable shots and scenes
are spoilers so i won't describe them.

i give sympathy a 9.5/10. this would have been a perfect film if it
wasn't for the last 2 minutes. i obviously don't want to give anything away
but a director's choice to show slightly more took away from his overall vision
BUT i can understand why he decided to end the way he did by showing that a
vengeance fruits other even more malicious revenges(city of god showed this
vicious circle quite well, how one death leads to the next and the next). another
film that i felt this way about m.night's unbreakable and knew he ended his
film the way he did as a result of many focus groups...

everyone with iron stomach and lovers of well-told, well-presented and well-executed film
should definitely check this gem out. both sympathy and oldboy can be downloaded
on torrentspy. sympathy///oldboy

i honestly hope you check out both films, but sympathy is absolutely necessary viewing.

click on the poster below for sympathy for lady vengeance trailer