I don't know if my last article about Korean cinema had any impact on some of you who read my stuff but it piqued the interest of the person who reads my articles more than anyone else: Me.
Therefore i went on quest to find more Korean thrillers and I found a bunch. "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is the first one i watched and it did not disappoint.
The story begins tragically as a lower class man is working his ass off in order to save money to get a kidney transplant for his very sick sister.
He also has the added luxury of being deaf and mute so not very many people can speak to him at all, including the doctor who is trying to explain to him that he cannot donate his own kidney because he is the wrong blood type.
You immediately feel bad for "Ryu" because he seems like a genuinely kind person who is perfectly willing to work himself to death in order to help his sister. It becomes especially sad because he does succeed in saving up the necessary 10 million Won for the operation only to have it stolen from him.
This is where the story becomes dark: I don't want to spoil very much because well, you might want to watch this movie as well and i highly recommend that you do. Ryu and his anti-government girlfriend concoct a way of getting the money and it isn't exactly ethical. His girlfriend is part of an underground anarchist organization and if I remember correctly is was almost entirely her idea.
There are lots of twists and turn and well which is delightfully common in Korean thrillers. There is plenty of blood and shocking moments also.
If you have ever heard of any Korean movies you are likely to have heard of "Oldboy" which was remade recently in English with American actors - I didn't watch this, i didn't need to, the Korean one is a masterpiece. Anyway, I was unaware that Oldboy is actually part 2 of a 3 part series. And "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" is part 1.
This movie is about 2 hours long and at no point do you feel as though you know what is going to happen next, which is something I like so much about Korean movies.
"Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" won tons of awards in Korea and none overseas. I think this is quite common.
I give this movie a 9 out of 10 because it isn't a masterpiece, but it is awfully close.
Thanks for reading and as always, I welcome your comments.