Boksuneun naui geot (2002)

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Jae-sun Lee (writer)
Jong-yong Lee (writer)

Release Date:

29 March 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Revenge Was Never This Sweet

Plot:

In Seoul, the deaf and dumb worker Ryu is very attached to his sister, who needs a transplantation of kidney...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Violence | Blood | Kidney Transplant | Fired From The Job

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Kang-ho Song	...	Park Dong-jin
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Ryu
Du-na 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:
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

Also Known As:

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

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

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Finland:K-18 | New Zealand:R18 | France:-16 | Iceland:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Basel-Stadt) | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Argentina:18 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | 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

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Trivia:

After the enormous success of 'Joint Security Area', Park Chan Wook was given "carte blanche" to make whatever film he wanted in Korea. After searching for another "vengence-minded" script with no success, he finished the script he was working on before making 'Joint Security Area'.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Ryu rides the elevator with the police with Cha Yeong-mi's dead body, the sheet used to cover the body gets "pulled" down instead of coming down on it's own.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Widaehan yusan (2003)

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.