August 07, 2005
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance in America
I'm a big fan of Asian cinema, but not so big as the guys over at Twitch who I'm taking many pointers from for my DVD rental list. They've just posted a link to the new North American trailer for Boksuneun naui geot, better known over these parts as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
From the Writer\Director of Oldboy (which if you haven't seen then you need to go out and see it now before the Hollywood remake kills it, and believe me it will) Chan-wook Park, this looks like another film that will get right into you and twist you around, leaving you with something you won't so easily forget when you leave the cinema. I'm just finishing watching all the extras on the Oldboy 2 disc DVD, and I have to say it's one of the best movies and insightful DVD's I've ever seen.
Click to download the trailer from Ifilm, it looks like a cracker.
If anyone has seen this is it a good movie? As good as Oldboy?
Posted by at August 7, 2005 07:15 AM
Comments
Posted by: Vidphile at August 7, 2005 10:52 AM
I actually own all three of his movies on DVD (JSA, Sympathy and Oldboy) and this one is probably the most horrorific and visceral. I love Oldboy (and think it's a amazing piece of work), but just watching Sympathy with no knowledge of what's going to happen is a bit rough. Having said that, it is an truly worthwhile expirence. Just don't expect the hyper-kinetic ADD fest of Oldboy.
Posted by: Travon at August 7, 2005 03:39 PM
They're doing a remake of Oldboy? Tell me you're joking. Please. :(
Posted by: Arethusa at August 7, 2005 05:13 PM
They are just releasing this? Geez. Ive had this DVD for a while. Bring on Lady Vengance already!!
Posted by: Pudie at August 7, 2005 11:03 PM
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a pretty good movie, but in my opinion not as good as Oldboy.
Concerning the remakes, not only Oldboy is being remade by some relatively unknown director/screenwriters (Justin Lin/Fabian Marquez), but Joint Security Area will also be remade - which is one of the most stupid ideas ever.
Posted by: T-Jax at August 8, 2005 03:47 AM
I think it's a US cinema release...The US are weird with foreign releases.
Yup, Oldboy is being remade as a US movie...how the hell they think they can carry that off in the US I have no idea!
Posted by: Richard Brunton at August 8, 2005 04:38 AM
Ahhh... have you really not seen Sympathy?
Honestly I can't say which is better. I saw Sympathy first and love the crap out of it. Really freaking awesome movie. Seriously. Great everything about it.
The ending of Oldboy is indeed weird, but this one just leaves me with an empty, gaping abyss where my stomach used to be. Damn I love this movie.
Yeah you should watch it. Like nine times in a row.
Posted by: Ryan at August 8, 2005 10:19 AM
> Oldboy is being remade as a US movie...how the hell they
> think they can carry that off in the US I have no idea!
Well, they're probably remake it in a PG-13 movie, with Jessica Simpson [Richard - deleted], Burt Reynolds [Richard - deleted] and Sean William Scott as the villain. The imprisoning time won't be 15 years, but 3 hours. They will remove all traces of [Richard - "the main plot line"] and they will replace it with . The corridor fight will be replaced with the guy just showing them the hammer and everybody running away in terror. In the end, the 2 guys will both apologize to each ther [Richard - deleted]. All the critics will hate it and it will make lots of money in the opening weekend.
Are you expecting something else? :P
Posted by: T-Jax at August 8, 2005 10:31 AM
Sorry, something ate a part of my message (probably thought it was HTML). Anyway, the complete sentence above was "They will remove all traces of [the main plot line - Richard] and they will replace it with [insert random stupid reason here]".
Concerning Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, it is a GOOD movie. I just happen to like Oldboy more.
[Richard Brunton - Sorry T-Jax, huge give away in your messages so I've edited both]
Posted by: T-Jax at August 8, 2005 10:35 AM
Oldboy was just awesome on all levels. Quicly climbed up the list as a favorite.
Posted by: Pudie at August 8, 2005 10:49 AM
In my opinion, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is better than Oldboy. It's much slower, but it doesn't mean it lacks complexity. I think it's more complex than Oldboy. Although there are no twist, the story really absorbs me and it's full of layers. It's also more natural.
Posted by: Budi at August 8, 2005 10:36 PM
I bought "Sympathy" last November at an Asian DVD/VCD store in NY City. I have the VCD with English subtitles, which cost me $3.99. It's a great movie. I mentioned it in a blog entry today on my blog: http://capitalregionpeople.blogspot.com
Posted by: Dave Lucas at August 13, 2005 11:04 PM
The third of the series has just been released in South Korea "sympathy for Lady Vangance" It is selling out in Korean cinemas. I can't convince my Girlfirend to want to see it though. She was too disturbed by OldBoy. some of my students have seemed to enjoy it though... for what it's worth.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengance was the first in this Director's "vengance trilogy"