One Word Movie

Sympathy for Mr Vengeance

The first half-hour or so of this film, you wonder why it's got a sticker on the front saying Asia Extreme. It's your fairly routine story about a deaf mute brother and sister who get mixed up with organ harvesting and a child abduction plot. But when it all goes wrong, that can only mean one thing. Yeah, you've guessed it. Spam city. Practically everyone gets it, but no-one gets shot. That's not nearly nasty enough for Chan Wook Park.

If this had come out in 1982 it would have been legendary as a prince among video nasties. When I was watching this, I was literally reduced to a state of slack-jawed gawping. I mean, I thought Munich was quite violent, but Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is so shocking that you cannot take your eyes away from the screen. It's totally unnecessary.

This film is good. I can't wait to see Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, but at the same time, I think I might give it a while, for the sake of my mental health.

posted by Chairman Peyote @ 2:13 PM