4 out of 5

Director: Chan-wook Park

I think that this requires a bit more dedication than oldboy, as the plot is strewn lengthily along the 129 minute playing time, but overall, this is a much more rewarding watch. The first of Chan-wook Parks vengeance trilogy, Sympathy focuses on one mans attempt to raise money for his sisters kidney transplant. Heres my first warning: at various points I would rewind, wondering if I had missed a detail as some plot points seemed confusing, only to find that, no, I had only learned what I needed to thus far. Its an interesting film style for that reason – and similar to Oldboy in that sense – but lacks the mystery that Oldboy uses to rope you along through the end. Instead you are kept on by the interactions between the myriad characters, which do eventually tie together properly… but is somewhat frustrating if youre not prepared to wait. Parks combination of violence, dark comedy, and emotion was also fresh here, not stretching for the somewhat absurd extremes found in Oldboy or Thirst, and thus more true to life. The visual style is similarly less aware of itself, and more down-to-earth, making it, again, more striking. Park finds his beats and key shots and hits them perfectly. A very solid, thoughtful, and rewarding film on the cause and effects of vengeance that just requires a bit of patience from the viewer to wring out the full emotional effect.