Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Das erste Bild der Park'schen "Revenge"-Trilogie hat mich ehrlich gesagt nicht so angesprochen wie andere hier ansässige Nutzer. Ich hatte eben nicht erwartet, einen weiteren Oldboy oder thematisch verwandten, jedoch völlig unterschiedlichen Film wie I Saw the Devil zu sehen. Dieser Film geht ganz anders vor und erinnert eher an ein trauriges Krimi-Drama. Die rasante Aktion von "Ihr habt meine Tochter getötet und jetzt werde ich euch alle erschießen und zerstückeln" kommt hier eigentlich kaum vor. Alle Morde der hiesigen Charaktere ergeben sich vielmehr logisch aus dem Tod anderer Charaktere, wodurch sich die ganze blutige Rache ständig aufeinanderschichtet. Gore gibt es hier keinen, dafür fehlen jedoch perfekte schauspielerische Leistungen und jeder Zuschauer findet hier vielleicht seine unvergessliche Szene. (04.01.2011)

This is going to sound weird, but I'm actually glad I didn't become fond of this movie and don't have any pangs of guilt. Because sometimes I have trouble giving high ratings to films whose content I strongly dislike. But otherwise I would end up rating most films negatively. And yet I didn't like the execution in this case either. Long shots of ugly and gloomy things that make me worry that I’m getting brainwashed. I hope I never find my way back to this. (05.12.2013)

More relief than pleasure three stars. It might be that I was just not in the mood for this lengthy Asian thriller, or that Park is not my cup of tea (which is more likely). I’m aware that in average I’m more into Asian romances than Asian thrillers, which is quite surprising given my otherwise darker film tastes… (29.12.2011)

The first part of a loose trilogy with a common theme of revenge, which differs from parts two and three like night differs from day. Each of these pictures takes its own peculiar path and each of these paths is brilliant. This movie takes a rough and ready little path, paved with slow pace with maximum emphasis on characters and primarily with believable and several variations on revenge. All this without a formal shell or technical games. Which not only doesn’t matter, but it’s a good thing; the intimate, chamber tone works well here. But there are two problems here. The music, which is almost non-existent, and when there is some, you don’t notice it; which is surprising in a movie from Park. And the movie works more on a level of separate, powerful scenes, rather that as a coherent whole. (29.04.2005)

An extremely depressing, dark, and bleak revenge epic with some very powerful and chilling scenes. Park Chan-wook (my first ever encounter with this appealing gentleman) here creates themes of revenge as an extremely cruel and insatiable desire for satisfaction as a result of the accidental loss of a loved one. It is precisely the cruelty and uncompromising nature of the process of "revenge" that is pushed to the limits of humanity and tolerability in this Korean rendition. It gives the impression that at a certain stage of mental (dis)integration, the act of revenge becomes the only meaning of life and forces one to commit unprecedented acts. With its minimal dialogue, absence of significant formal devices, and atmosphere of hopelessness that is all the more poignant because you have to fear what comes next, the first part of the revenge trilogy is a remarkable, raw, and actually extremely sensitive spectacle. (07.10.2012)