As part of a future (as-yet undisclosed) project, I’m currently re-visiting the films of Korean director Park Chan-wook. I was planning to begin with JSA: Joint Security Area, but neither of my Blu-ray players seemed willing to play my VCD (I know!) last night, so I jumped ahead to Park’s 2002 revenge masterpiece. It’s been close to 10 years since I last saw the film, but it remains unflinchingly bleak, brutal, yet also beautiful, in its story of a botched kidnapping and the increasingly violent outcome. The result is a classic neo-noir that I’m predicting may well stand-up as the director’s most affecting work to-date.
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance
