When did you first hear of Park Chan-wook?

For those of my readership who haven’t heard this name, South Korean auteur Park technically began his career in film in 1992 with a movie called Moon is the Sun’s Dream. He followed up this entry– which was a critical and commercial failure– with a pair of other poorly received films across the rest of the decade until, in 2000, he finally found himself with a hit on his hands in the form of Joint Security Area, a military drama about the Korean DMZ. JSA went on to become, at the time, the new record holder for highest-grossing Korean film, beating its predecessor and (partial) reason for existing, Shiri.

In spite of this tremendous success, it wasn’t until 2001 that Park gained notable visibility outside of his own country. Ask most American Park fans what their first Park film was, and many will probably respond with Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance. (And many more will probably offer Oldboy.) Today, in spite of his diversity as a filmmaker, Park tends to be remembered as the director of the “vengeance trilogy”, a trio of films that share nothing in common save for a unifying focus upon the fine art of getting even that starts with Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, continues on to Oldboy, and ends with Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (shortened, in the US, to Lady Vengeance). Nevermind JSA (which, while admittedly flawed, is still an effective and moving story) or Park’s contribution to the South Korean omnibus film If You Were Me (his segment, titled N.E.P.A.L.– Never Ending Peace And Love– ranks as some of the most harrowing filmmaking he truly has ever done); Park’s the vengeance guy!

It’s possible that his notoriety can be attributed to a morbid cultural obsession with graphic violence and nudity– which each of the vengeance films feature in bulk– but perhaps the reason that the director today is still best remembered for his revenge trilogy is because they are his most polished and tightly constructed movies to date. On the subject of revenge, Park also seems to have the most to say– his work preceding and following the completion of the trilogy has lacked focus and purpose (such as 2006’s listless and sluggish, romantic comedy I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay, and 2004’s Cut, Park’s entry in the horror omnibus Three Extremes, where the director seemed to be doing a bad imitation of the vengeance films he was, at the time, famous for), belying a struggle on Park’s behalf to get his point of view across to his audience.

But these lapses don’t indicate that his previous commercial and critical successes were flukes; Park seems to understand revenge in a more complete way than he understands romance. More importantly,  he grasps the concept totally, whereas many of his contemporaries do not; to him the purpose of cinematic revenge doesn’t lie simply in the satisfaction we feel at seeing a film’s villain get his inevitable comeuppance. Park’s focus, in fact, lies less in portraying his characters as they carry out their retribution and more in what it is that drives them to seek vengeance in the first place. From Sympathy’s Ryu to Oldboy’s Dae-su to Lady Vengeance’s Geum-ja, Park’s films are replete with people who are wounded in one way or another– each character bears emotional scars, but some even carry physical reminders of the ills inflicted upon them– and for whom vengeance appears to be the only thing that can assuage them of their pain.

Of course the truth is that such relief isn’t achieved so simply, and this is the real thematic meat of Park’s stories.

Take, for example, the introductory film of the trilogy, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance. The film does not start off as a quest for revenge; we meet Ryu, a deaf-mute whose sister needs a kidney transplant (and to whom he cannot donate a kidney because their blood types don’t match). Shortly after introductions are made, Ryu is fired from his factory job, and Ryu becomes desperate rather than vengeful, seeking the aid of black market organ donors to procure a kidney. The encounter does not go as planned– the crooks rob him of his severance pay and steal one of his own kidneys as though to add insult to injury, or vice versa. Eventually their crimes catch up with them, and Ryu hunts them down and brutally slays them all. The mother/sons team reacts with shock as much as horror as the wiry man efficiently ends each of their lives; they are, perhaps, more surprised that Ryu came back to repay their deed than they are surprised that he is so adept at doing so.

The unexpected nature of Ryu’s attack underlines Park’s thesis in the film, that cruelty begets more cruelty and that we can’t escape the cycles of violence and vengeance that we trap ourselves in. The donors commit their heinous act out of avarice rather than retribution, certainly, but in robbing Ryu they ensure that their story can only end in violence.

So too do the film’s other characters seal their fates. With no other options after his theft, Ryu and his girlfriend, Yeong-mi, conspire together to kidnap Yu-sun, the daughter of his ex-boss’s friend, factory CEO Dong-jin, and hold her for ransom. While father frantically searches for daughter, Yu-sun dies in a tragic accident; Dong-jin swears vengeance on Ryu and Yeong-mi, torturing the latter to death and killing the former in the river where Yu-sun drowns. But Park establishes that no one goes unpunished for their crimes in this cinematic world, even Dong-jin; as the grieving father buries Ryu’s remains, members of a terrorist group to whom Yeong-mi claimed she had ties show up and take turns in stabbing Dong-jin to death.

The bleak ending drives home Park’s point with all the subtlety of a freight train: Vengeance is a trap that dooms us as surely as it dooms the recipients of our wrath. From the moment our protagonists exact their revenge, they ensure that they too will meet their own violent ends; when Ryu chooses to get even with the organ donors, he leaves Yeong-mi alone in her apartment. This puts her at Dong-jin’s mercy, and the outcome of that encounter consigns Ryu to his ultimate fate (as Yeong-mi’s murder impels Ryu to seek revenge against Dong-jin). In the same vein, Dong-jin guarantees his own death when he kills Yeong-mi; he tortures her to death in spite of her pleas and her threats (though it is questionable as to what action he would have taken had he reason to believe her claims), earning the vengeful attentions of both Ryu, whom Dong-jin is able to best, and the terrorists. And what will ultimately happen to those nameless men who appear suddenly and just as quickly vanish into thin air? It is not hard to imagine that they carry that cycle of revenge with them as they leave Dong-jin to die, leaving us to wonder how and when their karma will catch up to them.

There’s another recurring motif at work in Sympathy that plays a more minor role than it does in Park’s second revenge film, Oldboy: The caustic and unpredictable nature of instilling revenge. The lone action that sets off all other events in motion that comprise the total tragedy of Sympathy is Ryu’s lay-off, a simple action meant with no malice and intending no harm. This single act creates a snowball effect, with each action taken after it has happened being bigger and more degenerated. From a lone firing comes the brutal murder of no fewer than six people, as well as the death of a child and a suicide. Park is fascinated by how such a small transgression can cause so much damage; he explores this further, and with more morbid detail, in Oldboy, but it is not hard to imagine that that theme found its initial grounding in the plot of Sympathy. (This detail will be reviewed in greater depth in part 2 of this series.)

The film, ultimately, portrays the senselessness of revenge by showing how people’s vengeance outlives them; by earning their vengeance, Ryu and Dong-jin simply give others reason to seek retribution themselves. The obsessive hatred born out of their respective quests for vengeance satiates their desperate need to dispel their pain, but at the cost of their own lives (which are often met at the hands of those who wronged them– Ryu is murdered by Dong-jin, who grieves for his dead daughter, and Dong-jin is murdered by Yeong-mi’s associates) and the lives of innocents (such as Yu-sun or Ryu’s sister). When the grave cost of their quests is considered in comparison to the minor occurrence that sparked the chain of events, the utter irrationality of their separate mad bids for revenge is highlighted and made all the more horrifying.

Next installment: Oldboy and Lady Vengeance are examined, and we learn how revenge does not heal all wounds, and how it can also be a cathartic force.

Ha-so

Jonah started me thinking about this yesterday due to the presence of that overblown shitfest Hero on his list of Asian films of the decade.  Which can be found here, and is up to his usual high standards. Go and read it.

While I do have to agree with some of them, others (fucking Hero) wouldn’t get within a thousand miles of mine, and as he challenged me to put up or shut up, here’s my top 10 of the decade:

*edit* Firstly, I’m kicking off with this- it got it’s UK release in 2000, but was apparently 1999 so is borderline for selection-

Audition (2000)

If you really must do Torture Porn (and believe me, I’d rather you didn’t) then this is how you do it. I normally don’t like Miike, because I think he just does twisted for the sake of being twisted, but when he gets it right, this is the result. Nightmare inducing stuff in a grim and depressing but all to realistic setting. Some great performances and a slow burn pace help this film lacerate your cortex and I guarantee that it will stay with you long after you turn it off.

“Kiri-kiri-kiri” indeed and a warning to all the lonely fuckers out there about the dangers of online dating- you could end up in a burlap sack with no feet, no tongue and needles sticking out of places that needles really aren’t meant to go.

Now, the list proper:

10) The Good, The Bad and The Weird (2009)

An Asian version of a spaghetti western. Which is appropriate considering that Pasta is from the Orient. TGTBATW is a madcap adventure film following the chase by the three titular characters haring around Mongolia after a treasure map. Great fun, smashing action, a few genuine moments of comedy and worth a look by anyone.

Furthermore, the cinematography and score are marvelous. It may owe more than a passing nod to Sergio Leone, but I just don’t care.

If that’s not enough, I’ve just discovered that the lead actors did their own stunts (several of which are extremely risky) which I think just adds to the coolness.

9) Chocolate (2008)

Alright, alright, I know it may be a 2 dimensional moronic plot, and I know that superficial is it’s middle name, but fuck me can she move, and don’t pretend it isn’t funny watching an autistic girl beat people up.

I mean, come on, if you don’t enjoy this then there isn’t a chance that you’re ever going to enjoy martial arts cinema. Extended scenes of ultra-violence married to possibly the stupidest excuse for fighting that I think I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking choreography and damned good fun.

8 ) Infernal Affairs (2004)

Fuck Scorcese, Nicholson, and Maaaaaat Daaaaaaaaamon.

This is the real deal, and the didn’t get within a thousand miles of capturing the awesomeness- tense, taut stuff underpinned by several superb performances (notably Tony Leung) and the ending simply destroys the rubbish nonsense cobbled together in the Boston atrocity.

Infernal Affairs is a mob film of the highest calibre, and worth a place on almost any list.

7) The Host (2006)

A good shout by Jonah, this one. The Host is a thoroughly enjoyable monster movie, with a clever subtext about mass paranoia in the face of the unknown.

Alright, the main character may be a retard, and the whole family may have special skills to help them kill the beast, but fuck it, I don’t care. This film is worth it’s place on the list just for the scene with the monster exploding out of the river and ravaging the poeple on the bank- exciting, kinetic, clear- and miracle of miracles, they held the camera steady.

Top drawer.

6)Oldboy (2003)

Again, another one from Jonah’s list, but personally, I think it’s the weakest of the 3 Vengeance films- I love the trilogy so much I’m including all of them.

Having said that, Chan Wook Park’s middle film is still a mighty grand guignol of concentrated nastiness and the scene where he eats the live octopus makes me feel ill even writing about it.

The best news I heard in yonks was when this slipped through Spielberg’s fingers. He would have ruined it.

And no, for the record, training in a room for 15 years on your own does not give you a coat of invulnerability. You will, in fact, get your arse kicked.

5) Lady Vengeance (2005)

Park didn’t have any difficult 3rd album problems with this one. A storming film- although probably the least complex of the vengeance films, given that the villain clearly deserves it, and the heroine is clearly in the right.

However, having said that, the prison scenes are simply superb charting Gu-eum-ja’s rise up the convict heirarchy to “witch”, and the vengeance sequence itself is downright harrowing.

Beautifully shot, wonderfully scored and about as poetic as a movie about revenge can be. This is how you do vengeance, Tarantino, you talentless fuck.

4) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance(2002)

Well, I’m nothing if not predictable. However, this is my favourite of the Vengeance trilogy. I actually thought about adding this to my overall top 10, but damn it, there’s other films out there that I like more.

This is, I think, the most complicated of the Vengeance films- it doesn’t take a moral stance at all. I mean, sure, Ryu may have been robbed for a kidney and fired for no reason by President Park but Park isn’t a stereotypical fat cat capitalist bastard. Ryu makes an utter pig’s ear of his extortion plan and the Jacobean everybody croaks ending can be seen coming a mile away.

I read somewhere that the original idea was to fade to black and white half way through the film- what a great idea. Pity they didn’t do it.

I find it a real shame  that this film is largely forgotten due to the profile of it’s successor, but for me this is one of the finest films of the decade.

3) Red Cliff (2008)

See, John Woo hasn’t lost it. America clearly doesn’t suit him, and his massive historical epic is simply fucking magnificent.

Multi-layered stuff, visually stunning, deep, moving and gripping. Of course, my opinion may be coloured by the fact that I knew next to nothing about this period of Chinese History.

The ubiquitous Tony Leung once again excells, but he’s hardly alone. Watch and marvel at a master’s return to form.

But for fuck’s sake see the full length Red Cliff- avoid the truncated American version.Why they insist on doing this is a fucking mystery to me.

2) Daisy (2006)

This makes my best of the decade list, so I’m not going in to too much detail here. Needless to say, it’s another Korean masterclass. Inexplicaly, and disgracefully, this hasn’t had a UK release, so I can’t tell you to see it (unless you feel like downloading it, or some other such naughtiness, but you wouldn’t do that, would you?) but I can recommend it in the strongest possible terms.

A genuine tragedy with a spellbinding action ending. However, it isn’t the action that keeps you in this- pleasant as it is when it comes. Let me put it this way, Mrs. Jarv cried buckets from about the half way point of this film (and she sat down to watch it grumbling about “more fucking hitmen nonsense”), and she has lent my DVD out all over London. Luckily for her, it hasn’t been damaged.

Daisy is a magical, delightful film that manages to pull a genuine emotional response from the most cynical of viewers.

1) Battle Royale (2001)

Not just my favourite Asian film of the decade, but one of my favourite films of all-time. A blood soaked Lord of the Flies done Japanese style.Another one that I’m not going to go into too much detail about, because it also makes my top 10 of the decade.

Beat Takeshi is on awesome form as teacher Kitano, but the real stars of the piece are the kids- and how they managed to make me give a fuck about almost all of the characters (with the exception of sociopath Kiriyama) is wondrous.

Battle Royale is a tour de force of cinematic violence, even if it was unjustly banned in about 4 countries. However, having said that, what elevates it above the herd is the clever little touches- Kitano’s daughter, for example, is voiced by the sister of lead actress Noriko, thus making her voice somewhat familiar and adding another unnerving edge to Kitano’s obsession.

One more thing, is it wrong to want Mitsuko to win?

That’s my top 10 list, but these are films I considered for it, but didn’t add so I’m giving them all honorouble mentions:

Ong Bak, Ip Man, I’m a Cyborg but I’m Ok, Dumplings, Assembly, Kung Fu Hustle, Invisible Target, Protege, A bittersweet life, The Eye (fuck you all), The Twilight Samurai, Warlords, Mongol, Tale of 2 Sisters and The Clone Returns Home. Brotherhood of  War

Now, Finally, a big FUCK YOU to the worst Asian Film of the decade, and a contender for most offensive sequel of all time:

Battle Royale 2: Requiem

Keeping both the colon and the word Requiem in good stead, this is an utter disgrace. This is the film that holds down it’s predecessor and then takes a massive dump on it. Vile, incomprehensible, loathsome, over the top without being entertaining and Fukusaku Jr needs a thorough bitchslap for defiling his father’s superb original.

Pah, I hate this rubbish.

On that slightly depressing note, I’m off. However, I will return with Best European Films next, then Best American, before doing my definitive top 10 (now that I’ve come to terms with the fact that Avatar isn’t going to be on it).

Ciao

Jarv

PS- I’d also like to thank Hawaiin Organ Donor for turning me on to a lot of this stuff- he can usually be found lurking at Aint it Bale news, and is the nicest miserable bugger I know. Cheers mate.

What better way to celebrate Halloween then watching Park Chan-wook’s new film Bakjwi (Thirst)? To do the film any real justice I would probably have to watch it a number of times.

Thirst is a beautiful film that will offer a certain level of familiarity to Chan-wook fans. With the subtle, dark humor that was apparent in Old Boy and the dark beauty found in films like Lady Vengeance. The story is unsettling and the narrative is schizophrenic and occasionally confusing.

There are moments of intense violence, sensuality, humor. It’s an emotional experience. Song Kang-ho turns in a wonderful performance as a conflicted vampire priest suffering and embracing a slip into the dark side. He offers the perfect balance of comedic timing (as seen in The Host) and deep sadness. Kim Ok-vin is terrifying as she passes from innocent hard done by wife to psychotic and savage hunter.

I think fans of Chan-wook will love this more mature, more complex entry into his filmography. The rest of the world may miss the point.

After a wait approaching 1/10th of my life thus far lived, I recently had the good fortune to watch Park Chan-wook’s priest-cum-vampire drama, Thirst. I’ve diligently attempted a full-bodied critique, yet to no avail.  In its place follows a list of my main observations.

–

I. Thou shalt be awesome

He is my favorite filmmaker, period.  The most exciting.  I can think of no other who so effortlessly maneuvers past the audience’s defenses to rile up the primal fervors Hollywood’s numbercrunching conventionalism forgot long ago.  That was on full display here; a joy to watch with a crowded house of strangers. Park embodies that Hitchcockain sense of play, far moreso than any other contemporary director.

II. Thou shalt – SQUIRREL!

The whole bloody affair lacks unity, focus. Perhaps why I’ve struggled to instead form a cohesive essay in the nearly one month since. Essentially what happens, Park’s eye strays too much from the central character.

III. You shall expect the unexpected

Too perfect a premise for Park, meaning, the material and artist match meant too high of expectations, even had he gone the desired route.  Which resides half the genius of Park: his utterly untethered unpredictabilty. And maybe it’s to our benefit it’s a mess, then.  The loose structured, subdued insanity gives us the unexpected while the other “correct” (straight-ahead) movie may live on in our respective imaginations.

IV. You shall embrace the moment (and the many that follow)

So then, an erratic canvas, this movie limns from a brilliant palette of moments.  These moments are more rewarding and deserving than the vast bulk of cinema this year or any other.

V. Thou shalt hold thine pee

While it doesn’t have a tremendously long runtime, Thirst certainly feels too long, which I believe speaks to a larger problem…

VI. Thou shall know and respect thy limits

…here, Park possesses no sense of boundaries. He and Jeong Seo-Gyeong, his co-writer from Lady Vengeance through today, over-indulge almost every step of the way.  It’s been something of a problem since the two paired up, and it really hits full steam with Thirst.  As an example, there are two CGI sequences that so obviously exceed their grasp.  Generally, though, and more significantly, rather than coasting and developing an ongoing extension of its theoretical/moral quandaries, Park and Jeong ride numerous too many tangents.

VII. Thou shall laugh and adjust thine pants

Thirst is sexier (a high degree of screw loose eroticism, anyway) and funnier (this is an almost-comedy) than anticipated.  In flashes, Park has previously demonstrated a knack for both.  If you can appreciate a dark tongue (which, really, why else watch Park?), you’ll be wryly giggling throughout.

VIII. Thou, too,  shall be awesome

Superb, heightened acting from everyone. Song Kang-ho deserves all the superlatives bestowed upon him. But it’s Kim Ok-vin as Tae-ju who demands our rapt attention. She is scary good.

IX. Thou shall be open and honest

The writer-director formerly remarked Father Hyun is his own self-portrait.  Though the priest doesn’t get full-play, the long spool of film allows just enough breadth to chart an array of emotional currents.  Chapters of delusion, desperation, and total apathy, even in their sudden shifts, are unrelentingly honest.

X. Thou shall revisit thine past

More than anything, I wish I had seen it a second time, just to be certain.

Forget teenage girl Twilight fad bullcrap, think more: pain, lacerations, more pain, dark grave humor, and eroticized violence. Oh yes, and Thirst deservedly won the Jury Prize at Cannes this year.   Thirst is directed by Park Chan-Wook who directed my favorite movie of all-time [Oldboy] and he doesn’t dissapoint with this film. It is a bloodstained horror movie, a dark comedy, and a dark drama of crime and punishment. While nothing in Thirst is quite as shocking or perverse as some of the material in Oldboy or Lady Vengeance, there are elegantly presented servings of sex and gore.

Thirst involves a Catholic priest named Sang-hyun who becomes infected with vampire blood through a blood transfusion. Trapped between his faith and his lust for blood, his morals are tested when he becomes reunited with a friend, Kang-woo, and falls in love with his wife Tae-Joo. Though Tae-Joo is initially repulsed by the fact that Sang-hyun is a vampire, she overcomes her fears and the two begin a highly sexual relationship which quickly turns deadly.

You need to know that this movie is beautifully shot and composed. However, Thirst is no Oldboy, no, it’s not that great, but it’s still good. The film doesn’t rely on any vampire conventions one might expect. Where Thirst begins to fall apart is around the midway point. Although the focus of its narrative movement is not always clear, in its best moments, Thirst offers something of the poetic force of cinema’s timeless masterpieces. Park Chan-wook’s latest work Thirst, like other great movies, makes you forget you’re watching one, and you won’t be able to stop it from shaking up every cell in your body unless you dart for the exit.

Although the priests life has been saved due to the transfusion, his senses have been amplified, his strength has become superhuman and he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. However, he has to sleep in a closet during the day, and if he doesn’t feed on human blood, the grisly effects of the disease, such as vomiting blood, peeling fingernails, etc. return, and he’ll die. The most troubling side effect to the priest, though, is his sinful desire. A small regret is that the movie does not go as far as the novel to feature more character development. But, when the majority of America is watching and obsessing over stupid kiddy crap like Twilight, its movies like this and series like True Blood that deserve the real praise.

by Andrew Bowcock

Questioning the ideas and motives behind religion is no new theme in our society.  We are often especially obsessed with seeing holy men (or women) fall from their podium and have to deal with “reality” like the layman – I won’t even start listing films because there are dozens, if not hundreds that deal with the same type of faith crisis involving the head member of a Christian (often Catholic) church or movement getting involved in shady behavior.  It may not always be an obvious force at work, but no matter how you cut it there’s hardly ever an easy solution to finding personal redemption.

Chan-wook Park’s Thirst is no exception to that rule, but it’s a film that doesn’t spoon feed its audience; rather, it force-feeds them with a tough piece of meat that can be difficult to digest.  In other words, this film assumes its audience already knows everything they need to about vampires, so it takes no time explaining their nature – instead, it exploits what we know in order to make us quiver at the thought of having to deal with the same dilemma.  Park never makes apologies for his ultra-violent, often sexually aberrant style, but he likewise never strays from formulating a compelling philosophical dilemma amidst it all, so (although often jarring) one could argue that there’s ’something for everyone.’  In the case of Thirst, however, it’s unlikely that anybody will leave the viewing feeling untainted, at least in some manner.

We are thrown into a situation where the loving, philanthropic Priest Sang-hyun (Kang-ho Song) is given the opportunity to participate in a dangerous experiment, which will hopefully result in finding a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV) in Africa.  When Sang-hyun undergoes the experiment, he encounters horrible results leading seemingly to his death, but he miraculously arises and makes an unusually speedy recovery.  When news of this spreads upon his return to South Korea, many religious folk constantly start to approach him under the assumption that he has healing powers.  Though puzzled by his own speedy recovery and frustrated by trying to avoid the misled masses, Sang-hyun’s dilemma takes a delightful turn when he encounters Kang-woo, a childhood friend of his who invites him over to meet his family and participate in their weekly game of Mahjong.  After meeting Kang-woo’s wife, Tae-ju (Ok-vin Kim), Sang-hyun finds himself locked in a forbidden attraction.  This almost inevitably leads to a lusty affair…however, once Sang-hyun’s vampiric nature is revealed to Tae-ju and others close to him, the initial fear of death is dampened by their own lust for a cursed immortality.

From this point on, we are thrown deeper into a uniquely disturbing, torturous, and (sometimes) darkly funny chain of events involving murder, deception, self-mutilation, ghoulish hauntings, birthing of more dangerous vampires, and the worsening of the evils of humanity birthed through one’s transition into the undead.  There’s a lot more to discuss in relation to Sang-hyun’s battle for survival as he must find means to meet his needs without having to murder other people.  This doesn’t mean the priest succeeds in these endeavors, but I’ll end my synopsis here for fear of giving away too much.  It is however safe to say that this priest doesn’t remain a saint.

It’s no lie: I had very high expectations for this film, given the fact that I consider myself a fairly big Chan-wook Park fan, and love his Vengeance trilogy (Oldboy being one of my favorite films of the past decade).  All in all, I believe this film delivered what it promised, but in the end I felt like it should have given just a little bit more.  As I stated earlier, this (like all of Park’s films) leaves the viewer feeling very uncomfortable.  The bloody scenes are often pretty graphic but also quite realistic – and I think that’s probably why they’re a bit unsettling.  However, the real challenge comes into play when we start talking about the film’s sexuality.  I’ve gotten into numerous debates on what I think qualifies as “pornography,” and what might just simply be crossing the line – the conclusion I keep arriving at is that it all depends on the context of a story.  Most art film-makers are never shy about showing sexuality for what it is – a beautiful part of life…but when you get into the territory of cruel or unusual sexuality for prolonged periods of time onscreen, it can evoke some very conflicting reactions.

Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe that sexuality is a very important part of vampirism and shouldn’t be overlooked…but there was a point where I felt Thirst was nearing too close to the edge of taking pleasure in showing the nature of the twisted, vampire sex in which the main characters partook.  Contextually I did have to look back at Park’s other films (namely the Vengeance trilogy), where there often is some degree of disturbing or unusual sexuality which I probably could recommend a few edits on while still getting the same effect across…except for the case of Oldboy, where I believe the sexuality as is makes its heart-wrenching twist ending all the more powerful.

These grievances aside, Thirst is an effective horror film that will almost definitely appeal to Chan-wook Park fans and many vampire fans…it succeeds in every arena that Twilight fails, and instead of getting a lovey-dovey portrait of an awkward adolescent vampire protagonist, we get a much more mature and infinitely more believable one – not unsympathetic but definitely not innocent.  The performances are very solid, and there are some specific scenes that work fantastically.  The cinematographic style doesn’t jump out at you as obviously as some of Park’s other works, but it’s still very fluid and still brilliantly executed.  It is by no means a flawless film: there are a couple of aspects it could have easily survived without (one example being a couple of cheesily-executed CGI sequences, but thank God they’re few and far between).  There are also places where it felt like the story was dragging a little bit (specifically around the middle), and it is a 2 hour plus film that probably could have survived a good 10 or 15 minutes being shaved off, but the somewhat cruel yet satisfying ending sequence appropriately sealed away any doubts I had about where Park was going with the film.

Thirst, like most vampire stories nowadays, is an allegory for human struggle.  It’s not too far of a stretch to see the parallel between sin and vampirism in this new movement of vampire narratives representing the undead condition as an unfortunate curse rather than outright damnation (although it is still alluded to).  One interesting film that did this in the 90’s (which I will probably review soon for FFR) was Abel Ferrera’s The Addiction, though admittedly that story is more about the conversation than the narrative.  Last year we also saw the Swedish sleeper hit Let the Right One In give us a fresh perspective on the genre (unfortunately an American remake is in the works), and now we have Thirst, which may not seem as original on the surface, but its morose undercurrent combined with its pang-inducing sequences and compelling commentary make it a film worth watching for anybody who can stomach it.

Thirst is rated R by the MPAA for graphic bloody violence, disturbing images, strong sexual content, nudity and language.

___________________________________________________________________________

Recent or Related Reviews:

The Virgin Spring (Forgotten Film Review #1)

___________________________________________________________________________

photo sources:

http://iconsoffright.com/

http://www.gemagema.tv/blogs/nausea

http://www.filmofilia.com/

other resources:

http://www.imdb.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.sarabite.info/pd-film.html

Jeg hadde en konsentrert sniffetime i et  veldig lekkert parfymeri i Lucca, Italia i vår. Langsmalt, høyloftet lokale med alle varene bak glassdører innrammet i gammelt treverk.  Eksklusivt og tradisjonstungt inntrykk.
Ytterst i lokalet var det plassert et rundt bord med prøver på en mengde parfymer, prøvepapirremser, kaffebønner til å rense nesa med, og litt brosjyremateriell. Der fikk jeg lov til å sitte helt i fred og ro og nyte stunden. Noen av duftene jeg tok med prøveremser på har dunstet helt bort, men denne, som er skapt av Francis Kurkdjian, fortsetter å lukte godt, så jeg tenkte jeg kan like godt fortelle om den.

Notene er:
Bulgarsk rose, vanilje og patchouli.

Etter at prøvremsen har ligget i alle disse ukene (siden begynnelsen av mai), kjenner jeg rose og patchouli.  Sistnevnte er nesten på grensen til å være litt stikkende, men bare nesten. Rosen er, hva skal jeg si, –mørk på en måte, men umiskjennelig ren rose, og inntrykket er tørt og svalt uten å være pudret. Treaktig, kanskje – det er muligens der vaniljen er, selv om jeg ikke opplever det som vanilje.

Flasken er jo artig, da. Litt sånn ville Vesten-aktig mønster er min første assosiasjon.

Jeg mener Alt godt har sagt at dette merket ikke er i salg i Norge. Da er det jo en grei kandidat til souvenir-rolle

“Lady Vengeance,” or by its Korean title “Chinjeolhan Geumjassi,” a drama written and directed by Park Chan-Wook, was first released to general audiences in South Korea on July 29, 2005.

Plot Synopsis

After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-Ja starts seeking revenge on the man that was really responsible for the boy’s death. With the help of fellow inmates, and having been reunited with her daughter, she gets closer and closer to her goal. But will her actions lead to the relief she seeks?

Initial Reaction

This film is the third and final installment in Park Chan-Wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy.” The three movies are not related in plot as most trilogies are, but are instead all based around the theme of vengeance. The first and second films in the trilogy are “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and “Oldboy,” respectively.  I still have yet to see the first movie, but Oldboy was pretty fantastic.  As a comparison, I would say Lady Vengeance is a better film directorially, but Oldboy has a certain “completely messed up” quality that is hard to top.  The revenge is more straightforward and simple in Lady Vengeance, but still interesting.

In-Depth Discussion

I really felt Park Chan-Wook was stretching his range in this movie.  The story is told completely out of chronological order for the first two-thirds of the film, much like the “Dr. Manhattan” section of the Watchmen comic books. This allows for some very interesting plot reveals and twists, and was used to great effect. He also employs the technique of showing things on screen that our characters are thinking or feeling. In other words, it’s implied that these events aren’t really happening this way, but rather it is meant to be an impression of the character’s inner mental state. There has to be a better way of describing this, but I’ll move on.

The acting in the film was sort of a mixed bag. Lee Yeong-Ae, who plays the main character, was really great. She emoted very well throughout the film. The man she’s out to get revenge on was played by Choi Min-Sik, who also played the main character in Oldboy.  If you’ve seen that film, you know how great he is. As for the other characters, they were adequately portrayed. The main thing that sticks out, as with any Asian cinema, are the actors who are actually speaking English.  In these movies, it always sounds very strange, because they’re speaking very slowly and with an accent so local audiences can clearly understand them. It’s not a big issue, but it briefly takes you out of the movie when you see two Caucasian characters from Australia speaking English in a Korean accent. It’s slightly bizarre.

Overall, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The storytelling method alone merits some praise, in my opinion.

Casual Observations

• I enjoyed all the main character’s wardrobe choices. The leather coat with the high collar was my favorite, as it covered half her face and made her kind of look like a vampire.
• Tofu doesn’t seem like something that would be good to eat by itself. Isn’t it tasteless? Seems like it would be really gross.

My Netflix rating: 3.5/5 stars.  not as graphic and twisted as Oldboy, but a bit more compelling.

In honor of the dude with whom I watched this movie, I wanted to recount one of my own tales of vengeance.  This is an uncharacteristic story of a time my friend, Scott, and I went ballistic on a complete stranger.  Over the years, the facts have blurred and my own embellishments have become reality.  I’ll try my best, now, to keep it all straight.

It started off a day like any other.  The sun was shining, George W. was still on his first term, and De Anza College was on summer break.  Scott and I were two hungry students, looking for a place to eat.  Little did we know the mayhem that we would uncover…

The backstreets of Sunnyvale were pretty empty that day.  We cruised around without much of a destination, enjoying the breeze coming through the open windows.  As Scott weaved through the light traffic, I allowed myself to doze off with the wind in my face.

“Woah!” I woke up a minute later to a sharp swerve and profanities spewing from my friend’s mouth.  My eyes regained focus and I caught a white truck speeding ahead of us.

“That truck just totally cut me off, man!”

I wasn’t totally awake yet and I wonder now if that’s the excuse for what I said next, “Catch up to it.”

Scott didn’t hesitate a moment.  He pounded the pedal of his old Nissan Sentra and quickly exceeded the 35 mph speed limit of the residential street.  I started to realize the seriousness of the moment and erected myself from my reclined state.  I glanced at my friend, who was focused on catching up to the careless driver in front of us.  I looked ahead and saw we were closing ground on the truck.

“What if that truck was speeding for a good reason?” I thought to myself.  “What if the driver’s crazy?  I’m not so sure this is a good idea.”  But Scott didn’t hear my muted concerns and I didn’t bother to say them aloud.  Plus, we were already on the guy’s tail.

Between honking and yelling obscenities, Scott barely kept himself on our side of the road.  I was wide awake now, but this was starting to feel like a dream.  Scott beckoned me to join along, but I wasn’t sure what to do.  I flipped the bird at the mystery driver in front of us.  I pressed the car’s horn.  This was fun.

It didn’t take long for the car in front of us to notice the honking was directed at him.  He started to slam the brakes and disrupt our driving.  On the one-lane road we were on, we couldn’t easily avoid his antics and our frustration grew.  Scott stuck his head out the window and began exchanging unkind words with our new friend.  He must have said something mean because the guy started launching objects at us.

“Dude, is he throwing stuff at us!?” I asked as a Coke bottle bounced off our front window.  The sound of the impact startled us both and we almost ran off the road trying to avoid all the incoming projectiles.  Using the distraction as an opportunity, the vicious white truck zoomed ahead and turned a far corner.  I was pissed.

This time, I knew exactly what I was saying when I told Scott again, “Catch up to it.”

I think Scott would have laughed if he wasn’t such a serious driver.  Things like this usually amuse him enough to the point where he gets jolly about it.  If I were driving, sure he’d be mad, but he would also chuckle under his breath.  I could tell I wouldn’t get a laugh out of him today.  His eyes were zeroed in on the corner where the truck disappeared.  There weren’t any stops or cars in the way and we caught up immediately.  I didn’t even have a chance to wonder if we would find our impromptu opponent again.  Sure enough, there he was.

We took the left turn so fast that we left rubber marks behind us.  When our car stopped, we were sitting right in front of the truck.  The Foe (which is what we will call this story’s bad guy) pulled up so that his window was right next to Scott’s.  The proximity must have caused some chemical reaction because we all erupted into angry balls of fire.  This was our first time seeing the guy’s face and, I must say, he looked exactly like a guy you want to go ballistic on.  I don’t know how else to explain it.  I just felt like he probably didn’t have a nice family and that if I rearranged his face, people would thank me for it.  The Foe just looked like a bad guy.

Scott must have thought the same thing because he was not holding back any of the obscenities.  To this point, we haven’t had any real physical contact with the guy.  We were just in our own cars being cowardly courageous.  We were just exchanging a bunch of swear words and middle fingers.  The Foe crossed the line first.  He stuck his head out the window and spit at Scott.

“What the f***!” Scott yelled as he recoiled.  The white truck peeled away as Scott recovered.  Luckily the bodily fluid missed and hit the top of our car.  I didn’t even need to say anything.  We turned around and followed the truck.

We caught up at a stop light.  This was not going to be a good situation.  Usually, stop lights are for busy intersections and I hoped to continue this rivalry in a less crowded place.  The Foe didn’t agree.  See, this is what bad guys do: they put the good guys in situations they don’t want to be in.  This bad guy knew I didn’t want to do anything here, but for that very reason he decided to step out of his car and provoke us.

The Foe started doing one of those open-arms-and-pucker-lips moves that suggest, “Hey! I’m right here waiting.”  We yelled from our car that he was being retarded.  Go back in your car, stupid.  But he really wanted this to go down.  So, just keep in mind, we tried to prevent this from happening.

The Foe started walking toward us.  We tried to yell some more, but he interrupted us by spitting yet again.  AGAIN.  Scott was not so fortunate this time as he got nailed right on the face.  I was stunned.  I didn’t know what to say.  Even as Scott bolted out of the car and tackled The Foe, I couldn’t believe this was really happening.  Cmon, guys.  We’re at a stop light!

When you see a friend really excited about something, you don’t have a choice but to share his excitement.  That’s what friends are for.  When your friend likes a certain restaurant, you go with him and encourage the obsession.  If he likes a certain musical artist, you add all the songs to your iPod.  In this case, if he’s rumbling on the asphalt with a total stranger, you get the hell out of the car and help a brother out.  I calmly unbuckled my belt (yea, it was on the whole time) and I stepped out of the car.  I took my time rolling up my sleeves and sliding my glasses into my pocket.  Then I went ballistic.

“What the F*CK do you think you’re doing man?” The Foe looked really shocked to see me so mad.  “No, seriously.  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!  We’re at a f*cking stop light!  Get the f*ck back in your car, you m* f*, because I do NOT want to have to kick you’re a**!!”

Scott told me later he had never seen me so mad.  I must have looked terrifying because The Foe didn’t want to have any of it.  He started backing up to the local gas station.  We had amassed a small crowd who were watching us three idiots fighting next to our parked cars.  The Foe spoke, “Hey man.  This is unfair.  Let’s leave this one on one.”

“F*ck no, you little sh*t.  You should have thought about that before you spit on us.  What the F*CK is wrong with you?!” I had backed this guy right up to the curb when I finally turned around to check on Scott.  He was just fine.  He was back on his feet and kicking dents into The Foe’s white truck.

“Hey!  These guys are crazy!  Somebody call somebody.  These guys are crazy!”

“F*CK YEA, WE’RE CRAZY.  You stupid little sh*t.  I’m gonna KICK YOUR A**!  You see that?  My friend’s kicking dents in your car.  What’re you gonna do about it?  WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT??”

“This is unfair man.  Let’s take this somewhere else.  One on one.”

“No, dumb a**.  You f*cked with the wrong guys.  Oh.  Oh sh*t!  My friend just spit on your face!  What now?!”  No joke, Scott had taken a break from his Street Fighter II-like car beating to come over and spit on the face of The Foe.

I watched the foamy liquid drip down his cheek like a bead of sweat.  He was so scared, it could have been perspiration from his own glands.  Or maybe it was like a tear drop.  He was so distraught that maybe he couldn’t hold back crying just a little.  Regardless, The Foe didn’t do a single thing to wipe it off.  He didn’t dare do anything else to provoke us further.  He was so pathetic that it broke me out of my trance.

Stopping for a moment to gather my surroundings, I was embarrassed to see the disruption we had caused.  I thought back to how quietly the afternoon had started.  I backed away from the scene and started walking back to the car.  People were driving around our rashly made roadblock, making it awkwardly difficult to try and get back.  I heard the broken enemy start to say something behind me, but I didn’t want to continue this anymore.

“Whatever, man.  We’re going to have lunch.  If you want, you can follow us there.”

Scott and I ended up driving way out of town to a Burger King, where my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t even eat a french fry correctly.  The Foe did follow us for a little bit, but he eventually gave up.  We never saw him again.

“Ma’am, there is no such thing as a ‘perfect person.’” -Mr Baek

Introduction

It’s one of those nights again.

I don’t want to go to sleep. It’s not that I don’t feel sleepy– I do. My eyes are feeling tired, and I had to have a cup of coffee just to carry me until midnight. It’s not insomnia. I don’t have anything particularly important to do. I’m not cramming my brains out like I did just a week ago for a Chemistry exam that I ended up not having to take. I just want to stay awake.

And what does this mean? This means it’s time for an idiotic blog post. Perfect time for it, too, being the end of summer and all that jazz. A time for reflection, retrospection, and other words that begin with R (reminiscing? rambling? revelations?).

So, summer is ending. Is it right to say that? In a certain sense, summer has barely even started. In the sense that summer means ‘no classes’, since I followed up on my promise to myself to take summer classes.

It’s not a decision I regret. It’s great that I don’t have classes on Mondays this way anymore. But like any other, this decision’s consequences were both positive and negative, and I’m really feeling the burn of the negative consequences right now. I will, of course, reap the positive impact when I won’t have to take Chemistry next semester, but I’m not quite there yet and now I’m just resentful that I didn’t have any summer vacation. But hey, in a week I will be able to laugh at the poor sad sacks who have to balance Chem 14 on top of the two math and three comsci subjects we will have to take (no offense to you poor sad sacks, if you’re reading this!).

(Is that why I’m awake? Trying to savor every last little moment of summer vacation, in a conscious state?)

And because I just want to keep convincing myself that this was a good decision: If I hadn’t taken summer classes, what would I have been doing at home? I’d be doing absolutely nothing of value.

Nothing of value: basically, what I’ve been doing for the very short span of time that is my vacation. Wait. Let me check; what have I done lately? I’ve read some books, watched some movies, some anime (HARUHI!!!!!!!!!), thought about some things. Let’s talk about that. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting: What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

Anime

First of all:  HARUHI, HARUHI, HARUHI! IT’S BACK, BITCHES! Surprise and happiness all around. I have missed this show so much. I consider it one of my personal all-time favorites. I think the glee I experienced watching this episode was on par with the happiness I got from reading the final Harry Potter book. Did it live up to expectations? Did it disappoint? I don’t know how to answer that yet. Right now, I’m just happy Haruhi is back, and I will withhold judgment for a few more episodes.

The only opinion I can confidently give about this: Hare Hare Yukai is leagues and leagues above Tomare!

Oh, Eden of the East. What has this anime done?

1. It has corrupted the name Johnny forever.
2. It has made me long for a Selecao phone of my own. Oh, how I would abuse it. “Juiz, I want some ice cream!” “Juiz, I’m going to fail my Chem exam! Do something!” “Juiz, I’m going to be late for school!” “Juiz, I broke a nail!” Good lord, the Supporter would kill me immediately.
3. It has confused me very deeply.
4. Probably a direct result of #3, but it has made me long for the next episode, in the desperate hope that I will get any closer to understanding the plot. I am hooked. (Oh yeah, by the way, why doesn’t this show have next-episode previews? I guess they really want to keep the plot as much a surprise as possible, then).

Incidentally, this one is a GIF. Click it for the lovely animation. K-ON! has been delivering as promised. Massive boatloads of moé. I feel like they’re going a little overboard (check out my clever nautical wordplay)? More than once during the latest episode, I thought ‘Cute, but this is getting old’ as I watched it. It’s still something I anticipate watching every week, but it’s getting kind of repetitive.

I must admit: In the past, I was not that big a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. I watched the anime, liked it well enough, read the manga, liked it better, but I was never excited about FMA the way I am now. Now that I’ve marathoned 20 chapters of the manga, and remembered just how amazing FMA is. Wonderfully constructed plot, amazing and believable characters, just… I think FMA is my favorite manga now. Not just one of my favorite manga, I’m going to go ahead and single it out as the best. And seeing the Brotherhood anime move smoothly (and quickly!) in the direction of the manga plotline… is fantastic.

Books

I fail. I haven’t actually been doing very much reading at all. What’s happening to me?

Okay. After much consideration, and after a lot of time spent staring longingly at them in bookstores, I’ve decided to start buying volumes of The Sandman. I’ve sort of… downloaded the entire thing to my computer already, but I feel unusually guilty about pirating works of fiction (as opposed to my complete lack of guilt with music, anime, movies, and textbooks). Plus, it is really hard to read this thing on a computer.

I bought the fifth and the sixth volume first. Mainly because I was done reading the first three on the computer, and I couldn’t find the fourth one in that particular bookstore. The next day I bought the seventh and the eighth, and now I estimate I will need PHP 6,153.00 to buy the rest of the collection. Yikes.

I think it goes without saying that OH MY GOD I REALLY REALLY LOVE IT. HOLY CRAP.

My favorite stories so far are Three Septembers and a January (the Emperor Norton one) and the whole story in Brief Lives (I love Delirium!) and The Golden Boy (the one with the president).

And as for books that aren’t The Sandman: Whenever I’ve felt like reading, I’ve been slowly making my way through The Parrot’s Theorem by Denis Guedj. It’s about… math. Yeah. That’s why I bought it. Now that I think I won’t be shifting out of Computer Science, I’ve resigned myself to having math subjects every semester for the rest of my academic life, and definitely more math after that in my likely profession. I’m going to be stuck dealing with math for the rest of my life, so I figure, why not teach myself to love it? There are weirdos who find joy in mathematics, after all. How can I teach myself to become one of those weirdos?

I feel like invoking a meme here: Sup dawg, we heard you want to like math so we put math in your books so you can …

… nah, I can’t do it. But you get where I’m going with this. I like novels. I like reading. Maybe reading about math in something that is not a textbook can help me appreciate it more.

Movies

I gather that Oldboy is the most popular film in the Vengeance Trilogy. I’ve now watched two out of three: I watched Sympathy for Lady Vengeance a few months back. And now, I’ve watched Oldboy.

It was good. It was great! I would recommend it to anyone (well, maybe not anyone, because obviously some people are not going to like the violence and whatnot). The corridor fight scene was wicked amazing, and the way the plot ties up at the end just deserves applause.

But I liked Lady Vengeance better. It’s hard to elaborate on my answers for this, though; I can just say: liked the characters better, had prettier cinematography, less squicky ending.

Eh. I would be a horrible film critic.

I also downloaded Pleasantville on a whim. It’s very… obvious… about the moral of the story, isn’t it? A small part of me could not get over the ‘omg it’s Elle Woods and Peter Parker!’ feeling. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie. I might catch it again if it ever pops up on TV again, but I don’t think I’ll ever be going ‘You know what, I should watch Pleasantville again.’

TV

Glee is unexpectedly awesome.

Of course the first thing I have to mention is the music. It is GREAT, and in the process of typing out this sentence I just got Don’t Stop Believin’ stuck in my head. Catchy music, I love it!

What else? Likable characters, I love them! Especially Kurt. Kurt is the HBIC.

I think my lack of sleep is starting to get to my head, because I’ve just been sitting here for the past few minutes, unable to form a coherent sentence about Glee. Um. I like it, and wish to see the next episode, and god damn it Fox what are you doing by keeping it from us like this.

I also watched the first five episodes of Dollhouse. I’m late to the party, I know. Overall… I like the concept, and I like the characters. And I like the awesome lines like “God has a message for you. That message is MOVE YOUR ASS!” but… aside from the whole Alpha thing, the episodes seem pretty disconnected so far. I’m reading spoilers and… it starts to make more sense in the future, right?

Side note about Doctor Who here: yay, we know who the new Companion is! I think she’s very pretty. And I’m not-so-secretly hoping that the fact that she’s a redhead is somehow related to Donna.

And I think the Doctor will be jealous. After his regeneration, he still won’t be ginger (and he may still be rude!).

A Message

This brings me to what I think is my final point. Recently, my thoughts have been dominated by two people, and I’d like to address them here!

one: I hope you’re reading this. I know it’s kind of a long shot to think you’re still checking our blogs, but we do know you have an online presence, albeit one you are hiding from us. We’ve stopped looking for you, for now, at least. Is that what you wanted?

We still want to find you, but we also want to respect your wishes. At least, what we think are your wishes.

two: Oh, god, I hope you never read this. I can’t stop thinking about you. Please get out of my head.

The merger of two major talent agencies in America, William Morris and Endeavor, has brought Korean stars together under one roof. Contracted with William Morris are Singer Rain, actress Kim Yun-jin of the American series “Lost,” Daniel Henney of Korean drama “My Name is Kim Sam-soon,” and director Park Chan-wook of “Old Boy” and “Lady Vengeance.” Now actor Lee Byung-hun of “G.I. Joe” will join these noted Korean celebrities as a member of the newly merged William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

William Morris is the second largest agency in Hollywood, exerting extensive influence over the entire entertainment business. Endeavor is the fifth largest agency, headed by Ari Emanuel, brother of Ram Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff. Currently the largest talent agency in the United States is CAA, where famed Koreans film directors Kang Je-gyu of “Swiri”, Kim Ji-woon of “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” Bong Jun-ho of “The Host,” and Lee Jae-han (a.k.a. John H. Lee) of “Eraser in My Head” belong.

KBS World

Welcome to a double feature special here at Japan Cinema.  Today we wrap up Chan Park Wook’s Revenge Trilogy. Oldboy, the other film in the trilogy was reviewed last month which can be viewed here. For those keeping track, this trilogy is NOT reviewed in order (#1 – Mr, #2 – Oldboy, #3 Lady), and obviously, they don’t have to be viewed in order.

Sent to prison for 13 years for her part in the kidnapping of a child, 19 year old Lee Geum-Ja discovers that her accomplice Mr. Baek is actually responsible for her incarceration and has betrayed her.  Unlike Oh Dae-su’s torturous, unjust imprisonment in Oldboy, Geum-ja’s time in jail is not only partially justified but also a fruitful time full of social networking for the vengeful woman. By the time Geum-ja is released at the beginning of the film, she already has amassed so many friends and favors from fellow inmates in prison that there is very little actual legwork to do in the matter of extracting her revenge.

It is no secret Oldboy is my favorite movie of all time so I won’t knock any of these films in comparison because that wouldn’t be fair, but this film doesn’t even attempt to make Sympathy for Lady Vengeance its equal in terms of outlandish style and impact. This film is less about revenge for revenge’s sake and more about the possibility of salvation or redemption, and whether after such acts of brutality it can ever truly be attained.

Hate and revenge – the uglier aspects of of human nature – are Parks’ bread and butter so there should be no surprises that when Geum-Ja goes about exacting her revenge. Park delivers the goods in thrilling, comically amoral fashion. In this manner, Park has fashioned a rare revenge melodrama, playing the traditional female emotions of guilt and remorse for breaking up her family off the male-oriented revenge genre film. While the female focus is refreshing, what is not are the clichéd notions of what a woman is fighting for, what draws out the bloodlust in a normal female. The details of the plot are tried, clichéd, and outdated. Otherwise, this is a intelligent, unsettling film, and Park deserves much credit for not simply repeating himself.

Ryu’s a young man who has had a rough life so far. Not only is he deaf and mute, but also his beloved sister lies on her deathbed desperately in need of a kidney transplant. In desperation, Ryu gives every penny he has to a gang of underground organ-dealers. But when they rip him off and a legitimate kidney becomes available at the hospital, Ryu and his political activist girlfriend Cha Yeong-mi (Du-na Bae) are forced to find the money elsewhere. Ryu doesn’t have the cash but he does have an idea – he and his friend decide to kidnap his boss’ daughter and hold her for ransom. Ryu and his pal execute their plan and abduct the girl and it looks like things are going pretty smoothly at first as her old man has no problem whatsoever ponying up the cash to get her back. They release her, but for reasons that shouldn’t be explained here for fear of spoiling the film, she doesn’t wind up back in his possession immediately and because of this, he ends up going on the warpath to track down and take care of the kidnapping duo.

The film turns into a spiral of revenge, leading to an inevitable climax. Along the way Chan Park Wook presents images alternately beautiful and stomach-turning, it’s hard to watch this film and not be impressed by the directors stunning eye. Some scenes have an almost hypnotic calm to them, and Park will sometimes cut away to a long shot while the most graphic violence is happening before switching to a close-up for the gruesome aftermath. In many ways Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is an exercise in shock, but it’s not without heart.

It should also be mentioned that because the film moves so slowly at times, the final half hour is all the more intense because when Park hits you over the head with some of the tricks he pulls in this film, you really don’t see it coming and feel it all the more. There are a couple of truly cringe-worthy moments in this film that, if you haven’t seen it before, come right out of left field and sucker punch you when you least expect it – and it’s a great feeling when that happens. Although I have said it before, I will say it once more, nothing touches Oldboy.  However, this film is as disturbing and exhilarating a piece of filmmaking as you’ll see for some time. As far as trilogies are concerned, this ranks up there with Star Wars and the Matrix Trilogy.  Next time you find yourself in a move marathon, watch these 3 films and you will experience the ultimate rollercoaster ride. Recommended.

Geum-ja sitter nästan femton år i kvinnofängelse för ett brott hon inte begått. Under åren inspärrad planerar hon en raffinerad och utstuderad plan för att hämnas på den faktiske barnamördaren, men då hon väl kommer ut visar det sig att verkligheten är mer komplex än hon kunnat förutse.

Den här koreanska filmen är regisserad av Chan-wook Park och avslutar hans hämnar-triologi. Då jag inte sett de andra har jag inget att jämföra med, men bildspråket är vansinnigt vackert med bland annat en hel del innovativa bildövergångar samt generellt mycket vackert foto. Drömsekvenser och flashbacks blandas med verkliga skeenden och man skildrar både hennes hämnd och hennes psykologiska resa rätt vasst. Ibland känner jag mig lite korkad och undrar om jag missförstått något jag sett eller om jag inte begripit viss symbolik, men gillar ändå den här både poetiska och brutala filmen.

Betyg: 3

Mittwoch, 14.01.2009 | 00.35 – 02.20 | ARD | Südkorea 2005 | Regie: Chan-wook Park

Dritter Teil der Rachetrilogie, die unter anderem den preisgekrönten Film “Oldboy” enthielt: Geum-ja Lee sitzt unschuldig für einen Kindermord 13 Jahre im Gefängnis. Sie hatte die Tat gestanden, da der wahre Mörder drohte ihre eigene Tochter umzubringen. Nach ihrer Entlassung setzt sie alles daran sich am Kindesmöder zu rächen. In Rückblenden erzähltes Rachedrama.

Trailer:

Empire Online recently held a webchat with Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle who, while talking about future projects, revealed that he’s been asked to direct an English-language remake of Chan-wook Park’s Lady Vengeance. Here are some of the snippets from the chat below, where he also discusses the 28 Days Later franchise and more.

”Stilla ris, Heliga ris. Allt är frid – allt är ris skiner på barnet i stallets strå, äter nudlar så mjuka som så…”

*

Den psalmsjungande flickan – med de oförskämt söta tårna – har krupit in i en moraklocka, vilket förstås är det enda rimliga man kan göra om man är en cyborg.

Vad göra under dödtiden när man bor i sina föräldrars gästrum? Varför inte se på DVD på sin laptop. I kväll har jag sett en film jag inte helt förstår varför jag greps av, men jag tyckte om den.

Chan-Wook Parks humoristiska och romantiska dystopi ”I’m a cyborg, but that’s OK”, blir bara märkligare ju mer man försöker beskriva den.

Det är en dystopi om en flicka, Young-Goon,  som tror hon är en cyborg, men genom en finurlig ”friare” lyckas hitta en framtid.

Som vanligt har Chan-Wook Park (mannen bakom brutal-rullarna Old boy och Lady Vengeance) blandat extremt brutalt fantasivåld med Kubrickst poetiska musikaliska scener och en väldigt märklig drift med såväl västerlandets romantiska arketyper som alla våra teknokratiska. Filmen blir en allegori över hela vår globala kultur och dess för och nackdelar.

Att det är en galen kvinna är nog underordnat, men en bra narrativ fördel eftersom det är lättare att hoppa mellan väldigt söta scener och den förbluffande brutaliteten. Det är däremot tydligt att filmens budskap handlar om att det enda sättet att nå varandra är genom egenskaperna inlevelse, fantasi, kärlek och lite uppfinningsrikedom samt att inga utav dess egenskaper kan fabriceras. Det var en smula lustigt att se denna filmade koreanska animé-wannabe da’n före doppare-da’n, men visst finns det ett inkarnationsunder i filmen. Inte som personer men just i tanken ”Vi människor når aldrig varandra utan att känna till varandra, och kommer aldrig kunna hjälpa varandra utan denna kunskap blandat med kärlek” men lyckas det så lyser i alla fall Young-Goons söta tår i regnbågens alla färger för att indikera att hennes cyborg-batterier är laddade.

Samtidigt kan det kännas hopplöst: Visst vill man kunna nå dem man älskar – om inte annat för att säga just att man älskar dem, men man vill ju också gärna nå en del man har svårt för. Kanske kan man ”strunta” i kärleken, men vi måste fortfarande acceptera vår likhet inför våra mänskliga betingelser – det är också en av slutpunkterna i filmen mot huvudfigurernas inkarnation i världen från kliché till individ. Det och en väldigt sympatisk kärlek…..

Lady Vengeance Review

Park Chan Wook concluded his revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy) with Lady Vengeance.

This disturbing film is more stylistically assured than Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and closer in tone to Oldboy than to Mr. Vengeance.

It tells the story of Geum-Ja (played by Yeong-ae Lee), imprisoned for kidnapping and killing a child, when in reality she was forced to participate because the real kidnapper (played by Oldboy’s Min-sik Choi) had kidnapped her child.

She emerges from prison with a plan to take revenge on this real kidnapper, Mr. Baek.

Taken as part of the “revenge trilogy” it is intriguing to consider the different angles on revenge Park Chan-Wook has taken.

In Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance he mused on the chaos caused by revenge, it became a vicious circle of anarchic violence, and people got killed left and right.

In Oldboy Park explored the drive to take revenge (as well as deeper issues of the meaning of love) when the protagonist was released from his 15-year prison sentence with no explanation of why he was there. His drive to take revenge blinded him, and he paid a big price in the end.

In Lady Vengeance Park looks at the nature of pre-meditated vengeance. Obviously the whole film examines this as Geum-Ja has a plan for vengeance, but the final scenes of the film really take this point home.

Spoiler Alert

At the end of the film, Geum-Ja has captured Mr. Baek, and gathered together the parents of his numerous victims (all young children). She presents them with the option of turning Mr. Baek over to the police or killing him.

They choose the latter.

And these innocuous folks take turns stabbing Mr. Baek to death.

Park seems to be trying to make us question the moral rightness of vengeance, he sets up a clearly heinous act (killing kids) to be revenged.

But we see in the sadness, uncertainty, and uncomfortableness of the parents that this is not necessarily the right thing to do to take revenge in the way they do.

It’s a ten minute or so scene of stunning power.

Also worth noting

Is the almost upbeat score. Much like in Oldboy the score is not in the type of somber notes you would expect given the material, and it makes the film more haunting as a result.

Min-sik Choi must hate Park

In Oldboy and Lady Vengeance Park asks so much of this actor, it is really extraordinary. He is so thoroughly abused in both films, emotionally and physically, it really takes your breath away.

What’s pretty weird and never explained

Geum-Ja has sex with what seems like a 15 year old kid, and he kind of hangs around for the whole movie, and his youth is never really mentioned.