FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Ryu will do anything and everything within his power to help his dying sister get the kidney transplant she needs, but for whatever reason doesn’t seem to want. He’s tried being a donor, but the blood types don’t match. Then he got a little more desperate and went to a group he saw advertised on the bathroom wall. Well, he lost his kidney in the hopes that they would find a proper one at a later date. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. After spending the money and losing his organ, he has virtually no other options. That’s when his radical, activist girlfriend suggests they kidnap the daughter of his former boss so they can pay for a proper medical transplant. This has to end well.

Pay close attention to this one. Try not to get up to go to the bathroom or get more snacks, because you’ll probably miss something that ends up pretty important later. There are several McGuffins here, although unfortunately almost all of them are obviously so. Despite that, the effectiveness of the story really isn’t harmed all that much. What should have been a very typical tale of revenge actually turns out to be complicated in the way it’s told. To start, there sort of isn’t a main character. Sure Ryu is the main focus for a while, but after the ball really gets rolling, the boss President Park Dong-jin has his own main thread. This is where the title of the film comes in. Eventually both could be considered Mr. Vengeance and it’s not all too hard to have sympathy for either one of them. The other thing that differentiates this film is the sparse dialogue. You see, Ryu is deaf, and so many of his scenes contain little or no dialogue. Luckily, we aren’t forced to live out these scenes through his eyes. The sounds that you do hear actually make the scenes more resonant knowing that he isn’t hearing them.

Remember how in the last paragraph I told you to pay close attention? Well, the good news is that it’s really not all that hard to. Director Chan-wook Park (also co-wrote) treats us to a visually interesting yet relatively simplistic collection of landscapes and settings. Each new location feels like you’re watching moving paintings. Whether it’s the dingy factory, the kidnapper’s apartment or the river, every setting gives off a unique atmosphere almost as if they all belong to separate films, while still maintaining cohesion thanks to the cinematography composition. The style is sometimes reminiscent of Kar Wai Wong (“In the Mood for Love”), but with more flash and movement.

But even though the film looks really good, some may find it tough to stay awake. The lack of dialogue and quick scene changes with little explanation could potentially confuse or bore you. The timeline is straightforward but still occasionally tough to follow, since we don’t spend a lot of quality time with some of the supporting characters. The brooding tension and the buildup of the main plot don’t quite hit full steam the way you might want. A little more action would have helped, or at least showing more of what was implied to us. I wanted to really feel the desperation of these two guys and see that come across in their physical actions. It’s still a quality movie that may not please the action fans, but the visual beauty and intelligent story telling should more than satisfy quite a lot of people.

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