Sym­pa­thy for Mr. Ven­ge­an­ce

A chain of fatal decisions leads into the deepest depths of a cynical, unjust world: The opening of Park Chan-wook's legendary revenge trilogy is a modern tragedy that is as original as it is disturbing.

When the deaf Ryu loses his job in the factory, the timing couldn't be worse: his seriously ill sister urgently needs a kidney transplant, for which he lacks the necessary money. When a deal with criminal organ traffickers goes wrong, Ryu and his left-wing radical friend and soul mate Yeong-mi see only one way out: they kidnap the daughter of the wealthy businessman Dong-jin in order to extort the money for the transplant. Soon an unexpected incident sets off a campaign of revenge in which there can be no winners.

Park Chan-wook turns the classic revenge motif, which is particularly common in Asian cinema, on its head. In his universe there is no good and no evil; his protagonists are more like pawns in a grotesque, pitch-black world.