A couple of years ago, I heard much about the Greatness of Park Chan-wook, but had only seen the Oldboy trailer (which looked awesome.) My good friend called me to say he had DVD's for Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy. We were going to watch one a night and let them digest, but ended up watching all 3 back-to-back. It was a great night to be a film geek.
JSA (too often skipped over, but one of the Best from South Korea) is so confident and well crafted, it's hard to believe the film is the work of a still novice director. It's not as complex as Park's other work, but combines an entertaining mystery with a heartbreaking emotional story. (The final shot lingers for a long time.)
It was the perfect appetizer for Mr. Vengeance, the main course of the evening. I love a good revenge story, but I often long for the avenger to feel and be eaten up by the revenge. Well no film does it better than Mr. Vengeance. I have 2 minor flaws with the film (involving a photograph and a handicapped character), but the overall impact of the unfolding events is unshakable. It takes the opposite approach to revenge from the fantasy that is Kill Bill and shattered my nerves into little pieces. Park Chan-wook is a Great Director for this masterpiece alone.
After a needed break, we dove into the evening's dessert, Oldboy. Very little I need to add here, an amazing story brilliantly told.
Park Chan-wook has yet to reclaim the heights of those three films. His recent output has taken a more surreal bend, and as his visuals become increasingly stylish, I think he's beginning to lose some narrative focus. Still, he's one of the freshest new voices in cinema and I'm up to watching whatever he chooses to make.