As the first instalment of the infamous Vengeance trilogy it sets the standard of what’s to follow very high as well as establishing key themes and Park Chan-Wook’s style in telling revenge stories in his own cinematically spell binding way. It’s a lot more slow in how it unwinds for sure and that originally put me off it a bit but nonetheless you can’t ignore it’s enchanting and intriguing qualities, the characters and how they’re shown are just entrancing. The characters and how they’re shown are a major stand out of this film as you aren’t sure who really fits into the antagonist and protagonist role as all the main characters seem to possess qualities of both, but then I find the best characters do as they are the most honest. Looking at this film from a revenge story standpoint it’s a bit of a slow burner like I’ve said comparing it to the other films that I love from the genre but I must admit that the ultimate climax makes the build up all worth it, it is really that good maybe even one of the best of all time. There’s a softness and naivety as well as downright brutality and the journey to which all of these are met is an incredibly engrossing one. I’m going to give a very quick mention to the brilliant cinematography as it stood out to me a lot, there were so many bold and striking shots, maybe the best of the trilogy. Finally, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance marks itself as a brilliant film with many memorable scenes which are close to meeting cinematic perfection, my favourite being a part of the final scene in which there’s blood ridden water being splashed onto a characters face. It’s masterful on a visually striking level as well as an emotional one as the expression is extremely powerful and emotive while the shot itself looks amazing. Starting to absolutely adore Park Chan-Wook as a director in how he tells his stories and just how he makes violence so sublime and beautiful as well as just damn shocking.