The Vengeance Trilogy
Encyclopedia
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook which follows the character Ryu trying to earn enough money for his sister's kidney transplant and the path of vengeance that follows. It is the first part of The Vengeance Trilogy and is followed by Oldboy and...
(2002), Oldboy
Oldboy
Oldboy is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. It is based on the Japanese manga of the same name written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. Oldboy is the second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr...
(2003), Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is a 2008 South Korean film by director Park Chan-wook. In North America and parts of Europe, the film has been screened under the title Lady Vengeance. The film is the third installment in Park's The Vengeance Trilogy, following Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy...
(2005), directed by South Korean film director Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic. One of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in his native country, Park is most known for his films Joint Security Area, Thirst and what has become known as The Vengeance Trilogy, consisting of...
, which dealt with the themes of "revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
and salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
". Originally these three films weren't the official series, but as spiritual successors, two films (Oldboy & Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) followed the film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook which follows the character Ryu trying to earn enough money for his sister's kidney transplant and the path of vengeance that follows. It is the first part of The Vengeance Trilogy and is followed by Oldboy and...
.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Tartan Films
Tartan Films
Palisades Tartan is a US and UK film distribution company, founded by US-based Palisades Media Group to take over the film library of Tartan Films after it folded in Summer 2008.-History:...
released the box set of the three films on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is also a distribution partner for independent content providers....
released the same thing.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
The first installment in Park’s trilogy was the 20022002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
film, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook which follows the character Ryu trying to earn enough money for his sister's kidney transplant and the path of vengeance that follows. It is the first part of The Vengeance Trilogy and is followed by Oldboy and...
, a bleak and violent tale of revenge gone wrong. It tells the story of a poor deaf man who kidnaps a young girl to pay for his sister’s much-needed transplant. When the young girl accidentally dies, her bereaved father goes on a search for answers and vengeance. The film did reasonably well at the box office in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and was named the best film of 2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
by film critic Harry Knowles
Harry Knowles
Harry Knowles is known for his website called Ain't It Cool News. Knowles is a member of the Austin Film Critics Association.-Biography:...
.
Oldboy
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
film, Oldboy
Oldboy
Oldboy is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. It is based on the Japanese manga of the same name written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. Oldboy is the second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr...
. It told the story of a man who is imprisoned for fifteen years and then released with no explanation as to why he was confined and released. Now he has been given five days to learn his captor's true identity and find out why he was imprisoned or his new love interest will be killed. The film was very well received at film festivals and at the box office in South Korea. It won the Grand Prix
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
2004 Cannes Film Festival
The 2004 Cannes Film Festival started on May 12 and ran until May 23. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.-Jury:* Quentin Tarantino, President * Emmanuelle Béart * Edwidge Danticat * Tilda Swinton...
and received great reviews from critics. The film has gained a cult following in the years following its release and is seen as a classic to many.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
The third and final installment in the trilogy was the 20052005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
film, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is a 2008 South Korean film by director Park Chan-wook. In North America and parts of Europe, the film has been screened under the title Lady Vengeance. The film is the third installment in Park's The Vengeance Trilogy, following Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy...
(or Lady Vengeance). The film tells the tale of a young woman who is released from prison after doing hard time for a child killer who remains at large. Upon her liberation she seeks out her long lost daughter and unveils her plan for revenge against the ghastly man for whom she served time. This film was also well received by critics and South Korean audiences alike. It grossed $7,382,034 in its opening week and competed for the Golden Lion at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival
62nd Venice International Film Festival
The 62nd Venice International Film Festival opened on August 31, 2005 with Tsui Hark's Seven Swords and closed on September 10, 2005 with a screening of Peter Ho-sun Chan's musical Perhaps Love. The lineups were announced by the festival director Marco Müller on July 28, 2005 in Rome...
in September 2005.
Use of Same Actors
Numerous actors and actresses feature throughout the trilogy, albeit sometimes only as cameos.- Oh Kwang-rok is the only actor to make an appearance in all three films.
- Song Kang-hoSong Kang-hoSong Kang-ho is a leading South Korean film actor.- Career:Song Kang-ho never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Kimhae High School...
as Park Dong-jin in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Hired assassin 1 in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. - Shin Ha-kyunShin Ha-kyunShin Ha-kyun is a South Korean actor. He first trained as a stage actor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, before transitioning to film and gaining national fame with his role as a North Korean soldier in Joint Security Area...
as Ryu in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Hired assassin 2 in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. - Choi Min-sikChoi Min-sikChoi Min-sik is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his critically acclaimed roles in Oldboy and I Saw the Devil.-Movie career:...
as Oh Dae-su in Oldboy, Mr. Baek in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. - Yoo Ji-tae as Lee Woo-jin in Oldboy, older Won-mo in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
- Kang Hye-jeongKang Hye-jeong- Career :Kang Hye-jung began working as a model in her first year of high school, and throughout the late 1990s she appeared in small roles in TV dramas and sitcoms such as Jump and Nonstop 3. Her first film role was in Moon Seung-wook's arthouse/sci-fi film Nabi, for which she won a Best Actress...
as Mi-do in Oldboy, Tv announcer in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. - Oh Dal-suOh Dal-suOh Dal-su is a South Korean actor. He has played many crime-related roles, such as Mr.Park the owner of the organized crime funded private jail in Oldboy and a former gang boss in Mapado . He plays a semi-comic part as a weapons smuggler in A Bittersweet Life...
as Park Cheol-woong in Oldboy, Mr. Chang in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. - Kim Byeong-ok as Mr. Han in Oldboy, the preacher in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
Box office
Worldwide box office gross:- Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance : $1,954,937
- Oldboy : $14,980,005
- Sympathy for Lady Vengeance : $23,457,690
Total : $40,392,632
External links
- Movie Review: The Vengeance Trilogy at Eye for Film
- Movie Review: The Vengeance Trilogy at OneKnightStands.net
- Movie Review: The Vengeance Trilogy at Culturazzi
- Movie Review: The Vengeance Trilogy at Neoimages
- Cartoon about The Vengeance Trilogy at Maxmovie.com