This film never ceases to surprise me with it's desperate humanity. It lacks true poignance but has a Shakespearean drama and is full of style. The first time I saw it it went over my head and I actually returned it. It seemed to grey with a business aesthetic. I must have been having a bad day. I've watched it every time it's been on TV since. The main character was actually locked up for years and educated himself with TV.
Like it's predecessor in the Vengeance trilogy the film contains graphic violence but is done humourously rather than with a detached view. In one scene a man is taped to a chair and his teeth pulled out to the tune of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and then his garbled voice is subtitled in Korean. Park Chan Wook uses classical and modern music throughout the film, reusing pieces of music at key moments but the finale of the film has no music and is filmed from a first person view giving it a feel of high drama rather than a film.
On a perspective of how the film is portrayed it's a polar opposite to Vengeance is Mine, expressing itself with style and flash rather than almost uninterrupted sombreness. But that doesn't make it less impressive to watch. The emotions of the characters show through far more in this film, their motivations are more secret being revealed as the film goes on giving it an element of thriller. This film's a more heartfelt and human story than it's predecessor right from the start when a desperate man is trying to throw himself off a building. Park still gives it a sense of seriousness that makes it seem like an eastern version of Shakespear but brilliantly works in a element of humour that adds a totally new dimension to what is otherwise a tragedy.
Rating 8/10
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