Bittersweet Revenge

The NY Times magazine recently published a profile on Korean director Park Chanwook. Park directed a trilogy of revenge flicks that have a lot of cineastes salivating. His films are jam-packed with violence but have an overwhelming feeling of regret and melancholy. The violent scenes are haunting not because of the imagery (although this is stomach-churning) but because of the emotional component. I saw his film "Old Boy," which left me a wreck, but in a good way, because I knew I had witness excellent filmmaking. I'm waiting with both anticipation and anxiety to see his flick "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance." (A lot of exciting films are coming out of South Korea, as the article points out, so keep an eye peeled.) (Images via New York Times)