the vengeance trilogy: korean cinema at its best

typically, since i was a child, dining out and going to the movies went hand in hand. as far as i am concerned nothing beats going to see a good flick and having a great meal with friends or family. usually the film comes first to stimulate a bit of conversation while eating. my favorite place to do this in bangkok is at the central world. they have the world cinema complex on the 7th floor which is surrounded by some great restaurants (predominantly thai and japanese).

another fun thing to do is to invite someone over to the house, cook a nice meal, and sit down to watch some classic film. since moving to thailand i have had the pleasure to be able to see many films that i would not have seen back home in the states because most asian films only make it to the larger population centers of america, if at all.  i have come to love the films of china, japan and korea. like the cuisines of these countries, their films are diverse and of many flavors. unbeknown to may westerners, a lot of the films that they are watching have story and plot lines that have first appeared in asian cinema. quentin tarantino, to name just one, has "borrowed" much from his asian counterparts to construct such films as kill bill and reservoir dogs.

as far as korean cinema goes park chan-wook is considered to be one of the finest and his vengeance trilogy is considered to be his best work: sympathy for mr. vengeance (2002), oldboy (2003), sympathy for lady vengeance (2005). if you like quirky plot lines that twist and weave and take you places that you never imagined, then watch these three films. although oldboy and sympathy for lady vengeance are not sequels, watching them in chronological order is recommended. in this way you will see how the director/writer has evolved in his story telling and movie making abilities.