Between Whimsy and Revenge
Robert Ripley and Park Chan-wook explore extremes
by Robin Simmons
March 18, 2010

This two-disc collection of 24 short whimsical oddities starring Robert J. Ripley, who created the series, were first shown in “movie houses” during the early 30s. This complete Vitaphone theatrical collection has never before been available on DVD. A few of you will no doubt remember seeing them the first time around! Many more will recall the popular newspaper column.

I was anticipating more bizarre examples of the weird and strange in our world, but these approximately eight-minute short films are more a nostalgic and quirky mix of travelogues, curiosities and oddities with a lot of human interest thrown in. In all the episodes, awkward, buck-toothed on-screen host Ripley uses his considerable artistic skills to sketch elements of the story. Sometimes trick photography (actually double exposure) allows the familiar trade-mark drawings to come to life. Well, kind of.

The DVD collection is subtitled “The Complete Vitaphone Shorts Collection.” Vitaphone was an early sound process that synched an otherwise silent motion picture to a record (instead of a recording on the film stock itself). This same gimmick was widely used in vaudeville and also with many of the first “talkies.” At the time, it was astonishing to have recorded sound in a theater. Like digital 3-D today.

Some of the featured stores include: The smallest book that is about the size of a thimble; the Tuareg people whose men wear veils; Ripley shows us a massive house of cards; and a road sign written in 22 languages. Sadly, today’s audiences are so jaded that a woman reciting 200 words in 24 seconds is hardly impressive. With few exceptions, most of the curiosities are located in the United States.

For me, the most interesting thing about this DVD collection is how little it took to be entertained in a simpler time between the wars when the country was still struggling with the depression.

For several years, there has been a rumor of a much-delayed feature film based very loosely on Ripley’s amazing life. It was to star Jim Carrey and Tim Burton was attached to direct. From Warner Archive. (Not rated, Full Frame, Black & White, 3 Hours and 12 minutes)

VENGEANCE TRILOGY
This three-pack collection brings master Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s “vengeance” films together in an eight disc edition of the three feature titles with generous extras and a 32 page booklet of color photos and essays about the films from leading filmmakers.

These relentlessly violent films pull no punches in the intense visualization of their powerful revenge tales. The movies can be watched in any order. But be warned, they will sear themselves into your psyche. Such is the power of Chan-wook’s story-telling skills.

Park’s films have been awarded 28 prestigious film festival prizes besides Canne’s big winner OLD BOY.

From Palisades Tartan Asia Extreme.

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
The first film in Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed series is the story of Ryu, who cannot afford the medical costs of his sister who is dying of kidney failure. To raise money for her care, he turns to the black market to sell his own organs only to be cheated out of his life savings. Ryu’s girlfriend urges him to kidnap the daughter of his wealthy boss who recently fired him. The kidnapping goes horribly wrong and we see how unexpected tragedies that generate violence can turn relatively normal people into something less than human when one submits to a merciless quest for revenge.

The line is blurred between hero and villain and just who is the avenger is not clear. How paradoxical that the very thing that dilutes our humanity seems to be a universal condition of being human. Vivid, bloody and explicit. And yes, it is art. (R, Widescreen, Korean with English Subtitles, 129 minutes)

OLDBOY
Oh Dae-sue is an ordinary, non-descript businessman enjoying a night on the town. He is everyman. While drunk, he is abducted and imprisoned in a strange private facility -- where he remains for 15 years! One day, he is unexpectedly released, given a new suit, a cell phone and only five days to unravel the mystery of who imprisoned him. Seeking revenge on all those involved, he discovers that his enemy’s fortunes are just beginning – and that his revenge rewards his enemy! Shakespearean in tone, it is lurid, ironic and disturbing. OLD BOY regularly appears in top-ten-best movie polls. (R, Widescreen, Korean with English Subtitles, 129 Minutes)

LADY VENGEANCE
The last of the trilogy to be filmed is noted for its beautiful cinematography that incorporates violence in a more subdued hue and a bit to the side, as if in peripheral vision.

After being blackmailed and wrongly imprisoned for 13 years, a beautiful woman is finally set free. Now her brutally elaborate plan for vengeance can finally be implemented.

Here, unlike the other films, the heroine is clearly a “good guy” and her motivation for revenge is fully justified from the beginning. Her righteous wrath is never in question. She is a mother and the deaths of the innocent victims must be avenged. The climax is silent, brutal and satisfying.

This is a more technically assured film than the others, but with a somewhat weaker, or perhaps less intense, story line. I get the feeling that Quentin Tarantino was “inspired” by Park Chan-wook’s LADY VENGEANCE when he wrote KILL BILL. In a recent interview, Charlize Theron admitted she is working on a remake of the re-titled Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. (R, Widescreen, Korean with English Subtitles, 112 Minutes)