Sunday, January 07, 2007

Lady Vengeance

Title: Lady Vengeance -aka- Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)
Dir: Park Chan-wook
Rating: ****1/2 out of 5 stars



A perfect end to a perfect trilogy! If you are a fan of its predecessors, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy, you will love Lady Vengeance.

Lady has a lot in common with those films, including child kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, and of course, lots of revenge. And it has Min-sik Choi (Dae-su Oh from Oldboy) as one of the most loathsome characters ever put on film.

After spending 13 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, Lee Guem-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) seeks revenge on the man responsible. With the help of her fellow inmates, she tracks him down and soon discovers that her life wasn't the only one he ruined. I'm gonna end the plot description here because I don't want to give away anything more. You really need to see it for yourself.

If you are familiar with Park Chan-wook's work, it shouldn't surprise you that Lady Vengeance is beautifully shot. There's a particularly great panning shot where Guem-ja uses her gun in a dark alley. It reminded me a lot of the hammer scene from Oldboy.

Lady Vengeance is less violent and more emotional than its predecessors, but don't let that deter you sickos, it still has its share of fucked-upery. One scene in particular was VERY hard for me to watch (if you've seen the movie, ask and I shall tell you which). This movie is powerful, beautiful, and should not be missed.

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