Lady Vengeance

I had the luxury of watching this last night and was awed by it's sheer brilliance. I don't want to delve into the story, as you must see it for yourself to savor the fantastic story like a glass of red wine.

The story revolves around a young woman sentence to jail due to murdering a young boy. Upon release she then embarks on a journey of redemption for the crime committed.

The cast's acting is impeccable on all sides. with sumptuous photography and a moving musical score consisting of such great composers as Vivaldi.

If you are a lover of foreign cinema this is a definite DO NOT MISS movie!

i usually don't enjoy movies that contain gore, suspense, and violence. still, sympathy for lady vengeance was undoubtedly, a movie worth watching. even for those who actively dislike movies in this certain genre, sympathy for lady vengeance is an absolute must. out of the trilogy, this one was the one i enjoyed most. there was nothing overly-excessive and/or gratuitous (which i honestly found oldboy and sympathy for mr vengeance had a bit of), and it definitely cannot be considered a brain-candy film. with an extremely intelligent and interesting plot, and visually stunning cinematography, it was a spectacular piece of art, from the start to the finish, and had me thinking about it and talking about it for days afterward.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, in this case some 17 years old, as Geum-ja Lee plots, ways that Mr. Baek rots, it's a beautiful thing to behold.

Cinematic poetry in motion, a sensual blast of emotion, such fortitude and drive, such cunning to contrive, the passion, the focus, intense devotion (can also be said of Woo-jin Lee in Old Boy).

After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee (Yeong-ae Lee) is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the manufacturing of a special weapon; she reunites with her daughter, who was adopted by an Australian family; and she plots revenge against the real killer of Won-mo, the English teacher Mr. Baek (Min-sik Choi). With the support of former inmates from prison, Geum-ja seeks an unattained redemption with her vengeance.

"Lady Vengeance" is a very dark tale of vengeance and search for redemption. The screenplay is confused in some moments, using symbols and metaphors, but the story is engaging blending black humor and unpleasant and bold scenes of torture and death of children with a harsh revenge. Yeong-ae Lee has a magnificently performance in the role of Geum-ja along almost fourteen years of her life. I am a big fan of Chan-wook Park, and I regret that in Brazil the first movie of his trilogy about vengeance ("Boksuneun Naui Geot" a.k.a. "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance") has not been released yet. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lady Vingança" ("Lady Vengeance")

"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" is a surprisingly poetic finale to Park's excellent Revenge Trilogy. The film fuses the relatively low-key style of "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" with the jet-black humor of "Oldboy," while adding welcome moments of poignancy and sentiment. The film is nowhere near as violent as its predecessors, although a good deal of mayhem takes place offscreen.

Yeong-ae Lee is outstanding as the troubled protagonist Geum-ja, the ex-convict who is seeking redemption as much as revenge. Although the supporting actors -- including several from Park's earlier films -- are uniformly fine, Lee's performance is the heart of the film.

"Lady Vengeance" is difficult to describe without revealing major plot points, as the most memorable scenes come at revelatory moments in the story. Suffice it to say that the climax blends tragedy and hilarity with a degree of success that few directors could hope to match.

9/10. Bravo.