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!

Chan-Wook Park was already the Master of Dysfunction after Old Boy, now he can add the title of King of Pain (thanks Sting) to his CV.

The depth of feeling in the second half of this film is staggering, and comes in stark contrast to the startling apathy of the first half. The masterful cinematography is something we have come to expect but the director's ability to compose the most evocative of tableaux never ceases to amaze- the final shot of the movie being a case in point.

As the above reviewer says, one must be cryptic in commenting on this film but it must be said that its final act really transforms it from a beautifully crafted work into a masterpiece.

This is a film which shocks without ever descending into gratuity, while frequently forcing a guilty laugh with its darker-than-black's-shadow humour.

The final instalment of Park's Revenge Trilogy concluded well. In fact, I personally feel that it is the best out of the three film, excellent cinematography and beautiful classic music that blended perfectly well into the story. Lee Youngae gives fantastic performance in her role, a complete impression from her previous kind-hearted and sweet looking role in "Jewel in the Palace". Cold and filled with vengeance , yet she exudes fine elegance with her subtle body language and facial expression. The soundtrack works well at suitable moments, infusing classic into this art-house film. It was a pity the film didn't win any grand awards in the Venice Film Festival, Park definitely deserves recognition for his excellent works.

"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.

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.