Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) Chinjeolhan geumjassi

Directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, JSA)

Starring Lee Yeong-ae (JSA) Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, Crying Fist)

The third and obviously final instalment in Park Chan-wooks revenge trilogy feels like a weak pastiche of the first two plus, for me there also appeared to be a strong Tarantino/ Kill Bill influence.

The basic plot revolves around a 19 year old girl, Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) being wrongly convicted and imprisoned (due to her confession) for the kidnapping and murder of a five year old boy. Giving the impression 
of being a model prisoner she bides her time till her release when she can take revenge on the real abductor and killer.

After a beautiful intro sequence with baroque music, we are treated to bits and pieces of the story as we jump back and forth in time. Each time a new relevant character is introduced we are treated to a flashback as to how they first met, (usually in prison) and find out what their part in the act of revenge will be. 

Choi Min-sik plays the real killer (Mr Baek) who used Geum-jas baby daughter as collateral threatening to kill the child if she does not confess to the crimes. After finding evidence of even more crimes, Geum-ja and her former arresting officer confine Mr Baek in an old barracks and take part along with others in exacting their revenge.

The first 90 minutes cover Geum-jas release with continuous flashbacks to her arrest and time in prison, the tone is light, like a cross between Oldboy and Kill Bill but with very little violence and a much lighter sense of humour, (the long imprisonment also attaches it to Oldboy). 

During the last 20 minutes or so there is a dramatic mood change, the story which started with a bungled kidnapping of a child (as with Sympathy for Mr Vengeance) leads into far deeper darker territory as the act of revenge takes place in an extremely brutal manner.

The film is a mash of styles, incohesive and disparate in tone, a case of style over substance leading to a very unbalanced story. Definitely the weakest of the trilogy, it is well worth seeing if you enjoyed the previous two but it doesn't have the strong albeit bleak storyline of the first or the outrageous set pieces and black humour of the second.

Loved the music, the sly digs at organised religion and the central performances, disliked the sudden change of intensity and atmosphere (just as I didnt with Ab-normal Beauty).

Cheers Trev

BBFC rated 18

Region 3 ntsc dvds available from several suppliers. R2 Pal dvd will be released by Tartan later this year.

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R2 dvd update. 

Tartan Video's release maintains their high standard of picture quality, sound options include stereo, dolby 5.1 and an excellent DTS track.

Rather sparse on the extras though, a theatrical trailer and interview with Park Chan-wook plus product trailers.

I'll write more on the interview once I've seen it.