Lady Vengeance (DVD)

...films directed by Chan-wook Park. Lady Vengeance is the third in the trilogy. I have not seen Oldboy or Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, the first in the trilogy, so was not really sure what to expect. Whatever, this film kept me riveted to the TV the whole way through. It really was quite extraordinary.

The plot
Lee Geum-Ja is released after spending 13 years in prison for the kidnap and murder of a young boy. However, as she makes ...
...is clear that she does not intend to live a sheltered life on the outside. As the story unfolds, we find that Lee Geum-Ja, referred to as an 'angel' during her time in prison because of her many good deeds for her fellow prisoners, does not seem to be the sort of woman that would carry out such a horrific act of murder.

Without wanting to give much more away, parts of Lee Geum-Ja's life before she was sentenced to prison are highlighted ... more

Introduction
I'm drawn to Korean films at the moment - I've read a number of good reviews and they always seem to be crime-based, which makes them right up my street. I've heard a lot about a film called Oldboy, the second in a trilogy of films directed by Chan-wook Park. Lady Vengeance is the third in the trilogy. I have not seen Oldboy or Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, the first in the trilogy, so was not really sure what to expect. Whatever, this film kept me riveted to the TV the whole way through. It really was quite extraordinary.

The plot
Lee Geum-Ja is released after spending 13 years in prison for the kidnap and murder of a young boy. However, as she makes contacts with the many friends she made in prison, it is clear that she does not intend to live a sheltered life on the outside. As the story unfolds, we find that Lee Geum-Ja, referred to as an 'angel' during her time in prison because of her many good deeds for her fellow prisoners, does not seem to be the sort of woman that would carry out such a horrific act of murder.

Without wanting to give much more away, parts of Lee Geum-Ja's life before she was sentenced to prison are highlighted and we find that there is someone else that should take at least some of the responsibility for the young boy's death. Lee Geum-Ja is determined to track this person down and make him pay for the harm he caused her. However, finding him is not straightforward and she has to call in many favours on the way.

The characters/actors
Lee Yeong-ae plays the role of Lee Geum-Ja. I am not familiar with this actress, but was very impressed by her ability to look innocent and yet cruel and determined. Although there are many characters involved in the film, she is the main character and is allowed to shine throughout. At times her behaviour seems strange, but it is always explained satisfactorily later in the film. She is seeking revenge, but also needs to get closure before she can carry on with the rest of her life. This was a very convincing and moving role; Lee Yeong-ae did very well in a role that could have been easily botched.

The actor, Choi Min-sik, who plays the role of the man sought by Lee Geum-Ja, is suitably convincing as a depraved crook who looks very normal, but has a menacing air about him. I also enjoyed watching the ex-cons that Geum-Ja had kept in touch with - we see them on their first day in prison, bullied by the other inmates and supported by Geum-Ja, then we see them after release when they are full of confidence again. It was a little confusing at first when the story goes backwards and forwards all the time, but once I got used to it, it was very effective.

There are four characters that seemed unnecessary to the plot. The first is a preacher, played by Kim Byeong-ok, who appears to believe deeply in Lee Geum-Ja, but then is disappointed by her on her release from prison. Apart from looking decidedly odd and adding a certain amount of confusion to the plot, I couldn't really see what he added to the story. There are also two Australians that appear briefly in the film, played by Tony Barry and Anne Cordiner. Either they were exceptionally bad actors or they were playing caricatures of foreigners; either way, they didn't come off too well. Finally, there was a young man with whom Geum-Ja worked at a bakery - again there seemed no point to his role other than to add some (mild) sexual content to the film.

Technical bits

Classification: 18. There are some scenes of extreme violence in this film, including murder and rape. However, it is apparently not as violent as the first two films in the trilogy - god knows what they are like!

Running time: 112 minutes

Conclusion
There were times during this film when my partner and I just looked at each other in complete incomprehension. There are many occasions when things are hinted at, but not fully explained until later. However, this is what made the film so compelling for me. I was so completely bemused that I could barely take my eyes off the screen. The fact that the story was eventually explained kept me watching.

There are a number of flashbacks in the film, which was quite confusing, particularly because it was sometimes difficult to reconcile the past faces with the present. It would certainly be easy for someone who didn't watch the whole film to criticise this aspect of the film. I personally thought it worked very well - it seemed to add depth to the film in way that telling the story from the present day would not have been able to do.

I enjoyed the direction and cinematography - the cameras frequently zoomed in on things that were key to the plot. They also moved quickly so that the film appeared to be even faster-moving than it was.

One thing I didn't quite understand was the symbolism of Lee Geum-Ja's red eyeshadow, described at one point as the colour of blood. It didn't do much other than make her look a bit odd. Perhaps the director thought it made her look tougher - certainly all the ex-cons told her she looked different because of the eye make-up and that she had changed from being the angel she had been inside.

The violence is reasonably graphic, although much is intimated rather than actually shown. There were occasions when I had to look away though. Certainly not for the faint-hearted and fully deserving of the 18 classification.

It took me until very nearly the end of the film before I decided whether I thought it was good. I think, on the whole, the director managed to finish the film off well, tying up many loose ends that would have been annoying if not tied. What I liked most of all about the film was its originality - I have never sat through a film as bizarre as this before, but it was done very well. I'm looking forward to seeing the first two films in the trilogy, in which some of the less important characters also have roles, although I suspect that the violence may become a little too much to deal with after a while.

The DVD is available from play.com for £12.99.

 

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