Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

Alright, I like Korean movies, but I have to admit when I first heard the title of this piece I just assumed it was a poorly conceived sequel for a fantastic film. That was a horribly conceived notion. This film, is anything but a sequel, it is instead, the perfect cap to a rather fascinating little trilogy dealing with the nature of vengeance.

In this final film of three by director Chan-wook Park, the tormented hero Gamja-shi, finds herself finally released from prison, with the will, power, determination, and connections to seek her Vengeance against the man who put her there.

After spending more then a decade in a twisted Korean women’s prison for a crime that she did not commit, she is released trying to find meaning in her life while honing in on her next victim. While doing all this, she is also seeking the daughter she lost when going to prison.

Her plan is simple in it’s conception but requires the help of many of the women she has befriended in various forms over the years. An odd quartet of women help her as she refines her mission. The twist comes when Gamja must make a decision about whose vengeance can be enacted up on her betrayer. In the end she must suffer death ten times over before she finally is able to realize her own vengeance and find out if she can indeed come out pure as snow.

If you have followed the other films you are familiar with the forms of revenge that have been reviewed. In the first film Sympathy for Mr. Vengence, the form of vengeance to this author is “justifiable revenge”. This is followed by the revenge in Old Boy, which is more “redemptive revenge”. The final film appears to deal more with the question of “who’s right is revenge?” with a light grace note on self forgiveness vs external redemption.

While also a visual feast, this well acted, well told story will have you thinking for hours after the finale, if you can sleep later, it will haunt your dreams. Highly recommended.

Added:  Monday, February 27, 2006
Reviewer:  Domkitten
Score:
Related Link:  IMBD Information for Lady Vengence
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