SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE
****1/2 out of *****
Reviewed by Finger_Of_DOOM

Screening in the 2006 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Drama
Mystery
Thriller

2005
Directed by
Chan-wook Park
Written by
Seo-Gyeong Jeong
Chan-wook Park
Cast
Lee Young-ae …. Lee Geum-ja
Choi Min-sik …. Mr. Baek
Oh Dal-su …. Mr. Chang
Kim Si-hu …. Geun-shik
Lee Seung-shin …. Park Yi-jeong
Kim Bu-sun …. Woo So-young

A few years ago I attended a screening of a film I had no prior knowledge of; I read the synopsis in the festival programme and thought it sounded interesting. At that point I had seen very few of the films that Korea had to offer and wasn't really sure what to expect. The film was JSA (2000), and for the two hours of the film I was mesmerised. I was motivated to track down more films from Korea and broaden my viewing palate, and as I walked out of the screening I remember turning to my friend and saying "The director of that film is someone to watch out for", or something to that effect. Was I right on the money or what? Soon after JSA came the exciting Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) then the mind-blowing Oldboy (one of my favourite films of 2004) and finally in 2005 filmmaker Park Chan-wook completed what has become his masterpiece trilogy of films, The Revenge Trilogy, with Sympathy for Lady Vengeance a stunning film that's just as good as the previous two and is a solid continuation of his unique style. Wook has an amazing storytelling ability that presents time tested themes in a fresh new way.

It's also good to see that Wook is able to create with budgets substantial enough that allow his vision to be presented without compromise, thanks in part to the rising popularity of Korean films (it happens to be one of the fastest growing film industries in the world). The film looks as good as most Hollywood productions. I sincerely hope that Wook continues to deliver films with the same attention to detail and level of creativity in the future, I'm sure it won't be hard unless he gets lured into the bright lights of Hollywood (they already know about him, Oldboy has been picked up for an American remake) like John Woo (whose best work was left behind him in Hong Kong, I don't think any of his English Language films have been all that impressive).

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance tells the story of Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae), a woman who has spent the last thirteen-and-a-half years in prison for the abduction and murder of a small child. Geum-ja has just been released and aims to reconnect with friends she had made while serving time in order to help exact revenge on her partner in crime, a school teacher by the name of Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik) who was the real perpetrator of the crime she went to prison for. During this time Geum-ja gets a job at a cake shop and also tracks down her long lost daughter. Eventually her plan for revenge unfolds to a spectacular conclusion.

Wook tells his story with a fractured narrative that jumps in time between the crime, her time in prison and the present day. This continuous jumping between time allows the audience to slowly put pieces together without giving too much away, it involves the viewer in the story a lot more than if he chose to present the film with a traditional progressive time line. For those that have seen Oldboy and are expecting more of the same, prepare to be slightly surprised. While Oldboy is a masterpiece of revenge storytelling it's also much more mainstream in its style and execution. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is more artistic and at times abstract in its storytelling and execution, we get a taste of this early on when Geum-ja dreams of killing Mr. Baek (represented in her dream as a dog with rocking-horse legs and his own human head).

Geum-ja, a quiet and brooding figure is portrayed by Lee Young-ae, whose subtle nuances in her performance really makes for an interesting character to watch. Her character is flawed in many ways and is not your typical heroine; it's her determination and the unyieldingness of her resolve which provides the foundation of her character and a reason to root for her (well, aside from her being wronged and having to serve time for it). On the flip side we have Mr. Baek, a school teacher who has a taste for kidnapping and killing young children for monetary gain, he is portrayed as an emotionless uncaring character that isn't allowed the opportunity to explain himself. The filmmakers chose to focus on his crime rather than revealing any good characteristics, something that would have created an interesting counterpoint to play against while she and others contemplate killing him. Although this wasn't directly examined you can see that Geum-ja is conflicted as to how to handle her revenge and eventually we see her master work involving the families of the children he's kidnapped and killed. A very different take on revenge that is totally personal and only made more satisfying by thinking of Mr. Baek as the monster he is and not a human being.

The photography is also a stunning achievement, the film begins in lush colours and slowly desaturates until the final half hour is in black and white, it's quite an effective gradual change, once the revenge begins we are in black and white, a statement that there is nothing more black and white than the concept of 'an eye for any eye'. Brilliant!

The film isn't entirely perfect, at around 115 minutes it occasionally overstays its welcome; there are scenes that could have been trimmed here and there to make for a tighter pace. But that is the only the negative comment I can really say about this film. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is an excellent achievement from one of Korea's finest filmmakers, I look forward to seeing what Park has in store for us in the future, but in the meantime I highly recommend this film.

This film will screen in Wellington on July 28th at 4:00pm and July 30th at 8:30pm at the Embassy Theatre. Refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information.

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Finger_Of_DOOM's reviews also appear on DVD Compare, where they include details of the DVD release. For this review click here.

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