(aka "Chinjeolhan geumjassi" or "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance")
directed by Chan-wook Park
South Korea 2005
Spending 13 years in prison, for the
abduction and murder of a child, Lee Geum-ja is released a model prisoner.
Having been converted to Christianity, she has spend her time being an
angel, helping and aiding her inmates, and is now being awaited by a
congregation, dressed up as Santa Claus, as Christmas is near by. As Lee
meets them, rather than accepting their welcome, she tells them to go screw
themselves and embarks on her mission for vengeance.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the third and last part of Chan-wook Park’s
trilogy of revenge, beginning with
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and continuing
with
OldBoy. The western title is however misleading, as the original title
Chinjeolhan geumjassi translates Kind Miss Geum-ja. To approach this final
entry by the original title is far more enriching in terms of how Park
handles revenge.
Where revenge was by the gut in
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and alluding
Kafka and Camus in
OldBoy, revenge here is calculated and cold blooded.
Geum-ja spend 13 years in prison knowing she was innocent of the crime she
was convicted. The real killer forced her to do so, having abducted her
daughter and threatened to kill her, if she didn’t confess to his crime.
Notable here is, that Geum-ja is a gentle soul, who becomes corrupted, as
she begins to punish those who are evil, in lack of a better word, in
prison, and continues to do so, once she is released.
There are two significant weaknesses in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. The
first is, that Park invests too much time in acts not related to the
original crime, showing Geum-ja as a woman, who kills the evil sprits of her
former inmates. The second is that Park distorts the central revenge motif
by involving the parents of other children killed. While it is haunting and
very painful to watch, one has to question Park’s approach to revenge here.
Is Geum-ja an abstraction of justice? Is he advocating vigilantism? Does he
dilute Geum-ja’s 13 year waiting for revenge by allowing others to get
theirs before she does? Where Park approached revenge from an existential
point of view in the two prior films, revenge here seems more to be what
drives the narrative.
Park doesn’t allow his audience to feel the pain of his protagonist, as he
and has reduced the audience to observers only. The story moves too quickly,
both forward and in too many directions, for us to pause, reflect and
sympathise with Geum-ja. I don’t believe in the transition of Geum-ja. One
moment, she is a naïve mother, being forced to re-enact the killing of a
child in front of reporters, the next she is a calm vindictive angel. Park
doesn’t allow her the same “journey of the mind” as he did Oh Dae-su in
OldBoy. And even if one attempts to approach Geum-ja as an political
abstraction, for the collective guilt of South Korea, the abstraction has to
be forced upon the narrative, and even so, if makes little sense.
Weaknesses aside, one has to view Sympathy for Lady Vengeance outside the
trilogy and Park’s examination of guilt and revenge, and as such, it is a
stunning piece of film. The mise-en-scene by Park is far more playful than
in his earlier films, far more political, far more grim. Isolated, there are
moments of great pain and beauty. More so here than in his earlier films,
Park creates iconographical elements – Geum-ja and her red eyeshade and
black leather jacket for instance – and arranges these for maximum impact.
This is his most impressive visual film to date.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: July 29, 2005 (South Korea)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Tartan - Region 0 - PAL
Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the Review!
DVD Box Cover |
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Distribution |
Tartan Region 0 - PAL |
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Runtime | 1:55:13 (4% PAL speedup) | |
Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate |
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Audio | 2.0 Dolby Digital Korean, 5.1 Dolby Digital Korean, DTS Korean | |
Subtitles | English, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Tartan Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 16 |
Comments |
A stunning transfer showing strong
blacks, great details and no visible artefacts. It would have been
such a beautiful transfer, hadn't it been for the fact, that this is
a PALified NTSC (with 'ghosting' present). Considering, that Tartan's
OldBoy transfer was
about one of the best their ever released, this is sad. The sound on the other hand is truly stunning. Especially the DTS which captures everything crystal clear, making full use of the surround funstion. The additional material is besides the trailer, an exclusive interview with Park, where he goes into detail with various elements of the film, both thematically and production elements. A great interview. |
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