Film Review: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005). Co-written and directed by Park Chan-wook. Set in South Korea, the film starts in the present with the release of Lee Geum-Ja (Lee Young-Ae) from prison. A group of Christians greet her and other ex-prisoners at the exit to the prison with a block of tofu, to signify their purity on release. Geum-Ja knocks the tofu to the ground, and walks off. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the final film in Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy. The first 30-40 minutes are a rather confusing flashback of her 13 years in prison, although the story then picks up after her release from prison and the subsequent main plot thread. The film improves markedly at this point and takes a more traditional pace. Although the story is fairly brutal, including the kidnap and murder of children, it doesn't quite reach the level of Oldboy and is a relatively more sedate tale. Lee Young-Ae and the rest of cast turn in good performances. There's an unusual baroque soundtrack with strains of Vivaldi. Recommended for thriller fans that can cope with something unusual. 4/5 (Good)
(Thanks for the nod Rob)
(Thanks for the nod Rob)