Starring: Lee Young-Ae, Choi Min-Sik, Kim Si-Hu
Director: Park Chan-Wook
Studio: CJ Entertainment
Rating: 18+
Genre: Drama
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About This DVD
Director Park Chan-wook finally arrived at the end of his exploration of the
revenge theme in his latest film, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Chinjolhan
Kumjassi)." It serves well for the conclusion of his trilogy, but somehow falls
short of satisfying moviegoers who expect absurd and complex confrontation
between main characters, as shown in his previous two works.
The movie is a story about a woman who tries to take revenge on a man who puts
her in a miserable situation. And the director stylishly sheds light on the
importance of the atonement for sins and the salvation of the soul, but the
message is delivered with a bit of a biblical feel. In the movie, Kum-ja (played
by Lee Young-ae) is falsely charged with the kidnapping and murder of a boy and
is put behind bars for 13 years.
As its Korean title suggests, which is roughly translated as "Kind Miss Kum-ja,"
she seems to be completely enlightened while serving the sentence. In jail, she
lives like an angel to help her inmates. The reality is that she has long
prepared for the deadly revenge on the actual murderer of the boy while she is
serving the sentence.
Two thirds of the story shows how she gets involved in the murder case and how
she prepares for the revenge, which successfully builds tension and is sometimes
mixed with the black humor that the director often uses in his films.
Kum-ja’s multiple personality is brilliantly portrayed, thanks to Lee’s great
performance, who has previously played only typical feminine characters, such as
Jang-gum from the historical television drama "Jewel in the Palace (Daejanggeum)."
The mixed emotions of her prolonged hatred and grievousness help the director
effectively get to the point that he wants to make as the conclusion of the
trilogy.
When she completes her revenge, she puts her face on a white cake in the shape
of "tubu," or a firm bean curd, as people here first eat a piece of tufu as a
symbolic gesture of being purified from their all sins _ like the white color of
tubu _ when they are discharged from jail. She now realizes that revenge can’t
be the end of the atonement for her sins.
The main characters from the two previous revenge film, "Poksunun Naui Kot
(Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance)'' in 2002 and "Old Boy" in 2003, make cameo
appearances in the film but their appearances also look a bit confusing or
disturbing as they don’t have any direct connection to the film.
Lady Vengeance lucidly jumps back and forth in time to lay down the ingredients
that go into Geum-Ja’s master plan. Making notable contributions are her former
fellow inmates. In prison, she was known as “Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja,” and made
many colorful allies through her generosity. Kim Yang-Hee (Seo Young-Joo) was a
prostitute who had a prison affair with her. When Woo Si-Young (Kim Bu-Seon, A
Moment to Remember), a vicious bank robber, was dying, Geum-Ja saved her life by
giving her a kidney. Oh Su-Hee (Ra Mi-Ran) was an adulteress forced into sexual
slavery by a brutal woman who killed her husband and his mistress and then ate
them. Geum-Ja delicately intervened and rescued Oh.
While setting up her machinations, Geum-Ja gets a job at a bakery whose owner,
Mr. Chang (Oh Dal-Su), was once inspired by Geum-Ja’s astounding pastry skills
when he observed her in prison. His nineteen-year old assistant, Geun-Sik (Kim
Shee-Hoo), is attracted to Geum-Ja for other reasons. Then the reintroduction of
Geum-Ja’s thirteen-year old daughter, Jenny (Kwon Yea-Young), into her life
creates further delays in her plans.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the flashiest, funniest, and most baroque of the
“Vengeance Trilogy.” It is also the most simpleminded and, despite that,
eventually the most muddled. For the most part, Park keeps the genre action
moving at a rapid-fire pace while tossing in everything from slapstick to
extremely dark comedy to surrealistic moments like Geun-Ja’s face literally
glowing or her dream about Mr. Baek with the body of a dog. The music by Cho
Young-Wuk and Vivaldi is very effective at sustaining the enthralling and
playful mood.
If the film continued in this manner, Park would have ended up with something
perhaps too similar to Oldboy or Kill Bill. So when the penultimate moment with
Mr. Baek comes, Park takes a risky left turn, and the final third of Lady
Vengeance goes into unexplored territory, something of a critique of capital
punishment, a black comedy Dead Man. This is more admirable in theory than
execution, but then Park’s aspirations go even further, which is when he mars
his film with a pretentious ending aimed at the spiritual.
| Audio Format: | DD 5.1, DD 2.0, DTS 5.1 |
| Video Format: | Widescreen 2.35:1 (Anamorphic) |
| Languages: | Korean |
| Subtitles: | English, Korean |
| Country Made: | Korea |
| Region Code: | 3 |
| Year Made: | 2005 |
| Running Time: | 112 |
| Special Features: | DISC 1: Colored Version - Commentary by Director, Cinematographer and Production Designer - Commentary by Director and Lee Young-Ae - DD 5.1, DD 2.0 Audio - Making of Film - Deleted Scenes - Characters for Lady Vengeance - Alternate Scenes - Snapshot - Promotion DISC 2: Gradually Fade to Black & White Version - Commentary by Korean Critic - Commentary by Overseas Critic - DTS, DD 2.0 Audio - Short Film by Young Director - Park Chan Wook. Mr. Vengeance - Style for Lady Vengeance - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance in Venice Film Festival - Director's Choice (Short Film) |
| Availability: | Usually ships in 5-10 days |
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