Review of Lady Vengeance (2005) by Jules E — 02 May 2011

After building lots of anticipation with a good film like Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and then a masterpiece like Oldboy, Chan-Wook Park had a reputation to maintain. And I couldn't imagine a better film to end his Vengeance Trilogy than this beautiful exhilarating post-modernist gem. In Lady Vengeance, Park brings out his phenomenal talent for a third time adding to it new dimensions making it a whole different visual experience and still one up to the level of what he did previously if not better. Lady Vengeance comes as my second favorite in the trilogy, between the best Oldboy and the least good Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. This trilogy made me a fan of the director and of South Korean cinema and now I'm craving for more of both.

In this film, Park takes a whole different road in terms of story telling. The first two films were a bit similar when it comes to the way he unfolds his stories and the formulas he used. But here it was something completely different and quite unexpected. The film isn't all about turns and twists and unexpected events as in the previous two (as enjoyable as they have been). Here we go deeper into the human psych which stimulates that true and authentic urge for vengeance. The motives are immediately revealed from the beginning and it's not too complicated. The film begins with an introduction of the protagonist and the characters surrounding her who will eventually help her in her revenge scheme. And from then on things are put to action immediately leading to a surprising ending that is not about the shock factor but more of the human factor. Lady Vengeance is emotionally heavier than its predecessors and its human message goes deeper than the surface of the film's beautiful image.

Visually the film was absolutely stunning. Of course it doesn't stand a chance in front of Oldboy's visual spectacle and but it's something of pure beauty nonetheless. From the beginning, the film hits you in the face with a charming opening credits which goes back to the roots of far eastern essences accompanied by an emotionally stimulating musical score. Then Park goes on with his magic and genius showing for a third time what a visual master he is and proving he is one of the best working director not only in South Korea but in the whole world. Because what he is doing is something that puts other worldwide directors to shame. His style is impeccable and he has this certain eye when it comes to framing that very few people have. There is no one average frame in the whole film. Each one is a moving work of art. And each scene shows a visionary working behind the camera. He sometimes over dramatizes things but he does it so perfectly you can't but get goosebumps.

I have noticed something, that all the best cinematographers are working in Asian cinema. I haven't seen one Asian film that didn't have a state of the art image. And this is of course the case here as it was in the first two films of the trilogy. But here its quite different. The beauty of the image in Oldboy was shown to be mostly done in the post-production phase. But here you feel the whole work being done on set and the beauty of the lighting is just mind blowing. And again it is a perfectly edited film. Actually it's the best one in the trilogy when it comes to editing. Some scenes contain parallel editing done with the utmost attention to the least detail so the cuts won't be shocking but smooth and effective. I absolutely loved it. And as in Oldboy, Lady Vengeance enjoys a great musical score which helped give this grandiose feeling to the scenes. Park is doing a wonderful visual work but we all saw how his genius failed in the first film because of the lack of music.

Yeong-Ae Lee gives a very good performance as Lady Vengeance. A perfect femme fatale with her terrorizing red eye shadow. Lee knew her character and gave it the attitude it needed to give its full effect on the viewers. And I enjoyed the cameos done by the leading actors of the two previous films of the trilogy.