Dear Internet,
I have wanted
to watch "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" for some time. I saw the other two films in the Vengeance
trilogy a few years ago, both of which I enjoyed quite immensely. I
particularly enjoyed "Oldboy" which got me interested in Park Chan-wook,
the shared director for all the films, and got me to watch some of his
non-Vengeance films, notably "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" and
"Joint Security Area." Overall,
I find his films to be quite enjoyable if at least more than a bit hard to
stomach. Park's films are not visually
disturbing in the same way that a gory film like "Saw" is. No, "Lady Vengeance" is more
difficult to watch because of the topics that it covers, most difficult being
kidnapping, child murdering, prison life, and the conflict between personal
revenge and public justice.
The film
tells the story of Lee Geum-ja, a recently paroled woman who has done thirteen
years for kidnapping and murder of a five year old boy. During those thirteen years, she created a demeanor
of an angelic persona, taking care of numerous other prisoners, pretending to
have converted to allow for early release, and incapacitating the prison bully. Once out, she begins to call in a number of favors
from the other ex-convicts. One by one,
the audience learns of the various things that Lee did while imprisoned and how
each favor she calls in begins to fit into a much larger plan. She plans on finding the real perpetrator to
the crime that she paid thirteen years for.
"Lady
Vengeance" has an intertwining plot that does not let itself be known
right away. The film's true plot does
not become apparent until about thirty minutes in. Until that time, the viewer has to piece
together a number of nearly disconnected scenes that do little to create a
concrete understanding of the film's central character, Lee. At one moment, the film presents itself as a
straightforward redemption film, only showing how Lee responds to a preacher as
being penitent, wishing to be forgiven for her actions. After she is released, we do see that her
actions prove this is a falsehood, only one of many faces she wears throughout
the film. While this does work while
having the whole film examined in its entirety, I found myself heavily confused
as to what I was supposed to be understanding at the time. The whirlwind of information presented in the
beginning can be difficult to absorb since the film as a whole is suspense and
mystery. The film takes a while to show
that Lee was indeed innocent by only showing flashbacks to scenes that are
outside her own experience, ones that are unaware of her guilt or not. This early hump comes from spreading out the
exposition out a little too much. While
it does eventually resolve itself, it should be noted.
I
enjoyed the film, but I continued to think of the other two Vengeance films
while viewing this one. The other two
films remember that the one that was enacting the vengeance was not without
crimes themselves. "Sympathy for
Mr. Vengeance" ended with the protagonist succumbing to the consequences
of his own actions. "Oldboy" at
least made the viewer wonder if the protagonist had even gained his revenge at
all or if his actions had dug himself into an even deeper pit than the one he
was originally thrown into. This film,
however, gets to the end and leaves the viewer with a quick and dry
answer. Lee commits crimes throughout
the film, but each action is against a guilty party that has committed far
worse. At the end of the film, there is
no question of "Now what?" because Lee has tied up every loose end
and received everything but forgiveness for her initial crime, something that
she will never gain. The audience knows
that her first crime, aiding the kidnapping but not the murder of a child, can
never be truly forgiven by the victim because the victim is dead. Lee will never receive her redemption through
her vengeance. The best she can hope for
is to stop the perpetrator from continuing his actions. The film rests its ending on this obvious
truth, but the viewer can reason this out when they learn of her plans. In turn, the ending comes to its logical
conclusion without any sort of twist that the other Vengeance films are able to
spin. But that leads more into the two-thirds
twist that diverts the film as a whole.
Near
the climax of the film, the story switches to Lee's personal vendetta to that
of small mob justice, for lack of a better name. More crimes are found against the man who had
sent Lee to prison. The victim's
relatives are brought in and his sentence is chose by mob rule instead of being
instantly handed over to the police. The
whole thing turns rather "Murder on the Orient Express" rather
quickly. Then the film's speed slows
down considerably because of this shift in tone. It then has to spend time elaborating on the
various new characters. It does not get
to the point that each and every character gets an exhaustive, but with a cast
of at least of half a dozen that already received a likewise small
introduction, it becomes a bit tiring. Throw
on top that thematic change and the film can really be divided into two parts
to the point where it might have been easier to just separate it into two
films. The fact that the climax and the
division occurs at the two-third mark means that the last third moves slowly
and is worse yet, just playing out the logical conclusion. The viewer can guess the rest of the film at
that point as they watch being played out what is going through their head.
"Sympathy
for Lady Vengeance" is an enjoyable film if one can stand the film's
content. The film presents the brutal
honesty of human depravity while depicting a horrible fiction. Film artistry is there as well as a
compelling plot. The acting is spot on
with the cast being able to convey the character's pain without being comically
melodramatic. Overall, it is a film that
can stand next to other Vengeance films, if just standing a sit short.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Next is "Nier" for the PS3.
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