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After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life...
Yeong-ae Lee: Geum-ja Lee
Chinjeolhan geumjassi(2005) translating as Lady Vengeance is the third instalment of the Vengeance trilogy, telling the unique story of a lady, Geum-ja Lee, whom is sent to prison for 13 years for supposedly kidnapping and murdering a young boy.
She was not guilty of the crime, though she had a merely a minimal part involving the kidnapping. Rather Geum-ja was forced to admit to the crime by her accomplice Mr. Baek(Oldboy's main character actor Min-sik Choi). While in prison, she becomes something of an angel to her fellow inmates, showing them a kindness and love that not only effects their lives but changes them. She is a different person upon her release from prison yet is still determined on making Mr. Baek atone for his sins.
Rarely are films or stories presented in such a stylistically fresh way, usually absent from Western projects. It has an independent art house feel to it, yet still extremely stylish and polished. Chan-wook Park is quite an artist as well as Directorial visionary, and with his trilogy, he has insured that any future projects he is involved with spark international curiosity.
The story turns from one of vengeance to redemption, but this is certainly not a simple journey for Geum-ja. In fact, the actress in that role, Yeong-ae Lee, is in nearly every scene of the film's story and she certainly makes it her own.
She plays everything. The angel who glows with a smile. The cold hard bitch. The victim. The mother. Yet above all this, she also comes to realize that she needs to set things right for more than just herself. She is far from Mr. Baek's only victim and she let's the parents of the other child victims share in her revenge with their own. The parents also being victims of loss and pain.
Having wanted to make a film on a middle aged woman's revenge, Director Chan-wook Park originally considered casting Du-shim Ko for the part of Geum-ja. However, he had to abandon his plan for a couple of reasons. He found that Ms. Ko was rather old for the character and was afraid that the movie would look quite similar to John Cassavetes' Gloria(1980).
Interestingly, the snow at the end is not real. They brought two trucks of salt, scattered it all over the street and finally adjusted the scene using computer graphics.
Also, the bakery that Geumja works in is called Naruse, which is the name of the Japanese director Mikio Naruse.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance are not directly connected by any characters, but again all share the common theme of Vengeance. Each takes it's own unique path and tribute to the study of revenge. Mr. Vengeance essentially has no villains, but features tragedy for all. Oldboy is the tale of ultimate revenge, with a plot so horrid that it necessitates locking a victim up for 15 years in isolation, then releases him so he can seek vengeance on an unknown entity with unclear motives. In this third film, the lead doesn't quite sink to the level of becoming a complete monster. She finds something very special to redeem herself, and involves her plans with others resulting in peace for them as well. Lady Vengeance is about revenge yes but is also about parents protecting their children from a sadistic child serial killer. Then when they lose their children carrying out their vengeance upon the monster himself. As with all the other stories acts of revenge, of vengeance are merely a temporary state for it's user. Once the act is fulfilled it becomes an obsolete action or state, and the same can be said of Lady Vengeance. Savour the incredible experience while it lasts and be in awe of a story transcending vengeance with redemption.
''Big atonement for big sins...Small atonement for small sins.''
10/10
