There are movies that trick you sometimes. And I like that. Such is the case with Chan-wook Park's new film Lady vengeance (aka Sympathy for Lady vengeance. This is the last part of Park's vengeance trilogy started with the brilliant Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and even more brilliant Oldboy. (man, I still love that movie!!!) The final installment is just as inventive but more suptle than Oldboy. In fact the first hour might make you dizzy as the movie shifts through time a lot, with a lot of characters. So have some coffee. However stick with it, cause at the end Park does it again and pulls the rug out from you and serves up an ending scene that will make you think.
Lee Geum-Ja, at the age of 19, goes to prison for the murder and abduction of a child on behalf of her accomplice Mr. Baek, only to find out that she is betrayed. While in prison, she carefully prepares for her revenge by winning the hearts of her fellow inmates with her kindness, thus earning herself the nickname 'kind Ms. Geum-Ja'. Upon her release from prison after 13 years, she finally sets out to seek revenge on Baek, with the help of her former prison mates.
What she discovers about Mr. Baek sets her on a similar if not fascinating different kind of revenge plot that I felt was really interesting. I can't say I liked this as much as the first two, but its a great ending to an amazing trilogy. All the actors from the other two films are all in this playing different small roles as a kind of good-bye. The cinematography by Jeong-hun Jeong (oldboy) is again incredible. Chan-wook Park is an amazing talent to keep your eye on. I want to watch it again soon to pick up on some stuff i may have missed the first time out. Up next for me is the banned from cable film Imprint from Takashi Miike! Wish me luck.
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