The Doll Master

knightofdreamz · Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:47 pm Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

Director: Chan-wook Park

Plot Summary :
After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-ja starts seeking revenge on the man that was really responsible for the boy's death. With the help of fellow inmates and reunited with her daughter, she gets closer and closer to her goal. But will her actions lead to the relief she seeks?

Cast (Credited cast) :
Yeong-ae Lee... Geum-ja Lee
Min-sik Choi... Mr. Baek

All Title(s):
Lady Vengeance (international)
My Lady Vengeance (Hong Kong)
Qin-joe-han gump-ja-she (North Korea)
Shed Tears for Lady Vengeance (Philippines)
Sincere geum-ja Hong Kong (Cantonese)
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (International)

Jisatsu~Saakura. · Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:37 pm

Vengeance trilogy love in my heart! 8D
awesome

ijonchrist · Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:34 pm

I just finished watching this film, and with that I've now completed Park's Vengeance Trilogy. I'm actually really glad I watched this one last, though none of the three would have left me feeling disappointed I suppose.

Currently, after only one viewing, I rate this film right up there with Oldboy. Oldboy wins on style and pace I suppose, but Lady Vengeance wins on story and cinematography. Ms. Geum-ja was a fantastic protagonist, and the actress (don't know her name by memory yet) did a wonderful job portraying all of her feelings and her masking of them.

There's nothing at all wrong with Mr. Vengeance now, but I'd still rate it at the bottom of the trilogy for my personal tastes. I would still give Mr. an 8/10, but Lady and Oldboy are both 9s on my list.

If you haven't seen it, watch it! If you didn't like Mr. Vengeance and/or Oldboy, watch it anyway... it's really a different kind of fevenge film. If you loved Mr. Vengeance and/or Oldboy, more's the reason to give this one a shot!

Now for a little review:

***SPOILERS***

Again, Lee Geum-ja was freaking awesome! Both her true personality and her cold mask that she wore through most of the film were excellently portrayed by the lovely actress who played her. I would rate her in the highest echelon of revenge film protagonists. The way that she realized near the end that the revenge wasn't hers to take (at least not hers alone) really effected me. Even through her quest for revenge, she was still kind-hearted enough to at least let the parents of the murdered children get their own vengeance. The fact that the detective helped them all in the end was great as well... now that's my kind of justice!

The other actors/characters in the film were great as well. Choi Min-sik was great in this film as the villain, and I'd really like to see him in some more films. Even as a sick bastard, there was still a lot of humanity in his performance... perhaps not the best of humanity, but humanity nonetheless. There are lots of other actors from the previous two Vengeance films that make appearances in this movie that are all great as well. Another reason I'm glad I saw this one last.

The pacing wasn't as good as Oldboy, and the film didn't really have any great action sequences really, but the story was excellent and I never felt bored watching this. The plan she had in place and watching it unfold was brilliant in my opinion, and the fact that it ultimately had to be changed completely made the film even greater! Another thing to consider when thinking about how she handed the Vengeance over to the parents is that she had been working on her plan for 14 years! To just stop and change it at the end showed remarkable strength and character to me.

The cinematography and use of colour especially was nothing short of fantastic in this film. Seriously, it's one of the prettiest films I've seen in a long time, and it's definitely the prettiest revenge film I've ever seen! I loved the line she had about why the elaborate old-fashioned gun had to be used... something like "It has to be beautiful, everything should be." That line really applies to this whole film as far as I'm concerned.

That's it for now, gang. Feel free to post if you disagree with me on anything here or if you just want to discuss anything about the film!

Cheers,
- I

ShadowDepths · Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:13 pm

I never got to watch this yet.