Sympathy For Lady Vengeance Review: Superbuu3

Alright so i just finished watching the third movie in the vengeance trilogy by Park-Chan Wook my previous reviews of Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr Vengeance can be found by clicking there names.

The film starts off with Geum Ja being released from prison for killing a child thirteen years prior. The first half is shown in a way that films are shot from a bunch of different people's views and is about lady vengeance (Geum Ja, I honestly could not remember her name) and how prison life effected her. The second half is more focused on the actual act of vengeance.

This film is very different to the other films, but I guess they are all different ways of interpreting vengeance. Mr Vengeance shows the path you can walk to lead you on to it, Oldboy is more about the significance of an event from one person to another and Lady Vengeance is more about what would you do when you have the opportunity for vengeance. I found the first two films made me really think about moral choices the difference between right and wrong and honestly this was not so evident in Lady Vengeance. Relating to the character was difficult to do because its not till a decent way through the film that you have any idea what the lead character is thinking. Despite the film being interesting the lack of connection to the lead is definitely detrimental to the film.

I mean sure I understood, that i was supposed to care about the lead and how events had changed her, but if i felt little to no connection to her i'm not actually going to care what happens. Her acting is good and she does come across as dead inside. An interesting point to note in this film is the fact it changes from colour to black and white. This actually worked in the context and did not get annoying even though from being told that you think it would be. It possibly is better to make the film less disturbing, although I don't really feel this would bother most people. Mr Vengeance is by far the most unsettling, Oldboy is considerably more gory, lady vengeance tries to have elements of both but just ends up feeling incomplete. This time I don't really feel i got what PArk had envisioned for this film which is a shame as i feel that he is extremely talented looking at the trilogy as a whole.

I'd certainly say watch this film last out of the three, as the somewhat slower pace and just generally less intersting plot is not something that would make you appreciate Park's talent. If I had been presented with this film first I doubt I would have even considered watching the others. I found it considerably less accessible. If you were a fan of the other two I would suggest watching if not i'd say best avoided.

What do you mean it changes from colour to black and white? It does not.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

What do you mean it changes from colour to black and white? It does not.

Dude the second half of the film was in black and white, i'm pretty sure it was more then just a couple of scenes its pretty much from when they start showing videos i think.

Did you buy it on DVD or download it?

DVD i got the trilogy boxset

I have the individual DVDs. There is no way I failed to notice that half the film was black and white.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

I have the individual DVDs. There is no way I failed to notice that half the film was black and white.

CHECK IT

I'm really sure that its black and white from:

Spoiler:

I'll double check later though.

I certainly don't recall the last half being entirely black and white, but then it has been a good few years since I saw it.