After several months
on the film festival circuit, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" opens in
New York and L.A. today, April 28th, at the same time it's playing
during the Indianapolis International Film Festival. The film opens
nationwide on May 12th.
"Lady Vengeance" is the third film, following the remarkable "Oldboy"
and "Sympathy Vengeance," in a revenge trilogy from Korean director
Chan-Wook Park.
"Lady Vengeance" is the story of Geum-ja Lee (Lee-Yeong ae), a young
woman released from prison after 13 years following her confession for
the kidnapping and murder of a young boy. Wrongly imprisoned, Geum-ja
has spent nearly all her time incarcerated planning revenge on Mr.
Baek (Min-sik Choi), a school teacher largely responsible for her
incarceration. Her incarceration not only cost her 13 years of
freedom, but she was forced to give up custody of her daughter.
Upon release, Geum-ja enlists the aid of her previous inmates, who had
come to recognize her for her kindness and caring while incarcerated
and were all too willing to assist in her revenge.
It is, sadly, the first half of "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" that
results in the film's receiving a grade of B-. Too often in the first
half of the film, we are provided with too much narrative exposition
and cinematography that often feels forcibly photogenic. There is also
a scene early in the film in which, during a fantasy scene, the
alleged "outdoor" scenery is undoubtedly a soundstage of the most
obvious variety.
This is not to take anything away from the performance of Lee-Yeong ae,
who does a nice job portraying a woman who is both compassionate yet
capable of vengeful killings. While she is less convincing in the
film's maternal moments, her performance is generally convincing and
effective.
Likewise, Choi's performance as the frighteningly disturbed Mr. Baek
is chilling in its normalcy.
It seems like Park films are either "love it" or "hate it" films.
There will be, undoubtedly, viewers who will be enchanted by the
film's visual imagery, intrigued by the script's spiritual undertones,
and who will laugh with delight at the film's extremely dark comedy.
In reality, I understand all these points.
Quite often, the film is beautiful to behold. The film's spiritual
undertones and exploration of the ethics of revenge is interesting
and, quite honestly, a tad more intellectual than the Tarantino
approach to such a topic. The film's dark comedy, especially in the
latter third of the film, is pointed, well-timed and, yes,
funny...yet, I can't deny that more than once I found myself thinking
of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" in the midst of it all.
Ultimately, however, I'm not a "love it" or "hate it" person for Park
films (though I've only seen "Old Boy," which I loved). I do, however,
consider myself a discerning film-goer and I found much to not like
about "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance."
I suppose it mostly comes down to the film feeling like Park typically
chooses style over substance. Even when the dialogue begins to discuss
deep spiritual issues, somehow Park can't allow himself to finish the
scene without some strong stylistic statement that never enhances the
plotline or action of the film.
My other problem with "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" is that we are
supposed to sympathize with Geum-ja. Yet, Geum-ja has made plenty of
poor choices herself. While she's undoubtedly been wronged, by the
time she gets around to exacting revenge virtually everyone in her
life is paying the price for it.
The film is saved from utter mediocrity by the actual scenes of
revenge. While random acts of violence have seldom piqued my
interested on film, Park shoots these scenes masterfully with an
uneasy mix of black comedy, suspense, action and rage. One scene, in
particular, involving the parents of murdered children is
heartbreakingly raw and powerful. These series of scenes themselves
would have made for a masterful film. Unfortunately, shortly after
revenge is exacted we find ourselves back in the same stylistic rut.
I will offer one slight warning that the film features relatively
brief scenes of violence towards children. Those who are sensitive to
this sort of thing would be advised to avoid the film and/or not view
the film alone.
"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" settles for being a merely decent flick
instead of the brilliant film it was trying to be. With a little more
substance over style and stronger production design, even I would have
had sympathy for "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance." |
