Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

Snow White with a bit more stabbing and strangulation.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is a strange film. You see, it could've been a straight dark and nasty revenge film. And it is, at times. But it's also quite funny. And somewhat magical in terms of tone, too -- in a way that's creepily reminiscent of Disney.

As you may already know, this is the third and final instalment in Park Chan-wook's critically acclaimed Vengeance trilogy. This time around, the story is about Geum-ja, a woman who was wrongfully accused of murdering a small child when she was only nineteen years old. And now, having spent the past thirteen years, she's mighty pissed and rather keen on getting revenge on the man who actually committed the crime.

Guem-ja is easily one of the most intriguing fictional characters I've come across in recent years. For a psychopath, she's oddly generous and kind-hearted. Methodical and artistic -- and driven by some twisted moral code that even she doesn't seem to understand -- she's a predator, pure and simple, both in terms of how she bides her time seeking her revenge and how she handles her relationship with her little toy boy.

The humour works. The jokes are obviously quite dark, but still, the point is, this movie isn't completely serious. The prison scenes are, for most of the part, quirky and often hilarious in a black and twisted way. And no, before you ask, they don't rely on the usual gaol cliches.

The stylised camerawork is great. The scoring is beautiful, emphasising the whole magical, fairytale-ish feel -- particularly during the first half of the film. The opening credits sequence is a work of art in itself.

While this review sounds simple enough, Lady Vengeance is a hard film to talk about. It took me a few hours to digest it enough to be able to do so much as a single paragraph. And I know it'll be with me for a few days. It won't appeal to everyone, but if you're into this sort of thing, be sure to pick it up when you're next at the shops. Just don't expect to feel relaxed at the end.