Lady Vengeance (2006) Movie Review

For the next in his kidnapping/revenge series (after Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy), inventive filmmaker Park puts a woman front and centre, and the result is a strikingly sensitive voyage into the darkest recesses of the human mind.

Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) was imprisoned at 19 after confessing to the kidnapping and murder of a young boy. During her 13-year term, she becomes a model prisoner. But once released, she embarks on a careful plan to get revenge against the man (Choi) behind it all. As Geum-ja sets her plot in motion, she reveals her secrets, working with a select group that includes her loyal former cellmates, her baker boss (Oh) and his young assistant (Kim Shi-hoo), the detective on her case (Nam), red eye shadow and a ferocious hand-made gun.

Park's elegant stylishness is on full display, from the gorgeous white-out title sequence to the desperately emotional final showdown--with witty characters, events and film tricks generously layered in between. He's such a strikingly visual director that we eagerly indulge in his excesses; grisliness and emotions are often over-the-top. Flashbacks and dream sequences swirl into the mix, including a brief interlude in the Australian Outback. As each piece of her story falls into place, we become aware that settling the score isn't going to be enough for Geum-ja. She needs atonement.

Like Oldboy, this is rich, detailed storytelling full of vivid characters who are all impeccably played. It's much more than a tale of violence and retribution; this is an inner journey about and correcting wrongs and tying up loose ends. And the climactic sequence is almost unwatchable for its intense violence (all off-screen, thankfully) and its razor-sharp emotion.

And this is also a story of female empowerment in a world that continually, and ritually, sidelines and victimises. For these women, oppression is over! And no one who knows the truth can argue with them. But it's of course much more complicated than that. And this soul-cleansing dichotomy is what Park catches on screen beautifully, showing up Tarantino's Kill Bill for the Western revenge fantasy that it is.