Lady Vengeance

Lady Vengeance (2005) is about a woman leaving prison after thirteen years and taking revenge. Lee Geum-ja was convicted at nineteen for the abduction and murder of a child. She confessed and became known inside as helpful and beloved; they call her the angel. Once out it becomes clear she is no angel. For thirteen years she did favours for the women she met inside, and now she collects: each supplies a part of the plan. She did not commit the crime. She took it on to save her own daughter; the real killer was her former teacher, Mr Baek. In the second half she makes a choice. Instead of killing him herself she gathers the families of the other children he killed into a room and leaves the decision to them. That section is the centre of the film and turns revenge from a spectacle into a burden. It closes Park Chan-wook's revenge trilogy, after Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy. There is a visual choice: the colour drains slowly as the film goes on. In some screenings this was pronounced, and Park described it as life fading as the revenge proceeds. Lee Young-ae stars. The red eye shadow is the character's signature and why she wears it is explained in one line. The last scene takes place in snow and resolves nothing. It runs 115 minutes. Good for: Korean cinema, revenge narratives, and Park Chan-wook. Less good for: the subject is the murder of children and some scenes are unbearable.