Fridae

She bangs, she bangs?

Serious movie buff have been waiting two years for Sympathy
for Lady Vengeance, the concluding part of the acclaimed revenge
trilogy by South Korean whiz-director Park Chan-wook. Having wowed
the world with his Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (2002) and Old
Boy (2003) — the first two hyper-violent films —
Park returns with the final story of a woman going to hell and back
to exact revenge.

Willowy beauty Lee Yeong-Ae plays a na�ve woman who is arrested
for murdering a young boy. She maintains that she is innocent, but
the court rules otherwise. Imprisoned for 13 long years, she becomes
smart as a whip and tough as nails (her friends in jail include
a few lesbians). When she is released from prison, she goes after
the men responsible for her misery...

Now, if you're expecting to be shell-shocked by hyperbolic violence
and implausible body-counts — as you were by the first two
films — you may be a tad disappointed. Compared to them, Sympathy
for Lady Vengeance is more mired in melodrama, as it tells a
story of a woman coming to grips with the ugly ways of the world.
The hard-hitting carnage only kicks in the last part of the film.
So lovers of gore and violence, who lapped up Old Boy, have
to be a little patient.

Still, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is a must-watch for serious
movie buffs. Director Park is a virtuoso of the modern action film,
a supremely talented stylist to rival the likes of John Woo and
Sam Peckinpah. Though this final film is the weakest of the three,
Park's revenge triptych is undoubtedly one of the most daring trilogies
in contemporary cinema.