Sympathy for the Viewer

Lady Vengeance (2/5 stars)

While I am a big fan of one of Park Chan-wook's previous revenge-themed films, Oldboy, this film was an extremely disappointing experience, especially since I had been looking forward to seeing it for quite some time.

The story is about Lee Geum-Ja, who at the age of nineteen goes to prison for the murder of a small child, for which she was framed. In addition to this, the person who framed her is responsible for taking away from her something very dear to her heart. Thirteen years later she gets out, and we learn of the plan she has been hatching ever since her incarceration to exact revenge upon the person responsible for her ill fate. The plot cuts between the present and her experiences in prison, so we learn more about her past through the stories of her interacting with other inmates, some of whom she recruits to help her with her scheme. Eventually all secrets are revealed and we reach the climax of the movie where she finally gets to execute her revenge as well as retrieve some of what she has lost by being in prison all those years.

While some of the technical aspects of the film are excellent (it is shot extremely well and some scenes are breathtakingly beautiful), the direction and writing forage into the absolutely absurd so often that it completely destroys the movie. There were more moments than I can even count where I laughed at things that were unintentionally funny (or if they were intentionally funny, then it is a ridiculously bad type of humor), as well as several subplots that were vapid, phony, and completely unnecessary. Acting at some points is so completely horrifying that it will make you cringe. Finally, the climax drags on for so long that I was begging the movie to finally end.

What is really missing here is an interesting exploration of the morality of revenge. It is attempted a little in the final act, but it is ruined by the complete unplausibility of the situation, the dragging on, and the completely laughable execution. The movie suffers from a severe case of trying to be too vicious, as this is the source of much of the (potentially) unintentional comedy. Many people seem to be giving this movie a lot of praise, so the black humor aspect may just not be my thing. However, I enjoy black humor in movies quite often (a very good comparison to this particular movie that was done right are the Kill Bill movies) when it is done well and if it was intentional in this movie then it was just terrible in my opinion. So even though I hate this film, you make like it