Lady Vengence Review
In an attempt to save some money I have decided to make a concerted effort to tackle my massive stack of unwatched DVDs instead of just buying new ones all the time, some of which I have had in my collection for years!
So, the first film I decided to pop in was Park Chan-Wook's 'Lady Vengeance'. A film that has been sitting unwatched on my shelf for about 6 years now.
The story follows our heroine as she is released from prison after 13 years after being wrongly convicted of the kidnapping and murder of a young child. It soon becomes apparent that she knows who the real perpetrator is, and has been plotting her revenge throughout her sentence...
If there is one word to describe this film it's this; bleak. There are no flashes of dark humour here that have been present in the director's previous works, nor is there any let up from reminders that we are dealing with child-killers here and all the horrific connotations that brings. I can admire the film-making on display here, the film is certainly visually arresting with the hyper-stylisation that Park is known for and the performances are top-notch all round but I can't say it is a fun watch.
The film drags in the middle, getting bogged down with flash-backs and characters that fulfil little purpose plot-wise, also the visual flare sometimes seems out of place and a little like the director is trying to keep us interested while nothing is really happening in the film.
On the whole, of Park's 'Revenge Trilogy' ('Sympathy for Mr. Vengence', 'Oldboy' and this movie) this one definitely falls the flattest for me, the other two being instant classics in my opinion that suit the director's style a little better and juxtapose dark subject matter with black humour effectively. This film is worth a watch for fan's of the director but feels a little taxing overall.
So, the first film I decided to pop in was Park Chan-Wook's 'Lady Vengeance'. A film that has been sitting unwatched on my shelf for about 6 years now.
The story follows our heroine as she is released from prison after 13 years after being wrongly convicted of the kidnapping and murder of a young child. It soon becomes apparent that she knows who the real perpetrator is, and has been plotting her revenge throughout her sentence...
If there is one word to describe this film it's this; bleak. There are no flashes of dark humour here that have been present in the director's previous works, nor is there any let up from reminders that we are dealing with child-killers here and all the horrific connotations that brings. I can admire the film-making on display here, the film is certainly visually arresting with the hyper-stylisation that Park is known for and the performances are top-notch all round but I can't say it is a fun watch.
The film drags in the middle, getting bogged down with flash-backs and characters that fulfil little purpose plot-wise, also the visual flare sometimes seems out of place and a little like the director is trying to keep us interested while nothing is really happening in the film.
On the whole, of Park's 'Revenge Trilogy' ('Sympathy for Mr. Vengence', 'Oldboy' and this movie) this one definitely falls the flattest for me, the other two being instant classics in my opinion that suit the director's style a little better and juxtapose dark subject matter with black humour effectively. This film is worth a watch for fan's of the director but feels a little taxing overall.
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