Lady Vengeance (2005)

After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.

Director:

Chan-wook Park (as Park Chan Wook)

Writers:

Seo-kyeong Jeong (as Seo-gyeong Jeong), Chan-wook Park

Stars:

Yeong-ae Lee, Min-sik Choi, Shi-hoo Kim

12 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yeong-ae Lee	...	Geum-ja Lee
Min-sik Choi	...	Mr. Baek
Shi-hoo Kim	...	Geun-shik
Yea-young Kwon	...	Jenny
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Barry	...	StepFather, Australian
Anne Cordiner	...	StepMother, Australian
Su-hee Go	...	Ma-nyeo
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Tv announcer
Bu-seon Kim	...	So-young Woo
Byeong-ok Kim	...	Preacher
Yoo-Jeong Kim	...	Jae-kyung
Byung-Joon Lee	...	Dong-Hwa
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Prison head
Seung-shin Lee	...	Yi-jeong Park (as Seung-Shin Lee)
Su-gyeong Lim	...	A prison officer

Storyline

Wrongfully accused of child abduction and murder, the angelic-faced single mother, Lee Geum-ja, is released from prison after thirteen long years. Hell-bent on taking her sweet revenge on the man behind the hideous crime, Lee hatches an infallible plan of retribution with the help of her cellmates; however, planning is easier than doing. Now--as Lee Geum-ja struggles to make amends with the daughter she was forced to give up--at the same time, she finds herself torn between her insatiable thirst for vengeance and the desperate need for atonement. Can she have both?

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | murder | vengeance | christian | cake | 

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Taglines:

Lee Geum-Ja, have mercy on us...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violent content - some involving children, and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Having wanted to make a film on a middle aged woman's revenge, the director originally considered casting Du-shim Ko for the part of Geum-ja. However, he had to abandon his plan for a couple of reasons. He found that Ms. Ko was rather old for the character and was afraid that the movie would look quite similar to John Cassavetes' Gloria (1980).

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Geum-ja Lee: Listen carefully. Everyone make mistakes. But if you committed a sin, you have to make an atonement for that sin. Atonement, do you know what that means? Big Atonement for big sins. Small Atonement for small sins.

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Alternate Versions

There are two different versions of the film. One is full color. The other, called "Fade to Black Version", shifts from color to B&W over the course of the movie. Like Sin City, there are color highlighted, even in the B&W scenes. The second version is what the director intended, but he was not able to complete it properly until the Korean DVD (which includes both versions).

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Connections

References Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

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Soundtracks

Ah ch'infelische sempre
from "Cantate 'Cessate, omai cessate', RV 684"
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi

User Reviews

Lee Young-Ae shines as Lady Vengeance

Having only just finished watching a marathon screening of Jewel In The Palace, also another Lee Young-Ae vehicle, a few weeks ago in the comfort of my home, I was pleasantly surprised at how flexible this actress could be in her acting skills.

Perhaps it is her plain-faced mien that has not seen the plastic surgeon's knife or the ease with which she looks innocent and then sensual and then psychotic all at once in this film that helped her to put on this character like a pair of pantyhose- sensual, warm, transparent yet opaque.

The twists and themes in the show were also very different and very unexpected. When you think the film is going to come to a close, it walks away from the curtains to take you into an even higher level of movie-going experience.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance boasts of excellent scriptwriting with dark humor lightening up the otherwise even darker theme of vengeance. The acting from the various cast members were commendable as well as the DP-ing and various subtle yet very effective special effects in the film. The directing was also superb as was the cinematography.

I left the cinema feeling like I had watched my $8 worth and then some. I dun wanna spoil anything by giving away the storyline/ general plot or the very intriguing twists etc. I just hope you will give this film a chance to charm you like only dark chocolate can. When you're done, it will feel like you've just eaten a nice comfy bowl of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. Yummy, Delicious and happy.

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English Japanese

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Lady Vengeance

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

KRW4,200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,850, 30 April 2006

Gross USA:

$211,667

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,834,149

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, CJ Capital Investment, Centurion Investment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1