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:

Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go

12 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nam-mi Kang	...	Choir Member 1
Jeong-nam Choi	...	Choir Member 2
Hye-Sook Go	...	Choir Member 3
Bok-hwa Baek	...	Choir Member 4
Cheol Hong	...	Choir Member 5
Ho-soo Joo	...	Choir Member 6 (as Joo Seong-wan)
In-bo Jang	...	Choir Member 7 (as Jang Min)
Kim Byeong-Ok	...	Preacher
Lee Yeong-ae	...	Geum-ja Lee
Seong-Yoon Choi	...	Won-mo's Friend
Il-woo Nam	...	Detective Choi
Soon-bae Cha	...	Reporter
Ik-tae Kim	...	Won-mo's Father
Yeong-mi Lee	...	Won-mo's Mother
Jin-gu Kim	...	Sun-sook Go

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:

Coming For You

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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

The bakery that Geumja works in is called "Naruse", which is the name of the Japanese director Mikio Naruse.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Mr. Baek: Ma'am, there is no such thing as a "perfect person"...

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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

Follows 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

Unexpected poetry and bleak hilarity

"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" is a surprisingly poetic finale to Park's excellent Revenge Trilogy. The film fuses the relatively low-key style of "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" with the jet-black humor of "Oldboy," while adding welcome moments of poignancy and sentiment. The film is nowhere near as violent as its predecessors, although a good deal of mayhem takes place offscreen.

Yeong-ae Lee is outstanding as the troubled protagonist Geum-ja, the ex-convict who is seeking redemption as much as revenge. Although the supporting actors -- including several from Park's earlier films -- are uniformly fine, Lee's performance is the heart of the film.

"Lady Vengeance" is difficult to describe without revealing major plot points, as the most memorable scenes come at revelatory moments in the story. Suffice it to say that the climax blends tragedy and hilarity with a degree of success that few directors could hope to match.

9/10. Bravo.

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