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Lady Vengeance 18 rating

Following Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy, Park Chan-wook completes his thematically linked trilogy of revenge.

2005 115 mins

Director: Park Chan-wook

Overview

The cinematic flair and narrative surprises that marked Park Chan-Wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy continue in this third and concluding part of the director's thematically-linked trilogy of revenge. Intense and inventive, the film follows the progress of beautiful, impassive Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-Ase) after she's released from prison having served 13 years for the kidnap and murder of a young boy. Once on the outside, she hooks up with some former cellmates, a preacher who thinks she's an angel, the detective who originally arrested her and the daughter she gave up for adoption, gathering around her all the people needed to carry out an elaborate plan of revenge. Her target is kindergarten teacher Mr. Baek (Oldboy star Choi Min-Shik), while her weapon(s)-of-choice are unexpected and highly personal.

This is striking and ghoulishly entertaining stuff, a highwire act poised between horror, tragedy, comedy and exploitation. With the aid of Oldboy Director of Photography Jeong Joeng-Hun, who employs some neat tricks and brings a vibrant beauty to the dark proceedings, Park ensures there's never a dull moment.