Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)

Lady Vengeance is the story of a woman, Geum-ja Lee, who is sent to prison for 13 years for kidnapping and murdering a young boy. She was not guilty of the crime, though she had a small part in the kidnapping. Rather Geum-ja was forced to admit to the crime by her accomplice Mr. Baek (Oldboy's Min-sik Choi). While in prison, she becomes a bit of an angel to her fellow inmates, showing them a kindness and love that not only turns their lives around, but also makes them willing to help Geum-ja with her plan for revenge once she is released. She is a different person upon release, but is set on making Mr. Baek atone for his sins.

I rarely see films presented like this. It has an independent art house feel to it, but it's extremely stylish and polished. Chan-wook Park is quite the talented filmmaker, and with this recent trilogy (I'll get to that), he has insured that any future projects of his earn international curiosity. As is typical of his films, there are a couple moments that are quite shocking, especially for American audiences. But this film wasn't as much about being shocking as the others may have been.

The story turns from one of vengeance to redemption, but nothing comes easy for Geum-ja. In fact, the actress in that role, Yeong-ae Lee, is in nearly every scene of the film and carries it quite well. This may end of one of the best acting performances I witness this year. She plays everything. The angel who glows with a smile. The cold hard bitch. The victim. The mother. And she also comes to realize that she needs to set things right for more than just herself. She is far from Mr. Baek's only victim.

This film is almost difficult to describe by it's own merits, but I hope any of you interested can see Chan-wook's entire trilogy. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance are not directly connected by any characters, but all share the common theme of vengeance. Now I'm not sure if there's an intentional progression occuring here, for I'm not that smart, but every film shows a different side of these emotions. Each takes it's own journey. Mr. Vengeance essentially has no villains, but features tragedies so unfortunate that it turns two decent people into monsters set on a path to destroy each other. Oldboy is the tale of ultimate revenge, with a plot so horrid that it necessitates locking a victim up for 15 years in isolation, then releases him so he can seek vengeance on an unknown entity with unclear motives. In this third film, the lead doesn't quite sink to the level of being a monster. She finds something very special to ground her, and changes her plan to do what really should be done.