Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler, Jordan, Amberly

Chan-wook Park's last in his thematic trilogy of revenge films. Just arrived on bluray from the U.K. and the first thing that struck me about it watching again was the ending. I don't remember ever seeing this version where in the films final act everything slowly fades to black and white. I distinctly remember all those scenes in colour. A quick jump on IMDB revealed that two edits exist and the fade was an idea he was toying with. It's an interesting effect, I do so miss the colour from all the blood in the last half but it does serve to emphasises character over actions and a few other things as well.

Chan-wook Park's created another uniquely stylised world (a friend remarked how much it reminded her of Amelie, except this is a littler darker...) and this time he plays around with time a much more and manages to get a great deal of exposition done with snappy flashbacks and fast pace so it never feels too clawing for the audience. I love the way he cuts right to the reactions and aftermath of events for just a few seconds before moving on, and lets the audience fill in the details of what happened.

While there is not big twist revelation like in Oldboy there is a realisations that changes the course of the last act of the film to something that is easily the most emotional part of the film and a rather unusual situation to think about.

In all 3 films we are never told explicitly what to think about the revenge taking place. It's very much left up to the audience to debate after. This film also come with a heavy dose of atonement that cripples our main character, making it very different from the other films in the series. And in the end, as expected, there is not real happy resolution but there is a cathartic release.

It's certainly less extreme than Oldboy but keeps it's pace and style. It's been a very long time since I've watched Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the first of these films and I think I'll have to dig it up and give it another look now. Check this one out if you have the chance. I believe the Australian DVD that I own has the full colour ending, I don't know which I prefer, I'm still getting over the confusion of thinking there was something wrong with the television.