8.5
Blu Ray (Arrow) (Fade to Black and White Version)

Solidified on re-watch as my favourite of Park's thematically-linked Vengeance Trilogy. This is partly because of Lee Young-ae's sensational performance, alternating smoothly between charm and cruelty, sweetness and darkness, strength and weakness, often all in the course of the same scene. Her character has genuine complexity, a woman who has done terrible things but who is desperately hoping she can find salvation. It is partly because, even in spite of the sometimes ambiguous non-linear structure Park's direction feels even more assured then on OLDBOY-- more focused, less prone to flashy, eye-catching camerawork and editing tricks (excepting perhaps the absolutely bizarre dream sequence in which Geum-ja executes a weird taxidermy dog-creature with the head of Choi Min-sik. Sidebar: what the actual fuck is that scene Park you crazy beautiful monster!). This suits a film which is considerably more thoughtful, more morally challenging and, in many ways, even darker than OLDBOY (OLDBOY being a film which is arguably more interested in its attention-grabbing action sequences and crazy twists than it is in saying anything especially interesting about the human condition). LADY VENGEANCE is a film about revenge and all-consuming rage, yes, but it is just as much about the hole that vengeance leaves behind when it is gone. And it is frequently more disturbing, more totally gut-wrenching, more haunting, more haunted than anything that Park has made before or since. The sequence toward the end of the film where a group of characters in effect sell their souls in return for their revenge is heart-breaking because they know, even before they make their decision, that what they are doing will not bring them peace, salvation, joy or catharsis-- and yet they feel that they must take their revenge nonetheless, as though vengeance is an unstoppable boulder which, once it starts to be rolled down the hill, picks up steam on its own and cannot be stopped, merely followed to its logical conclusion. It is a story focused more upon the underlying human emotion of vengeance-- the things that drive it beneath the surface-- rather than the thing itself. In this respect, the film has a mournful synergy with Park's earlier SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE. It is also a film that considers matters of morality: is it right to torture and murder a person if you thought you could get away with it? No? Well how about if that person also happens to be the worst fucking person in the whole world, who has wronged you personally? What if that person is also tied to a chair, helpless and defenceless? What about if it were equally possible to give that person over to the authorities? Park examines these questions in a way which is even-handed and non-judgmental, and yet also highly engaged with the raw emotion of the story. The final scene of our protagonist, hollowed out and broken down, sobbing uncontrollably into a pure white cake surrounded by falling snow, her daughter trying to comfort her, is a beautiful yet sorrowful way for Park to conclude his magnum opus on the subject of revenge.