| | | From the Director of Oldboy.
Features: DVD, English, Spanish, Subtitled
After being wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young child, a beautiful young woman (Lee Yeong-ae) is imprisoned for 13 years and forced to give up her own daughter. While in prison she gains the respect and loyalty of her fellow cellmates, all the while plotting her vendetta on the man responsible (Oldboy's Choi Min-Sik). Upon her release she sets in motion an elaborate plan of retribution, but what she discovers is a truth so horrifying, even revenge doesn't seem punishment enough.
"The best revenge thriller since Kill Bill." Bloody-Disgusting.com
"...violence is still the filmmaker's action of choice, and exquisite compositional audacity is still his thing." Entertainment Weekly
"Park is a gifted visual artist with a gift for defamiliarizing even the most prosaic scenes..." Los Angeles Times
Editor's Note
South Korean maestro Park Chan-wook concludes his Revenge Trilogy with the operatic, mesmerizing SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE. Unlike the first two films in the trilogy--SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE and OLDBOY--this time around, the hero is a heroine. On the heels of her release from prison, Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) embarks on a mission to track down the man responsible for her imprisonment, which also resulted in her being forced to give up her daughter for adoption. Hardened by years in the penitentiary and endlessly fantasizing about the right way to exact revenge, she enlists the help of former cellmates to accomplish her goal. But what she uncovers is a secret so horrifying that no revenge seems fitting.Employing the same techniques (symphonic music, electrifying cinematography, sharp editing) that made OLDBOY such a thrilling cinematic experience, Park Chan-wook concludes his trilogy on a somber note. Beginning as a flashy, almost lighthearted spectacle, SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE gradually reveals itself to be a poignant commentary on the futility of revenge. Fortunately, the director's sheer audacity and technical virtuosity keeps it from succumbing to total darkness. This filmed screened as part of Lincoln Center's 2005 New York Film Festival.
| Features | Audio Commentary By Richard Pena | | Audio: Korean Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Interview With Director Chan Wook Park | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | BC Magazine Names Best DVDs of 2006 By: El Bicho - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 12/28/2006 3:37 PM | | The ten best DVDs of 2006. Is your favorite included? BC Magazine presents a collection of writers offering their opinion on the best DVD releases of the year. The choices range from Hollywood blockbusters to foreign language imports, original stories to remakes, a directorial debut to one of a a master director's final films, a classic finally appearing on DVD to a triple-dip Extended Edition and even a Saturday morning show -- the only common thread being the enjoyment of the experience....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Wellspring Media Inc |
| Release Date: 9/26/2006 |
| Running Time: 112 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 3024 | | UPC: 00842498030240 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Korean | | Available Audio Tracks: Korean | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (2005) | | | Venice Film Festival, Chan-wook Park, CinemAvvenire Award - Best Film | | | Venice Film Festival, Chan-wook Park, Little Golden Lion Award | |
Nominee (2005) | | | Venice Film Festival, Chan-wook Park, Golden Lion Award |
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| | Professional Reviews | Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Red blood trickles through winter snow, black humour oozes past a pale smile and cleansing white tofu fills in for a live octopus." 06/01/2006 p.121Los Angeles Times
"Park is a gifted visual artist with a gift for defamiliarizing even the most prosaic scenes?.His style influences performances as well, as the actors shift fluidly from naturalistic bluntness to uncanny expressionism..." 05/12/2006 p.E14 Entertainment Weekly
"Misdeed besotted with violence is still the filmmaker's action of choice, and exquisite compositional audacity is still his thing." -- Grade: A- 05/19/2006 p.58 Sight and Sound
"[T]he florid beauty of Park's tightly controlled, endlessly inventive mise en scene is imposing enough to paper over the cracks." 08/01/2006 p.97 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"[S]eriously upsetting....Methodical, chilling..." 09/01/2006 p.103 San Francisco Chronicle 9 of 10
Park Chan Wook is the Quentin Tarantino of South Korea -- an appellation underlined by the fact that Tarantino, as jury president of the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, pushed to give the great "Oldboy" the second-place prize behind "Fahrenheit 911," thus making Park a bona fide superstar in the international film community...If "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" wondered how heretofore law-abiding citizens could be driven to do very bad things, and "Oldboy" investigated the personal price of pure revenge, "Lady Vengeance" is ultimately about redemption -- about growing as a person and changing past behavior. - G. Allen Johnson
ReelViews 8 of 10
Over the span of three films, Chan-wook has examined many aspects of the concept of revenge, including the most lasting: consequences. For many movies, the act of retribution is the point of the film. For Chan-wook, it's the starting point for a larger tapestry...Anyone who has enjoyed the filmmaker's previous works, especially Oldboy (which received enough of a widespread U.S. distribution to become a cult movie), will appreciate what this film has to offer. I liked it, but a word of a caution to would-be viewers: Lady Vengeance contains violence (some extreme), but it is not an action film. It is deliberately paced, allowing the audience to have time to reflect upon what's happening. - James Berardinelli
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