Lady Vengeance

Original title: Chinjeolhan geumjassi

2005
R
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

88K

YOUR RATING

20 years after its initial theatrical run, 'Oldboy' returns to theaters newly restored and remastered. IMDb sits down with filmmaker Park Chan-wook to discuss his career-long exploration into the themes of violence and eroticism that fuel his Vengeance Trilogy, how his characters lead him into those realms and toward those bloody endings, and how his family inspires him to keep creating. Director Park also reveals that if he were ever locked away for 15 years like Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) in 'Oldboy,' what series he'd hope were on the television in his room.

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Watch Director Park Chan-wook on Weaving Violent and Erotic Themes into 'Oldboy'

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Dark Comedy Crime Drama Thriller

After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

88K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 13 wins & 14 nominations total

Trivia
The snow during the closing scene is not real. They brought two trucks of salt and scattered it all over the street; the falling snow is CGI.

Goofs
All entries contain spoilers

Quotes
Geum-ja Lee: Listen carefully. Everyone make mistakes. But if you committed a sin, you have to make an atonement for that sin. Atonement, do you know what that means? Big Atonement for big sins. Small Atonement for small sins.

Alternate versions
There are two different versions of the film. One is full color. The other, called "Fade to Black Version", shifts from color to B&W over the course of the movie. Like Sin City, there are color highlighted, even in the B&W scenes. The second version is what the director intended, but he was not able to complete it properly until the Korean DVD (which includes both versions).

Connections
Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Best Female Revenge Movies of All Time (2022)

Soundtracks
Mareta no'm faces plorar
Composed by Jordi Savall
Vocal by Montserrat Figuera, Arianna Savall
Baroque Guitar by Xavier Diaz-Latotte
Baroque Flutes Traversieres by Mare Hantai
Bass Viola da gamba by Jordi Savall
Courtesy by Alia Vox

User reviews204

Review

Featured review

8/10

The Angel of Death and Revenge

After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee (Yeong-ae Lee) is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the manufacturing of a special weapon; she reunites with her daughter, who was adopted by an Australian family; and she plots revenge against the real killer of Won-mo, the English teacher Mr. Baek (Min-sik Choi). With the support of former inmates from prison, Geum-ja seeks an unattained redemption with her vengeance.

"Lady Vengeance" is a very dark tale of vengeance and search for redemption. The screenplay is confused in some moments, using symbols and metaphors, but the story is engaging blending black humor and unpleasant and bold scenes of torture and death of children with a harsh revenge. Yeong-ae Lee has a magnificently performance in the role of Geum-ja along almost fourteen years of her life. I am a big fan of Chan-wook Park, and I regret that in Brazil the first movie of his trilogy about vengeance ("Boksuneun Naui Geot" a.k.a. "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance") has not been released yet. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lady Vingança" ("Lady Vengeance")