Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Seo-Gyeong Jeong (writer)
Chan-wook Park (writer)

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

All she wanted was a peaceful life...they didn't give it

Plot:

After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life...

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Sin | Smoke | Graphic Violence | Snow

Awards:

10 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Yeong-ae Lee	...	Geum-ja Lee
Min-sik Choi	...	Mr. Baek
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Barry	...	StepFather, Australian
Anne Cordiner	...	StepMother, Australian
Su-hee Go	...	Ma-nyeo
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Tv announcer
Bu-seon Kim	...	So-young Woo
Byeong-ok Kim	...	Preacher
Shi-hoo Kim	...	Geun-shik
Yea-young Kwon	...	Jenny
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Prison head
Seung-Shin Lee	...	Yi-jeong Park
Su-gyeong Lim	...	A prison officer
Il-woo Nam	...	Detective Choi
Dal-su Oh	...	Mr. Chang
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Se-hyun's Father
Mi-ran Ra	...	Oh, Su-hee
Seung-wan Ryoo	...	A passerby
Yeong-ju Seo	...	Kim, Yang-hee
Ha-kyun Shin	...	A hired assassin 2
Kang-ho Song	...	A hired assassin 1
Ji-tae Yu	...	A grown-up Won-mo
Jin-seo Yun	...	A prisoner

Also Known As:

Kind-Hearted Ms. Geum-Ja (literal English title)
Lady Vengeance (USA)
My Lady Vengeance (Hong Kong: English title) (DVD box title)
Shed Tears for Lady Vengeance (Philippines: English title) (DVD title)
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (UK) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violent content - some involving children, and some sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min | Argentina:112 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:III | Singapore:R21 | Japan:R-15 | Denmark:15 | Germany:16 | UK:18 | Ireland:18 | USA:R | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-18 | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Italy:VM14 | France:-16 | Brazil:18 (DVD rating) | South Korea:18

Company:

CJ Capital Investment

Trivia:

Having wanted to make a film on a middle aged woman's revenge, the director originally considered casting Du-shim Ko for the part of Geum-ja. However, he had to abandon his plan for a couple of reasons. He found that Ms. Ko was rather old for the character and was afraid that the movie would look quite similar to John Cassavetes' Gloria (1980).

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Kokkino domatio, To: I ekdikisi mias kyrias (#2.1)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Frère Jacques

Lee Young-Ae shines as Lady Vengeance

Having only just finished watching a marathon screening of Jewel In The Palace, also another Lee Young-Ae vehicle, a few weeks ago in the comfort of my home, I was pleasantly surprised at how flexible this actress could be in her acting skills.

Perhaps it is her plain-faced mien that has not seen the plastic surgeon's knife or the ease with which she looks innocent and then sensual and then psychotic all at once in this film that helped her to put on this character like a pair of pantyhose- sensual, warm, transparent yet opaque.

The twists and themes in the show were also very different and very unexpected. When you think the film is going to come to a close, it walks away from the curtains to take you into an even higher level of movie-going experience.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance boasts of excellent scriptwriting with dark humor lightening up the otherwise even darker theme of vengeance. The acting from the various cast members were commendable as well as the DP-ing and various subtle yet very effective special effects in the film. The directing was also superb as was the cinematography.

I left the cinema feeling like I had watched my $8 worth and then some. I dun wanna spoil anything by giving away the storyline/ general plot or the very intriguing twists etc. I just hope you will give this film a chance to charm you like only dark chocolate can. When you're done, it will feel like you've just eaten a nice comfy bowl of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. Yummy, Delicious and happy.