Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)

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:

Revenge | Bakery | Teacher | Kidnapping | Vengeance

Awards:

10 wins & 9 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:

Lady Vengeance (UK) (USA)
Kind-Hearted Ms. Geum-Ja (literal English title)
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 | Ireland:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-18 | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Italy:VM14 | France:-16 | Brazil:18 (DVD rating) | Mexico:C | 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:

Spoofs Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Soundtrack:

Concerto for Bassoon in E minor, RV 484. 3rd Movement 'Allegro'

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")