First Impressions: "Sympathy for Mr Vengeance" (2002) + "Lady Vengeance" (2005)

   A while ago I saw Stoker, and was so crushingly disappointed that I just had to look at Park Chan-wook in his prime. So I spent the day watching the whole Vengeance Trilogy.
   I know Oldboy is conspicuously absent here, but I think the reason is obvious: I've already seen it. For the record, I love the first twenty minutes and a lot of the later scenes, but at times it gets a bit too talky and a bit disjointed, so I can't quite say I love the movie as a whole.
   But anyway, here's my take on the other two. :)

   In Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, a deaf-mute man kidnaps the daughter of his former boss in order to pay for his sister's life-saving kidney transplant. But at a certain point, things start to go disastrously wrong.
   When you get down to it, this is a very simple premise, especially compared to the other two instalments of the trilogy. It's just a domino effect of one thing leading to another in a never-ending spiral of revenge. But for me, its simplicity is what makes it so compelling.
   What I especially like is that neither of the two leads are good or bad guys per se; it's just two men who are both seeking revenge for entirely personal reasons: one for the death of his sister, the other for the death of his daughter. Even the kidnappers aren't detestable: they actually get friendly with the girl and make sure she enjoys herself. While you could make the argument that this only makes the kidnapping worse, at least they're by no means sadists.
   Now, I obviously won't spoil the details of either main character's ultimate fate, but let's just say neither makes it out okay. You could say they're either both justifiably punished for doing bad things, or that they both end up as victims of a most tragic set of circumstances.
   I love this movie. I don't know how many of you will agree with me, but I'd say this is my personal favourite of the trilogy.
   My rating: 85%.

   Lady Vengeance is sometimes called Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Personally, I prefer the shorter title.
   After her release from prison for the kidnapping and murder of a young boy, Lee Geum-ja begins to orchestrate her plan for revenge against the real culprit – while reuniting with her estranged daughter.
   Just to let you know, this review will contain a spoiler for the climax.
   I'll probably get some flak for this, but I think this is easily the weakest of the trilogy.
   For one thing, while Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy were presented relatively straightforward, I feel as if this one is trying way too hard to be artsy, with its nonlinear narrative structure and philosophical moments.
   I really didn't like how the daughter subplot was handled. There was great potential for the mother and daughter to develop their relationship despite the language barrier, but that's barely touched on. As a result, the daughter seems completely secondary to the revenge plot (even, dare I say, expendable), so I just didn't care how their relationship worked out. I think they needed to either devote more screen time to that, or just cut that subplot from the film altogether.
   The highlight, however, was the final scene, where the families of all the killer's victims take turns exacting their revenge. That's brutal! :)
   In conclusion, while I don't dislike this movie, I certainly think it's a big step below the other two. It might grow on me more with repeat viewings, but for now at least, I think it's just okay.
   My rating: 60%.