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“Investigates the lonely recesses of a lucid, wounded mind and renders the astonishing portrait of a sombre heroine whose heart is as pure - and as cold - as snow.”
- Toronto International Film Festival
Capping off his now infamous cycle of revenge films, MIFF favourite and past guest Park Chan-wook paints his vengeful heroine with red eye shadow and a steely yet angelic stare in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the most sullen of the three films.
Wrongfully accused of the murder of a young boy, Lee Guem-ja re-enters the world after a 13-year prison sentence, robbed of youth, spirit and formative years with her daughter. Not only is she intent on reuniting with her child but she's going to sniff out the person responsible for framing her.
As Village Voice says of Park's style, expect “no half measures, no dramatic gasoline unignited, nothing short of horrified respect for the costs of suffering, cruelty, memory, and rage.” Could Park be the voice of contemporary Korean cinema, mining its turbulent past and thrusting it upon an otherwise unsuspecting audience?
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D/S Park Chan-wook P Lee Tae-heon Dist Madman L Korean w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2005/112mins
Park Chan-wook was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1963. His films include Joint Security Area (MIFF 2001), Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (MIFF 2003) and Old Boy (MIFF 2004).