LADY VENGEANCE — ** — Lee Yeong-ae, Choi Min-sik; in Korean, with English subtitles; rated R (violence, gore, rape, brief sex, profanity, vulgarity, torture).
Previous entries in South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook's "Vengeance" trilogy have shown little regard for the well-being of women and children, in fact making them his favorite targets of violence and cruelty.
What makes scenes of torture and violence in "Lady Vengeance" even more disturbing is that the sequences show women perpetrating violence on other women.
At the same time, however, "Lady Vengeance" is the first of Park's revenge thrillers that at least tries to add a human component, making the people more real. Some of his fans might see that as "softening," but at least he's finally making an effort to better develop his characters.
The "lady" of the title is Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae), who's just been released from prison, having served 13 years for murder and kidnapping. As it turns out, Lee was taking the fall for the real crook, Baek (Choi Min-sik), who had kidnapped her daughter and blackmailed her into helping him.
The time spent behind bars hasn't exactly made Lee a happy, well-adjusted individual. She's spent most of that time concocting an elaborate revenge plot that requires the participation of fellow cellmates.
Co-screenwriter Park's plotting doesn't go much deeper than that. And unlike Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies, which share some thematic elements, "Lady Vengeance" is mostly lacking in humor, which might have made the film more tolerable.
It doesn't help that Lee's performance is pretty one-note. She doesn't seem too interested in exploring her character's human side, despite opportunities provided by Park.
As with all of Park's films, this one is very well shot; cinematographer Jeong Jeong-hun is this particular movie's real star.
"Lady Vengeance" is rated R for strong scenes of violence (including violence against women, children and animals), some graphic gore, a rape scene, brief sexual contact, strong profanity and other sexual language, and scenes of torture. Running time: 112 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com