[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Gerard Magnier, 28th October 2009
‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’ was released in 2005 and is the final instalment of Park Chan-wook’s vengeance trilogy. Charting the story of a beautiful young lady and how the decisions she made in her youth ruined her life forever, this is a movie about revenge. The plot is complex but ultimately rewarding and all of the acting on show is of the highest standard. Park Chan-wook once again uses his ample directorial skills to infuse a lot of innovative camera angles and other trickery to make almost every transition in the piece a pleasure to watch. While in lesser hands this may have appeared somewhat gimmicky, it in no way here detracts from the gravity or the impact of the entire presentation; it merely adds to the already enjoyable feature. This was one of the biggest box office draws in Korean cinema when it was released and has, in my opinion, matured with age. I am a massive fan of Park Chan-wook and I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen it.

The video presentation comes up trumps and really is a huge leap from the previous DVD version. The movie certainly has translated well to BD and looks stunning for the majority. The audio presentation was a bit of a disappointment in comparison. While the classical score is perfectly represented, the lack of low frequency rumblage or really engrossing surround activity is a bit of a letdown. Don’t get me wrong, the track is very good but the actual source material appears to be the limiting factor. While the extras portion is well packed, the lack of English subtitles will make them completely inaccessible to all but native Korean/Cantonese speakers. So, what we have here is a fabulous movie, which is made all the more tempting by a sterling transfer and very satisfactory audio presentation. Highly recommended.


Read the full review...

[mentasm]

If you feel like parting with it I have a wanted ad in the US trading section!

[Pecker]

Great review of a great film.

Nice one, and many thanks.

Steve W

[reingam]

Originally Posted by Pecker

Great review of a great film.

Nice one, and many thanks.

Steve W

Thanks Steve dude

[reingam]

Originally Posted by mentasm

If you feel like parting with it I have a wanted ad in the US trading section!

Lol thanks dude but this is one that I defo want to hold onto

[YellowSphere]

I'm tempted by this because I love the vengeance trilogy, but I'm not sure. I know that DVD Beaver screen caps aren't the best way to judge a transfer, but it looked like the dark scenes in the school building suffered from being really washed out. Colours also looked oversaturated. Not sure if I want to part with the cash on this one yet. Though it's certainly nice to hear a contrary opinion.

If someone does a good transfer for Mr. Vengeance I'm well up for that. I love that film, and it's stunning visually, in a completely different way to his other work.

[reingam]

Originally Posted by YellowSphere

I'm tempted by this because I love the vengeance trilogy, but I'm not sure. I know that DVD Beaver screen caps aren't the best way to judge a transfer, but it looked like the dark scenes in the school building suffered from being really washed out. Colours also looked oversaturated. Not sure if I want to part with the cash on this one yet. Though it's certainly nice to hear a contrary opinion.

If someone does a good transfer for Mr. Vengeance I'm well up for that. I love that film, and it's stunning visually, in a completely different way to his other work.

There are one or two scenes which slip a bit and colouring can seem washed out in some scenes but I believe that this is intentional. There is in fact a version of this movie where it completely fades to black and white near the movies close. I pondered giving this an 8 but decided that overall it barely made it into the 9 rating - some of the scenes are stunning.

Check out the screengrabs - they were taken from my system. They are only jpegs but you get the idea!

[mentasm]

Tartan's BD will be the fading version, but that's a real let-down. That version of the film is way too muted right from the opening scenes and nothing like the theatrical version. Gutted. Mr Vengeance should hopefully be okay.

[YellowSphere]

Originally Posted by reingam

There are one or two scenes which slip a bit and colouring can seem washed out in some scenes but I believe that this is intentional. There is in fact a version of this movie where it completely fades to black and white near the movies close. I pondered giving this an 8 but decided that overall it barely made it into the 9 rating - some of the scenes are stunning.

Check out the screengrabs - they were taken from my system. They are only jpegs but you get the idea!

I meant washed out more in the sense that the black level was elevated than the overall colour. Just looked grey, whereas I specifically remember those scenes looking lovely and dingy on the DVD. Of course, DVD Beaver probably just captured it wrong and I'm worrying over nothing