Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

Recently released from prison after spending 13 years inside for the kidnapping and murder of a young child, Lee Geum-Ja begins her rehabilitation and plots her revenge against the man really responsible for the heinous crime.

South Korea is one of the few countries in the world where, until recently, Hollywood productions did not enjoy a dominant share of the domestic market and with movies such as A Tale Of Two Sisters, Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Western audiences continue to be equally delighted and perplexed.

Sympathy is not a straightforward revenge thriller, its a tale of redemption and distortion and is played out on a grandeur scale.

Lee Geum-Ja (as played by the excellent Lee Young Ae) has a complex disposition and is portrayed as kind hearted and generous and brutal and psychotic (sometimes, in the same scene).

Her motives soon become clear and we are subject to savage prison scenes as Lee Geum-Ja makes many allies amongst her fellow inmates.

Early in the movie director Park Chan-Wook masterfully draws the audience in with his dazzling visuals, the opening credits being a highlight, later on the lighting becomes darker as the movie takes on a more profound tone.

Sympathy is at times mesmerising, there are no body ridden shootouts and much of the gore and violence happens off screen yet this is a cold and calculating movie and at times is very disturbing. It is unflinching in its portrayal of retribution and its characters are fleshed out in such a way that we understand their anguish and terror.

This is Korean cinema at its very best tackling subjects Hollywood would never touch, Sympathy is also the best of Parks "revenge" trilogy beating even "Oldboy" with its majestic storytelling.

A Gothic, potent and dark tale, sympathy is a movie that believes in its own convictions and drags the viewer into its sordid tale of revenge and suffering.Highly recommended.