Review of Lady Vengeance

This is a very interesting film but in my opinion it is only partially successful. It is stylishly and imaginatively shot which is its main virtue. This virtue should not be underestimated as it kept my interest throughout and hugely increased the overall appeal of the film. It is an odd and very dark story, but quite an intriguing plot. The imagination of style is, it seems, combined with the director's intention to imbue the film with great substance and meaning. However, this aspect was somewhat lost on me. I feel it is a very empty film morally and emotionally, which may be the intention, but this does not appeal to me and is, surely, a very acquired taste.

Scenes involving relatives of murdered children watching tapes of their children being tortured fail to make me believe in the slightest that they have suffered loss at all, let alone the horror of seeing their own child being tortured. The sequence where those relatives torture the child killer is equally cold, empty and unrealistic. How could the survival of their victim be ensured for each of them to have a turn when each of them inflicts life threatening injuries?! All the characters and the whole story are so cold that I could not care less who lives, dies, wins or loses anyway by the end! This film is very interesting and well shot but not at all emotionally involving and I failed to see the point the director is trying to make about revenge or anything else.