Lady Vengeance (rewatch)
Posted by martinteller on June 30, 2010
I decided to watch the “Fade to White” version, in which Park gradually drains the color from the film. It’s an interesting concept, but as I feared, the execution leaves something to be desired. Park uses color so brilliantly in this film that it feels like a shame to lose that. There are times when the black and white looks beautiful and natural, but then there are inconsistencies in the grayscale tones between shots that are somewhat jarring. This seems like it should have been a production design decision (i.e., slowly transition to less colorful elements onscreen) rather than a post-production processing effect. It does work as an idea, but I rewatched the color ending afterwards and it felt much more powerful. I’ll be sticking with the original version in the future. As for the film itself, I still love it, easily my favorite by Park so far. Of the trilogy, it’s the most entertaining, the most thoughtful, the most beautiful, and the most stylistically appealing. Rating: 9
