She Ate the Layer Cake

I suppose it was only a matter of time, but Layer Cake is now my second favourite film. About a year ago, perhaps longer I read an article in the New York Times about a Korean director who was apparently making waves in the violent-film genre. I scoffed ignorantly thinking that nobody could top Takashi Miike.

A sudden re-interest in Korean culture made me think of this director, and after a particularly stressful Friday at work (you know, the kind of stress that makes your head feel 15 pounds heavier), I went up to the video shop and rented the last of the "vengeance" trilogy by Park Chan-uk, entitled Chinjeolhan geumjassi or Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. I couldn't remember the director's name exactly, so the clerk had to ask the shop's walking dictionary and he knew right away who I was looking for:

Me: I can't remember the name exactly, it's something Korean. He makes violent movies.

Dictionary: You mean Park Chan-uk?

Me: Chan-uk - that's the one. I've heard he's more violent than Takashi Miike.

Dictionary: Ummm, I don't think so. Miike's violence is pretty sick, but Park's violence is more beautiful. He leaves a little more to the imagination...

My Korean is fairly limited, consisting of a few phrases such as hello, goodbye, and you play violin very well, but I mustered a "kam sa ham nida" and rushed out the door. For good measure, I grabbed six Corona and a beef rendang on the way home. I was set. I remembered what the Dictionary told me, and I have to say he was very right.

I was looking forward to something parallel to Sasori and this had some overlap, and would have been a great place for Sasori to pick up, but it soon outgrew the Japanese film and revealed itself to be something so much better. The music is solemn and orchestral, triggering fond memories of a very fetching Korean girl playing violin in my flat several summers past. The music lends itself very well to the tone of the movie. Very well. One thing that really helped move the story along is that the lead actress has a strong resemblance to my hair dressor, a woman quietly plotting some revenge of her own.

It begins as the story of a young woman, played by the very captivating Li Yeong-ae, who went to prison for the man she loved. I thought Li was the same woman who starred in Bin-jip or Three Iron, but I was wrong. That lead actress is Lee Seung-yeon. Totally different actress. During her time in prison, Geum-ja formulates a plan to take revenge on the guy. She spends thirteen years in prison, acting as a selfless, model inmate who does everything she can to win the trust of others and get what she wants. She tallies several favours, and manages to kill the cell block bully with a smile on her face. She wins fans across Korea, one of them being a creepy minister who, it turns out was sent to keep an eye on Geum-ja. Promptly after getting out of prison, the new Geum-ja tells the preacher to fuck himself and she begins collecting favours. She pays a visit to one of her fellow inmates who has been released and picks out some nice clothes and takes a flat. Next, she approaches the family of the boy she allegedly killed and asks for forgiveness. They tell her to go away so she cuts off a finger and threatens to cut off more until they forgive. The bandaged finger is used as a nice little time marker by the director, a little obvious, but novel all the same.

Back and forth between a series of flashbacks and present day, the story unfolds. The next step Geum-ja takes is to acquire a gun, made for her by the husband of one of her former cell mates. This is a big favour - for this Geum-ja had to give a kidney. At least I think that's the one she gave her kidney for. Geum-ja reports to a bakery where she is given a job by the former prison dessert teacher. She works a few days and then asks for a 3 month advance. She seduces the son of the baker, and tells him she will kill him if he touches anything in her apartment. Geum-ja has discovered that her daughter had been given up for adoption and was living in Australia.

Jenny, played by Kwon Yea-young uses a fairly convincing accent, though one completely unsuited to Australia and is very eager to travel to Korea with her mother. She threatens to cut her throat if her adoptive parents don't allow her to go with Geum-ja. They relent and off she goes to Seoul. She meets the son of the baker and learns a little Korean. She chooses a puppy and takes it on a picnic to the country where she takes Korean lessons with the son while Geum-ja shoots the puppy in the head. Sissy was completely confused by the whole movie, beginning with the flashbacks, and then with the dead puppy. I guessed that Geum-ja was only practicing and making sure she could do the deed when the time came. During the lessons, Jenny writes a letter to her mother explaining that she is angry with her mother and wants her mother to apologize. Back in Seoul, the Australians arrive at the bakery and find Jenny.

The plan is not quite complete. Geum-ja takes one more favour from an inmate who has been keeping an eye on the real child killer by posing as his girlfriend or whatever. She carefully waits for Geum-ja, and unfortunately is uncovered by the creepy preacher. He reveals the connection between the two women, and Mr. Baek hires two goons to do her over. He ties her to a chair in his apartment and patiently eats his dinner while the two goons wait for Geum-ja and Jenny to arrive. The guys ambush Geum-ja and her daughter in the snow covered street, chloroforming the girl and trying to shove Geum-ja in a car. Of course, Geum-ja wants revenge so she's not going to take it lightly. She shoots one guy in the face - the camera shot is from behind his head and the viewer is treated to a rather unconvincing blowout. She then chases down the guy holding Jenny and waits until she is in close range to pull the trigger. She carries Jenny back to Mr. Baek's apartment, where the fat fuck is lying unconscious on the floor. See, his girlfriend or whatever was a master poisoner and went to prison for poisoning someone in the first place.

The flashbacks are over now, and the movie is about half over. The vengeance begins, and this is done very well. The director admits in an interview that his intention all along was to ask "When is violence ever justified?", and he keeps the message true. He turns the question inward - the viewer is forced to contemplate an appropriate answer. With the help of the original case inspector, who knew that Geum-ja was innocent all along but needed to close his case, she holds a congress with the families of the victims - turns out there are five families - in a schoolhouse where Mr. Baek is being held.

Cunningly, the meeting is wired, and Baek can hear everything being discussed, everything being agreed and all the hatred and sadness harboured by the families. One by one, the families are treated to a videotaping of their child's death. Baek made tapes for souvenirs, and Geum-ja found them. After all the violence and gore, I found this scene to be the hardest to watch. Though, you don't see the crux of the footage, you do witness the reactions of the families. This is how I know the director is good - maybe also due to my hair dressor's personal story, but Park made me feel like I was sitting there in the schoolhouse. Geum-ja asks the families what they want to do, and each person agrees to secrecy. Some want to hand him over to the police, where others want their pound of flesh. It is agreed that the families will take care of the matter themselves and that the ransom monies they had delivered to Baek would be returned. The first people to have a go are the parents of the first boy - each has agreed to leave a little something for everyone else - and so forth. Geum-ja herself has already beaten, poisoned, and shot Baek and leaves it at that. Her vengeance will be satisfaction. Satisfaction knowing that others were able to dispense rough justice along with her. They clean up the crime scene and pose together for a photo so that nobody will ever rat on another, and they go their separate ways. Back in Seoul, Geum-ja apologizes to Jenny and buries her face in a tofu cake. Closure.