Having seen Oldboy and Thirst prior to watching this film, I have grown to tremendously respect Chan-wook Park as an artist. Although his films are ultra-violent, they are also very poetic. Not just in the sense of the storyline or the plot (though this is poetic too), but also in the imagery and colors used. In this particular film, the color red can be found to exemplify this. Although there's an ample amount of blood in this film, it's not why red is important. The color can be found in many shots, but most importantly in the bright colors of Geum-Ja Lee's makeup. It's important to note (and is also spoken of in the film) that before Lee's time in prison, she did not dress in such a manner. The red used to decorate her face and sometimes ensemble is used to portray just how different she became after this ordeal, and how it transformed her life and personality entirely. Which is a subtle but impressive and artistic technique used by Park.
Aside from the colors and imagery, Chan-wook Park also offers a few bits of shocking and sadly true social commentary. What stuck with me the most in this entire film wasn't the devastating home movies the killer made, or even when the parents decided vengeance against the man who killed their children, but instead a scene that happend in the first few minutes. It was when the narrator was explaining the events that led to Lee's imprisonment, and there were mock-news videos playing. It was only a few seconds long, but haunted me the rest of the film, because I knew it was true. The cameraman for the news station was following Lee, and in an effort of describing her to the public, was speaking of the way she dressed. After this happened a few seconds later another man from a presumably different news outlet describes that the way Lee is dressed is now becoming the hottest thing in fashion, and that every girl wants to look like her. This floored me. We sadly live in a society where celebrity worship is the norm, and has even extended to those accused of murder. There are people out there that look up to murderers, and that terrifies me. I suppose this terrifies Park too.
4/5
