I love Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy. I love it so much that I’m marathoning it tomorrow. Literally. It’s going to be a massively depressing day, but it is all okay because they’re just so goddamn good.
What’s not okay is that the final part in the trilogy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, is getting a good old American remake, much like its spiritual prequel Oldboy. Like that remake, things are being changed up a bit. For Oldboy, it’s apparently getting a “darker” ending (which I don’t believe for a second). For Lady Vengeance, it’s Americanization. The director, William Monahan, is best known as the writer of The Departed, another Hollywood-ization that he won an Academy Award for. But Infernal Affairs isn’t Lady Vengeance, and this time it’s Monahan rather than Martin Freaking Scorsese in the director’s chair. Monahan’s first (and so far only) attempt at directing was the fantastically average London Boulevard, which hardly inspires confidence in his ability to take this on.
According to Monahan: “This will be very American – and very unexpected. Park is a genius; it’s the Everest of adaptations and I’ve got blood in my teeth to do it.”
Ugh.
[Via The Playlist]The film is set to star Charlize Theron, who conceived the project back in 2009, as the Lady Vengeance herself, which is whatever. As good as it was, Lee Yeong-Ae’s performance in the original wasn’t what made it so great, so I really have no qualms with that as a choice. I have a problem with everything surrounding her though.
For those of you who haven’t seen Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, just know that it is a gorgeous movie, especially in the “Fade to Black-and-White” version. The direction and cinematography and general technical skill on display is just breathtaking, and I do not believe for a second that William Monahan will do the source material justice.
I am merely unhappy about the remake of Oldboy, but I am absolutely furious about this.
