A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Marvis Chan. Styling by Edgar Van den Heede. The models are Estée Vandenbussche and Minka Parmentier. Hair by Jannes Van de Velde. Makeup by Maria Ovejoro.
Story:
“Red Redemption” is strongly inspired by the 2005 movie ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’, a Korean cult film by director Park Chan-Wook. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the last in a trilogy of films Park has made about vengeance, moral ambiguity, violence, and salvation. In this film, vengeance takes centre stage. Can vengeance bring fulfilment? Can it give moral salvation? Lee Geum-Ja, the female lead, is the one to answer that question.
For our aesthetic inspiration, we decided to visually reanalyse key scenes and to reference iconic artwork used for covers and campaign images of the film. In the movie, the protagonist’s personality is split into two. Her character walks a fine line between an innocent and a violently vengeful personality. In our story, these different personalities are represented by two different faces. Models Estée and Minka.
The movie starts with Lee Geum-Ja having to take the blame for the murder of a toddler named Park Won-mo. She does so to save the life of her own daughter, who has fallen into the hands of the real murderer, Mr Beak. Mr Beak, her then-lover, with whom she has a daughter, takes advantage of her young age. The, to her, secret serial killer forces her to assist in abducting the little boy. Only taking the blame for the horrible crime can stop her daughter from facing the same fate as poor Park Won-mo. Korean society is obsessed with the story. How can such an innocent and beautiful girl commit such gruesome crimes? Her character is widely discussed in the Korean media, giving her a sort of unusual stardom. The polka-dot dress she was arrested in immediately becomes a national hit.
The moment she arrives in jail, she sets a plan in motion for ultimate vengeance. From then on, she portrays herself as the most remorseful and perfect prisoner. This angelic facade reduces her prison sentence, and within the prison, a network is built to execute her plan of redemption after release. Her sweet character gets her a rather obvious nickname, ‘The Kind-hearted Ms Geum-ja’.
Although she was coerced by Mr Beak to help in the abduction of Park Won-mo, she feels crushing guilt. This burden is often depicted in the film by her lying down. The guilt physically weighs down on her.
This image of atonement quickly gets shattered once Lee Geum-Ja leaves prison. This is where our story picks up. In a crucial and symbolic scene, Lee Geum-Ja, on release, is offered a white piece of tofu by a priest. Eating raw white tofu after being released from prison in Korea symbolises starting over, shedding your sins. To quote the priest in the film: “so that you will live white as snow and never sin again”. In a dramatic turnaround, she turns down the tofu, flipping over the plate, sending both plate and tofu to the floor, rejecting a sinless life. The tone is set; she chooses violence.
Reference to the iconic polka dot dress
The next symbolic scene that preludes her tale of vengeance is the lighting of red candles. The colour of passion and violence. The candles serve as a symbol of her quest’s progress. As long as they burn, she will be on her path of redemption. In this scene, the use of colours, often used by Park to show emotional extremes, is very clear. The red of the candles versus the white of her sleeping gown: sin versus innocence.
Right after the candle lighting scene, a dream sequence follows. Lee Geum-Ja is pulled forward, on a leash, the head of her archenemy fixed on a stuffed rocking horse. The icy landscape preludes the cold and darker feel the film will have by the end. The scene ends with Lee Grum-Ja fiercely executing Mr Beak’s morphed head by gunshot. Lighting the candles in the previous scene officially marks the start of her quest; right after, her graphic dream immediately and brutally visualises her violent vengeance to come.
After 13 years of planning, the plan finally comes into motion. The Kind-hearted Ms. Geum-ja sheds her innocence and transforms into a merciless character of vengeance. Whereas in the first part of the movie, the scenography is colourful and vibrant, in the second part, Park depicts the world in a grim, sombre manner. This is also strongly visible in the darker, more combative clothing and makeup of Lee Geum-Ja. Especially her red (again) eyeshadow is mentioned and discussed by other characters regularly in the film. At this point, we are at the height of the arc leading to violent vengeance. Her determination is unshakeable.
We arrive at the final key scene in the film. What has this fulfilled vengeance done for her? Did it bring the salvation, the gratification she had hoped for? The short answer is no. Upon release, she was offered a white block of tofu, a clean sheet, which she rejected. With her vengeance not fulfilled yet, her spiritual cleansing unfinished, the clean sheet came too early. She orchestrates her own road to atonement. In this scene, she bakes herself a white cake, clearly resembling the white block of tofu. With her enemy dead, she now hopes a sinless life can start. However, the spiritual cleansing she believed she would feel doesn’t come. She feels empty, stained. In an act of desperation, she plants her face into the white cake, indulging herself in the sweet white innocence. Hoping in some way the purity transfers to her bloody conscience.
Photo: Marvis Chan / @marvismmm
Styling: Edgar Van den Heede / @edgarvandenheede
Makeup: Maria Ovejoro / @mariaovejero.mua
Hair: Jannes Van de Velde / @vandeveldejannes
Models: Estée Vandenbussche / @estee_vdb / signed at @dominiquemodels_official
Minka Parmentier / @minka_lucia / signed at @runmodelmgmt
Brands used are:
Christian Wijnants / @christianwijnants
Florentina Leitner / @florentinaleitner_
ESSENTIEL ANTWERP / @essentielantwerp
Baum und Pferdgarten / @baumundpferdgarten
Jessica Cotte / jessica.cotte
Kié Einzelgänger / @kieeinzelganger
Pommie Dierick / @pommiedierick
JANUE / @januebrussels
