Movie Review: Oldboy (2003)
“Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.”
Oldboy, directed by highly acclaimed director Park Chan-wook, is the second part of the Vengeance trilogy which I’m watching in reverse order. Oldboy follows the story of Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi), who is kidnapped and locked in a cell without any explanation. No one will tell him why he is held captive, or when he will be released. He soon learns, on TV, that his wife was murdered and that he is the main suspect. He very slowly adapts to his new environment by plotting his vengeance, writing down the names of all the people he may have wronged, practicing martial arts against a wall, and digging a tunnel with a chopstick. Fifteen years later, he is suddenly released with money, clothes and a cellphone. As he attempts to make sense of why someone would do such thing to him, he finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy masterminded by the same person who locked him up fifteen years ago. His quest for revenge is complicated when he is given five days to figure out why he was subjected to this punishment.
This is a revenge fantasy, alright, but nothing like your bloated low-grade action movies such as The Punisher for example. The plot is complex and slow-building but contains several mind-blowing twists which are certain to keep you thinking long afterward. The conclusion is shocking and revolting and I’m sure some people hate/will hate the movie for it. Strong performances are given by the cast. Min-sik Choi is intense and nearly over-the-top but it works wonderfully in the world of Oldboy while Yu Ji-tae plays Lee Woo-jin the calm, collected and cunning bad guy (but is he?) much like a Christian Bale would if it was a Hollywood movie. Kang Hye-jeong plays the love interest of our main character in an understated and self-effacing manner. The movie is stylishly and breathtakingly shot giving the movie a gritty and sometime surreal feel while the musical score complements the action on the screen well.
Mixing a masterful plot-line, a twisted and disturbing ending, world-class acting, direction and cinematography, Oldboy is a gift from the movie gods!
10 Comments
Gotta see this one again. First time I saw it was with English dubs, and I don’t know why I did that. Need to give it a second look with subs on instead. You ever see Three Extremes? Chan-Wook has a pretty wild segment in there that’s worth checking out. Good review, man.
No I haven’t seen Three Extremes but I definitely will now!
I didn’t like “Oldboy” at first and only came to appreciate it after repeated viewing. It didn’t grow to the status of a masterpiece in my book, but I hold it as one great cinematic piece.
P.S. Why no love for the Punisher?
I love the premise of the Punisher but I thought it could have been so much more than just entertaining. The movie’s Frank Castle was too shallow and just your average Hollywood hero and the dialogue was quite below sub-par. Instead of having a really dark, complex, controversial film (like the comic book), we ended up with an average action movie.
I like two out of three Punishers. The (from 1989) with Dolph Lundgren no, but and the newest yes.
Especially War Zone. If you’re a fan of Garth Ennis’ MAX series you have to check it out!
P.S. OK, I’m never using HTML tags again, goddamnit.
Such an original film with elements that go so much deeper than the crazy violence, and revenge themes.
I’m actually a really lucky guy with this flick. Even though I’m a film geek, I never heard of it. Was going through Hollywood Video on a week with no good new releases and thought the cover looked cool. Read the back and it seemed cooler but didn’t expect anything but disappointment. Went home, watched it and had my mind blown!
This has been my favourite movie since I saw it in ’04. Very few films have even come close to matching it.
This has also been my favorite, just about, since seeing it about eight years ago. No other director, and no other film, has so utterly “gotten” the concept of the revenge picture as well as Oldboy, which takes the concept of revenge tragedy and totally modernizes it and thoroughly commits itself to examining the act of exacting vengeance in every way possible; literally, no stone is left unturned and no soul is left unscathed, much like the very best Greek tragedies in which the principles are either shattered as people or dead.
Oldboy, today, remains the cinematic vengeance gold standard.
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