Review of Oldboy (2003) by James M — 04 Jun 2014
A complex story of revenge and redemption from South Korea which many people would be quite forgiven for switching off in the first half hour due to it's complicated narrative.
A seemingly ordinary businessman, Oh Dae-Su, is incarcerated in a hotel-like-prison for 15 years where he spends his days renouncing upon his sins, hatching a plan for escape and plotting revenge on the person who put him there.
When he does achieve freedom, he discovers that his wife is dead, his daughter has been adopted and he only has five days to discover the person who had him imprisoned and their motives for doing so.
He gains the help of a young sushi chef called Mido, who falls in love with him, but there is a disturbing secret between the two characters which unweaves in the film's climax.
The narrative structure and characters are like an Oriental spin on Shakespeare's works with revenge being the main driving force behind the story.
Some of the scenes are certainly not for the squeamish, particularly one where Oh Dae-Su uses a hammer for some makeshift dentistry work on one of his victims.
Oldboy is without doubt one of the best films to come out of Eastern Asia in the past couple of decades. An American remake also reared it's head, but it's heavily doubtful it's anyway near as good as the original.
This review of Oldboy (2003) was written by James M on 04 Jun 2014.
Oldboy has generally received very positive reviews.
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