Review of Oldboy (2003) by Brooks C — 18 Aug 2012

An alcoholic, drunk husband Oh Dae-Su gets detained by the police after a public struggle and later gets freed by his high school friend, Joo-Hwan. After establishing contact with his wife and daughter via pay-phone he disappears only to find himself imprisoned in a room looking like an apartment complex. After 15 years, he is unexpectedly freed only to discover that he has 5 days to figure out why he was imprisoned and to confront the mastermind behind his imprisonment.

Based on the Japanese manga series by Garon Tsuchiya, Oldboy is a fresh, superbly crafted, evenly paced, excellently acted masterpiece by former film critic turned director, Chan-Wook Park. Combining the squeamish violence of Takashi Miike and the plot development of Alfred Hitchcock, Oldboy stands out as one of the best Korean films I've ever seen. Having seen this film when I was 17, I didn't see very many Korean movies around the time. I mostly watched Japanese and Chinese movies. After seeing this film for the first time, I became totally changed. I began to see this as the future of filmmaking as well as the movie that got me into K-thrillers. To this day, I remain a strong admirer of Korean cinema all thanks to this opus.

The story to this film is flat-out terrific. Every scene is very evenly structured one on top the other. Everything always gets the viewer wondering what will happen next. The fact that this is a Korean adaptation of Japanese source material goes to prove what the neighboring Asian countries can learn from one another in order to make great films. The Japanese source material is considerably much tamer than this movie. As I hinted in the beginning, this movie is relentlessly violent. It's packed with scenes of tooth torture, mutilation, and fight scenes involving one man, Oh Dae-Su vs. an entire mob armed with knives and bats. Which brings me to one of my favorite scenes in the film: the corridor fight. That scene in and of itself is so well choreographed and polished, it's one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen take place in what is a clostrophobic environment.

That being said, this is one of the films that uses what would be considered controversial content to perfection. There have been very few films that do such things as good. Every scene of violence in this movie has a statement behind it. It is used to perfectly reflect the characters' state of mind and even helps shine their development. There's so much plot to this film and it's so well done I can't say enough good about it.

Choi Min-sik (I Saw the Devil, Failan, Lady Vengeance) plays the anti-hero Oh Dae-Su. The performance he brings is perhaps one of the most memorable and life-like performances I've ever seen. There are many others that match the criteria and his is one of them. The sushi waitress who takes him in and accompanies him on his quest for revenge, Mi-Do is played by Gang Hye-Jeong. Mi-Do is more of an insecure, compassionate, and naive character who gets herself involved in many troubles. Lee Woo-jin is played by Ji-Tae Yu. The performances are all terrific and do a lot to benefit the character development. The music to this film is another de facto. The music is perfectly done, perfectly timed, and perfectly orchestrated with every scene.

Overall, Oldboy is a film that is not only influential in terms of modern moviemaking trends, but it's a film in its genre that is nothing short of pure, solid perfection. Chan-Wook Park has become one of my favorite directors of all time and remains so to this day. It is commonly said that Kim Ki-Young's, The Housemaid (original) is one of the best Korean films of all time. I've had difficulty finding a copy of the film, but after seeing Oldboy, the impact it's left on me, and the fact that Kim Ki-Young is one of the influences for Park I'll be willing to believe anything. Check this film out along with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance. I guarantee anyone reading this will not be disappointed.