Review of Oldboy (2003) by Don S — 24 May 2012

I watched this the first time when I was 16 years old without knowing anything about the film. When it finished I remember feeling like I had been thrown out of the narrative boat and left to drown. At 16, I never had seen a film that threw me around so much...That is the reason for the perfect high score, because I saw it at an age where it changed my perceptions of film and I watched it without knowing anything. If I had seen it for the first time now, I'd probably give it an 8 or 9.

Park Chan-Wook's super slick, slightly surreal style brings you into the central characters vengeance ridden heart while keeping you far enough in it sleekness to make you sadisticly enjoy the brutal blows of hammer on teeth. I won't discuss the narrative much, just hope if you havn't seen it you watch it without knowing anything about the plot. Not because it has twists, hut because it is a plot that weaves outwards and back in and you just have to embrace it and let it take you to places you hoped it didn't.