973. OLDBOY (2003)

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: Park Chan-wook
Written By: Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, Chan-wook Park, Garon Tsuchiya
Main Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Ji Dae-han, Kim Byeong
Click here to view the trailer

"LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU. WEEP AND YOU WEEP ALONE"

 To those of you with the ability to stream content from Netflix, I'd advise you to skip "Oldboy", a film that is offered through their service. Not because of the quality of the film - it's a great film - but because the version they offer is dubbed in English and it really takes away from the experience. Go with subtitles or go home.

Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is in a phone booth, talking to his daughter on the night of her birthday. When his best friend, Joo-hwan (Ji Dae-han) interrupts him so that he can say a few words, Dae-su steps out of the booth and relinquishes the phone to his friend. In the very next second Dae-su has vanished without a trace, save for the birthday present, intended for his daughter, lying on the street. In the next scene, we see Dae-su locked in a type of prison, a large steel door separating him from humanity. He doesn't know why he's being held captive and although people bring him meals everyday, no one ever speaks to him or answers his questions. Fast forward fifteen years. Dae-su lie in the same room, still being held captive, relying on the television to tell him what time it is and to be his companion and sometimes his lover. By watching the news, Dae-su learns that his wife has been murdered and that he is the prime suspect. After fifteen years a hypnotist walks into his room, puts him into a trance and when he awakes, he finds himself released. Now Dae-su is hell bent on revenge, but he soon learns that he will have to act fast, because his captor is still playing games with him and he only has five days to find out why he spent fifteen years locked up.

SPOILER ALERT!

So, yeah, I watched this film dubbed in English, which I wouldn't normally do, but I had seen it before in the way that it was intended to be seen - with subtitles. "Oldboy" is right up my alley. It's a puzzle, it's dark, it's gritty, it has twists and turns and ones that actually make sense and not just twists and turns for the sake of twisting and turning. Perhaps most importantly, it has a bad ass main character, that you actually sympathize with and want to see get his revenge.

"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?"

Of course, the clever aspect of "Oldboy" is that Dae-su really never gets his revenge. Furthermore, it's actually the character of Woo-jin that represents the vengeance aspect of director Park Chan-wook's second installment of the "Vengeance Trilogy". Even after fifteen years of being locked up, when Dae-su is finally released, all he's doing is putting into motion the second installment of Woo-jin's master plan. If you were to show this film to someone who had never seen it, stop it halfway through and tell them that by the end, Dae-su would be barking like a dog and licking the shoes of his captor, they'd probably rip your hand off looking for the "PLAY" button, so that they could see why. Like I said, the twists and turns aren't for nothing, as everything within the film actually makes sense. How about that modern Hollywood? A plot without holes! Even more, an intricate plot without holes! Nothing is contrived, nothing is put in place to make something else make sense, it all flows like clockwork and makes for a highly enjoyable movie going experience, as long as you don't mind a little hammer bludgeoning with your cinema.

Actually, let me just speak about the one inaccuracy that I was able to spot. It involved Mi-do, Dae-su's lover/daughter. Was there a point in the film where they spoke about Woo-jin changing her name? Because I don't remember anything like that and wouldn't Dae-su remember that his daughter's name was also Mi-do and that, perhaps, she resembled his baby girl? They mention that Woo-jin raised her as his own, so that explains why she never really knew Dae-su and obviously at only four years old when Dae-su was imprisoned, she probably wouldn't remember him enough to catch a resemblance, but wouldn't he kind of notice her? Perhaps that's why the bit at the beginning, that suggests he's a drunk was put in. Perhaps he was always too concerned with alcohol to really pay attention to his child.

We can easily root for and sympathize with this character because he's an everyman who realistically turns into a bad ass, fighting machine. He's pent up for fifteen years with nothing to do but think of the day he gets out and think of the horrible things that he plans to do to the people that have held him. He has no companionship and his only solace is knowing that someday he will get out and someday he will get his vengeance. We sympathize with him because he admits that he's not perfect and because he keeps journals that detail all the wrongs he's done. Even if we don't like him, it doesn't matter, because he doesn't like himself.

"Even though he's no more than a monster - doesn't he, too, have the right to live?"

Anyway, it's a great film. It would probably play out even better sandwiched in between "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" and "Lady Vengeance", although I've never seen the latter, so I don't know about that one. However, "Sympathy..." is really good and I'd recommend that one, as well. I think I've said all that needs to be said on this one.

RATING: 9/10  I can't go the full monty, just because, but it's good - trust me. This is shaping up to be an EPIC 100. Just look at the front-runners so far for the next TOP 20: "Oldboy", "Memento", "The Lord of the Rings", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Winter Light", "Magnolia" and several of the films that you'll read about next week as part of Seven Shadows. Man, this is gonna' be a tough one to make, I can feel it already and we're not even halfway in.

MOVIES WATCHED: 431
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 570

April 23, 2012  10:32pm