Directed by Park Chan-wook.
Starring Choi Min-sik and Yoo Ji-tae.
In a Nutshell: A released man seeks revenge and the knowledge behind his imprisonment.
The second movie in a revenge-centered trilogy (all directed by Park Chan-wook), Oldboy is a movie that minus the graphic violence and bizarre sexual plot diversions would play well for an American audience. As to how that violence and sex will be represented in the American remake by Steven Spielberg remains to be seen, but I’m not optimistic. The conclusion can feel increasingly implausible the more I think about it though in the confines of such an ungrounded, stylized film it is hardly absurd. But Choi Min-sik, as the unfairly confined Oh Dae-su, holds it all together with his tired visage. He is a man whose foolishness has undone his happy life and must see his vengeance craving until the end. Choi is wonderful in the early scene of him acting drunkenly in a police station holding cell as he tries to make it home in time for his daughter’s birthday. Choi is pitiable, sympathetic, and funny in a sorrowful way, capturing our attention and drawing us into to his anguish.
The second movie in a revenge-centered trilogy (all directed by Park Chan-wook), Oldboy is a movie that minus the graphic violence and bizarre sexual plot diversions would play well for an American audience. As to how that violence and sex will be represented in the American remake by Steven Spielberg remains to be seen, but I’m not optimistic. The conclusion can feel increasingly implausible the more I think about it though in the confines of such an ungrounded, stylized film it is hardly absurd. But Choi Min-sik, as the unfairly confined Oh Dae-su, holds it all together with his tired visage. He is a man whose foolishness has undone his happy life and must see his vengeance craving until the end. Choi is wonderful in the early scene of him acting drunkenly in a police station holding cell as he tries to make it home in time for his daughter’s birthday. Choi is pitiable, sympathetic, and funny in a sorrowful way, capturing our attention and drawing us into to his anguish.
There is not much to share about the plot without giving it away, but Park manages to keep us in the dark until the punchline-esque ending. Mostly by filling the screen with horrible sights that plunge us into the misery that surrounds Dae-su’s journey. This includes one artfully choreographed fight scene, filmed in an unbroken 3-minute take so that it resembles a side scrolling arcade game. By the end, both Dae-Su and us are exhausted at such an, inelegant staging of violence. Park lets the toll of his unwavering revenge wear down both the viewer and Choi.
On the short, Oldboy is a terrifically stylized film that does not lose its punch even after the reveal. Choi is a great protagonist and Park never tries to lionize him just because he was greatly wronged. His post-captivity world is one full of fresh horrors after another, both tangible and metaphysical and Dae-Su greets each with the steely reserve of a man fighting for his existence, not an action star. He’s not a tougher man for beating the odds, merely a survivor, but not one to pity. The ending does not collapse the rest of the film, and there are many more oddities that will stick in the viewer’s mind. It doesn’t beg for our empathy, and finds ways to keep us riveted to the plot. Just be sure you have a strong stomach.
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