Revenge is quite an interesting theme in movies and one that is difficult to handle. Despite its simplicity, in the wrong hands, these themes just seem cliche and reused and often times, they are. Unfortunately, it is very seldom seen done well with any true originality. Then comes something like Oldboy and it completely obliterates the bar of standards for not only revenge themed films, but for cinema in general.
[HEADING=1]15 Years of Imprisonment.... 5 Days of Vengeance[/HEADING]
Loosely based on the manga of the same name, Oldboy is the second movie in director Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance trilogy. Like its predecessor, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy continues the tradition of Wook's style of film making and, in the very basic description, means it is full of heavily violent or outright disturbing imagery.
Oldboy follows the story of Oh Dea-Su (Choi Min-Sik), a seemingly average Korean business man with a bit of a drinking problem. We first meet Dea-su in a police station as he sits waiting to pass bail while going on and on in a drunken and hysterical fit. All this occurs on his daughter's birthday. After being bailed out by his friend, Joo-Hwann, Dae-su attempts to call his daughter, only to mysteriously vanish in the one instant Joo-Hwann takes his eyes off him.
Oh Dae-su has been kidnapped and for no apparent reason. He is locked in a small cell resembling a shabby apartment which only consists of a TV, a bed, a desk and a small slot in the heavily fortified door in which to give him food. He is never spoken to throughout his imprisonment. Never sees another human being. He's only kept slightly sane by imaginary combat training and writing long journals describing the horrible things he's done he's done to people over the coarse of his lifetime.
This goes on for 15 long years and just as quickly as he was kidnapped, Oh Dae-Su is released back into the outside world equipped with expensive clothes, a new haircut, a cellphone and given the objective to find out who his captor is and why he was imprisoned within a 5 day time limit.
Oh Dae-Su's first encounter with another human wasn't particularly pleasantSo describes the central plot of Oldboy, but in no way summarizes the movie as a whole. What was just described all takes place within the first 10 minutes of the film. From there, it proceeds on a dark and grizzly road of pure vengeance and rage as Oh Dae Su goes on a hunt for the people responsible.
From the very moment the film begins, you can feel the humanity that resides in Dae-Su. He's not a bad person in the least. Merely an average man with a seemingly average life. However, from the moment he's imprisoned, his humanity is slowly drained along with his sanity. Once he is released from his prison, what was left of him is gone. He has become a monster and as he himself put it "The old Dae Su is dead and never coming back"
While it would be foolish for me to attempt to describe the plot of the film further, and as to avoid unnecessary spoilers, I will refrain from doing so, but the film's story itself is unlike any other. Even comparing it to the very manga it is based upon wouldn't be accurate as they follow two completely different styles of story telling. Park Chan-Wook has made a near masterpiece when it comes to pure storytelling and in terms of writing.
The acting is something to be heavily praised as well. Credit obviously will go to all the actors themselves as no part is played poorly, however particular mention must be made to Choi Min-Sik's portrayal of the main character. Going to the lengths he did to prepare for the role itself and even going so far as to eat a live squid is something to be commended over, especially considering he's a practicing Buddhist.
While the acting and script writing is something to be mentioned, other things that I normally wouldn't particularly notice in any other film stand out and make it shine on it's own. Different aspects such as the brilliant musical score and even the colouring of the film itself bring a certain life to the movie when it all comes together in a way I've yet to see redone. Even the cinematography is something to be praised. The visual effect given adds a perfect tone and the camera work is done phenomenally by Chung-hoon Chung. This results in what is possibly the greatest fight scene in the past decade.
Which brings me to a little fact I mentioned earlier, the film itself is violent. Very violent. It takes brutal violence to a new extreme by making it all feel real. There is no excess gore. There's not really much gore to be had throughout but this is something which Asian cinema seems to have perfected. It's not what you see, it's what you don't see. That's what makes these scenes so great. They're never done for shock value either. They're presented as a whole. It perfectly shows what Oh's imprisonment has done to his psyche. He is no longer a man. He is now almost completely devoid of emotion. This is made more evident by the "squid" scene mentioned prior.
"Hammer Goes Where?"
Though, of course, no movie is perfect and Oldboy isn't without it's flaws here and there even though they are all very minor. While I praise things like writing and acting, there are certain moments in the film that don't seem to fit with the basic feel of the rest. In particular, there is a scene towards the end of the film that shows Oh Dae-Su in a completely different light. For the entirety of the film, he is shown as a merciless shell of what was once a man, then at the last scene, he is shown cowering and pleading at the foot of his enemy. While this is merely a personal gripe towards the choice to present the main character in this way, it's still something that got under my skin a bit.
A quick thing to note, however is that the movie itself isn't extremely accessible to those not used to the more eccentric side of cinema. Those familiar with Chan-Wook's previous work, and really any Asian films in general, will notice the high amount of accessibility for a film like this, however to more mainstream audiences, this will be an adventure into unknown, and perhaps frightening, territory. While not quite on par with something as wild and erratic as something like David Lynch's work, it certainly isn't a movie casual film goers will appreciate.
Though, despite my mixed feelings towards the ending, I can't say that there's really much else to nitpick at. The ending itself is what has garnered most of the hype surrounding the movie. It's highly improbable but not impossible and that's the beauty of it. It catches you off guard and no form of media has ever left the same impact on me as this has. Oldboy is a film that ventures into the realms of emotional extremes in it's violence and graphic nature. While it at times seems a bit overdone, it's never without good reason. It's something no other piece of cinema has been able to repeat and this, unfortunately, will lead to the inevitable copy or remake of a near masterpiece of a film.
Remember, that I am now taking requests for reviews, so any suggestions for future reviews you may have, please let me know via PM or in the replies to this review.
[HEADING=1]15 Years of Imprisonment.... 5 Days of Vengeance[/HEADING]
Loosely based on the manga of the same name, Oldboy is the second movie in director Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance trilogy. Like its predecessor, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy continues the tradition of Wook's style of film making and, in the very basic description, means it is full of heavily violent or outright disturbing imagery.
Oldboy follows the story of Oh Dea-Su (Choi Min-Sik), a seemingly average Korean business man with a bit of a drinking problem. We first meet Dea-su in a police station as he sits waiting to pass bail while going on and on in a drunken and hysterical fit. All this occurs on his daughter's birthday. After being bailed out by his friend, Joo-Hwann, Dae-su attempts to call his daughter, only to mysteriously vanish in the one instant Joo-Hwann takes his eyes off him.
Oh Dae-su has been kidnapped and for no apparent reason. He is locked in a small cell resembling a shabby apartment which only consists of a TV, a bed, a desk and a small slot in the heavily fortified door in which to give him food. He is never spoken to throughout his imprisonment. Never sees another human being. He's only kept slightly sane by imaginary combat training and writing long journals describing the horrible things he's done he's done to people over the coarse of his lifetime.
This goes on for 15 long years and just as quickly as he was kidnapped, Oh Dae-Su is released back into the outside world equipped with expensive clothes, a new haircut, a cellphone and given the objective to find out who his captor is and why he was imprisoned within a 5 day time limit.
Oh Dae-Su's first encounter with another human wasn't particularly pleasant
From the very moment the film begins, you can feel the humanity that resides in Dae-Su. He's not a bad person in the least. Merely an average man with a seemingly average life. However, from the moment he's imprisoned, his humanity is slowly drained along with his sanity. Once he is released from his prison, what was left of him is gone. He has become a monster and as he himself put it "The old Dae Su is dead and never coming back"
While it would be foolish for me to attempt to describe the plot of the film further, and as to avoid unnecessary spoilers, I will refrain from doing so, but the film's story itself is unlike any other. Even comparing it to the very manga it is based upon wouldn't be accurate as they follow two completely different styles of story telling. Park Chan-Wook has made a near masterpiece when it comes to pure storytelling and in terms of writing.
The acting is something to be heavily praised as well. Credit obviously will go to all the actors themselves as no part is played poorly, however particular mention must be made to Choi Min-Sik's portrayal of the main character. Going to the lengths he did to prepare for the role itself and even going so far as to eat a live squid is something to be commended over, especially considering he's a practicing Buddhist.
While the acting and script writing is something to be mentioned, other things that I normally wouldn't particularly notice in any other film stand out and make it shine on it's own. Different aspects such as the brilliant musical score and even the colouring of the film itself bring a certain life to the movie when it all comes together in a way I've yet to see redone. Even the cinematography is something to be praised. The visual effect given adds a perfect tone and the camera work is done phenomenally by Chung-hoon Chung. This results in what is possibly the greatest fight scene in the past decade.
Which brings me to a little fact I mentioned earlier, the film itself is violent. Very violent. It takes brutal violence to a new extreme by making it all feel real. There is no excess gore. There's not really much gore to be had throughout but this is something which Asian cinema seems to have perfected. It's not what you see, it's what you don't see. That's what makes these scenes so great. They're never done for shock value either. They're presented as a whole. It perfectly shows what Oh's imprisonment has done to his psyche. He is no longer a man. He is now almost completely devoid of emotion. This is made more evident by the "squid" scene mentioned prior.
"Hammer Goes Where?"
Though, of course, no movie is perfect and Oldboy isn't without it's flaws here and there even though they are all very minor. While I praise things like writing and acting, there are certain moments in the film that don't seem to fit with the basic feel of the rest. In particular, there is a scene towards the end of the film that shows Oh Dae-Su in a completely different light. For the entirety of the film, he is shown as a merciless shell of what was once a man, then at the last scene, he is shown cowering and pleading at the foot of his enemy. While this is merely a personal gripe towards the choice to present the main character in this way, it's still something that got under my skin a bit.
A quick thing to note, however is that the movie itself isn't extremely accessible to those not used to the more eccentric side of cinema. Those familiar with Chan-Wook's previous work, and really any Asian films in general, will notice the high amount of accessibility for a film like this, however to more mainstream audiences, this will be an adventure into unknown, and perhaps frightening, territory. While not quite on par with something as wild and erratic as something like David Lynch's work, it certainly isn't a movie casual film goers will appreciate.
Though, despite my mixed feelings towards the ending, I can't say that there's really much else to nitpick at. The ending itself is what has garnered most of the hype surrounding the movie. It's highly improbable but not impossible and that's the beauty of it. It catches you off guard and no form of media has ever left the same impact on me as this has. Oldboy is a film that ventures into the realms of emotional extremes in it's violence and graphic nature. While it at times seems a bit overdone, it's never without good reason. It's something no other piece of cinema has been able to repeat and this, unfortunately, will lead to the inevitable copy or remake of a near masterpiece of a film.
Let's just pray to every deity known to man that this [http://movieodyssey.com/files/2009/06/movie-odyssey-presents-oldboy-copy.jpg] doesn't actually happen...
Movies:
Best Movies of the Decade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.164045-Best-Films-of-the-Decade-Warning-Extremely-Long-Review]
Inception [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.215806-JK-Reviews-Inception]
Games:
Bayonetta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.169030-JK-Reviews-Bayonetta-Warning-May-Contain-Spoilers]
Game of the Year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards]
God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III]
NieR [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.203204-JK-Reviews-NIER]
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206361-JK-Reviews-Castlevania-Lament-of-Innocence]
Maximo: Ghosts To Glory [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.212014-JK-Reviews-Maximo-Ghosts-To-Glory]
Kingdom Hearts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.229506-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts]
Kingdom Hearts II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230725-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts-II]
Music:
Equilibrium's ReKreatur [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.204108-JK-Reviews-Equilibrium-ReKreatur]
Best Movies of the Decade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.164045-Best-Films-of-the-Decade-Warning-Extremely-Long-Review]
Inception [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.215806-JK-Reviews-Inception]
Games:
Bayonetta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.169030-JK-Reviews-Bayonetta-Warning-May-Contain-Spoilers]
Game of the Year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards]
God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III]
NieR [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.203204-JK-Reviews-NIER]
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206361-JK-Reviews-Castlevania-Lament-of-Innocence]
Maximo: Ghosts To Glory [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.212014-JK-Reviews-Maximo-Ghosts-To-Glory]
Kingdom Hearts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.229506-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts]
Kingdom Hearts II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230725-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts-II]
Music:
Equilibrium's ReKreatur [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.204108-JK-Reviews-Equilibrium-ReKreatur]
Remember, that I am now taking requests for reviews, so any suggestions for future reviews you may have, please let me know via PM or in the replies to this review.
