Oldboy comes to the west with a considerable amount of fanfare, having garnered awards at Cannes, as if such awards mean anything at all these days. I think at some point, every single film ever made will have won some sort of an award. Suffice it to say, there hasn't been a Korean film with this much stateside buzz surrounding it since Shiri and My Sassy Gal stormed the scene a couple years ago. And once again, what we have on our hands is a very cliche film in which everything that needs to happen does, but is presented so expertly that the end result is a hugely entertaining foray into an increasingly twisted tale of revenge. If Shiri was the Korean film industry doing the Hollywood action film several magnitudes better and more violent, then Oldboy is the same industry's response to the popularity of the genre-bending master of the sicko revenge film, Takashi Miike.

Drunken oaf Oh Dae-su (Shiri's Choi Min-sik) is bailed out of jail one night by a friend. On the way home to see his little daughter and wife after his night of carousing and doubtlessly drinking a lot of Hienekin and wrapping his tie around his head, Dae-su simply vanishes. He wakes up in a fortified hotel room, with absolutely no idea where he is, why he's there, or who is doing this to him. He is there for fifteen years until one day, the very same day he has finally completed a tunnel to the outside through his wall, he is given a new set of clothes and a fat wad of cash and simply released without any explanation whatsoever. Completely lost as to what has just happened to him, he vows to track down the people who did this to him and extract some answers by any means necessary.

It's a lean but exceptional premise for a film, indeed something that would seem right at home in a Miike or Hitchcock film, or even a Raymond Chandler novel. Oldboy possesses the same kind of quirky lack of balance that inhabits those works. It isn't long before Dae-su has managed to trace his way back to the hotel prison, and it doesn't even take that long to go fromt here to the person who paid to have him imprisoned. Oldboy's central mystery isn't who, but why. Dae-su must find out why he was imprisoned, first because the need to know is burning him up, and later because a sushi chef with whom he has struck up an awkward romantic relationship is placed under threat of death. Slowly, however, the film shifts focus even from that quest and we discover that Dae-su's revenge against his captors is secondary to the complicated revenge plot that has been hatched against him for reasons he can't understand. As he progresses from one clue, one fractured memory to the next, the revelations create an increasingly twisted and sick picture of what's happening.

Oldboy draws its strength primarily from the atmosphere. The slick direction by Chan-wook Park (JSA, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) not only result sin a gorgeous, colorful film, but it greatly augments the feeling of bewilderment and anger engulfing Dae-su. The slow move from a simple tale of revenge into territory that is truly bizarre is perfectly accomplished, once again illustrating that the best way to unsettle someone is to take a very familiar world and subtly, slowly warp it into something alien and grotesque. Oldboy does this so well that you hardly even notice that the film is getting increasingly sicker with each fragment of a clue that is recovered. Although Miike would seem to me to be the obvious inspiration for this type of film, Park's steady approach resists the gory excesses and lack of focus that identify Miike's films, which is why I feel it's apt to say Oldboy falls somewhere between Miike and Hitchock, or a particularly surreal old hardboiled detective novel. The web of ever-more perverse characters and realizations wouldn't be entirely out of place in a Raymond Chandler novel, populated as they were by pornographers, drunks, lecherous scumbags, and decadent California aristocracy. When the final pieces of Dae-su's torture snap into place, it isn't entirely unexpected -- I'd guessed what the revelation would be already -- but it's unsettling and effective regardless.

Although there is action in the film, it's hardly an action film. Having nothing better to do while locked in a hotel room for fifteen years, Dae-su decides to get into shape. One of the central elements to the overarching themes of the film is the transformation that takes place in Dae-su. When we first meet him, he's not necessarily a bad guy. He's just a useless chump. As wrong as what happens to him is, it's never the less responsible for transforming him into an entirely different type of person: physically fit, focused, determined. At the same time, we get the sense that this transformation has been engineered for him specifically so that he'll have so much more to lose when the hammer falls. His sudden explosion from being more or less entombed alive to being free means that every emotion, every feeling, every event is possessed of much greater power than would otherwise be. One of the first things he does upon obtaining his freedom is go to a sushi bar and order something, anything that is alive.

So although this is a character study more than an action film, the nature of Dae-su's heightened awareness of everything around him means that he's going to explode into fits of rage from time to time, especially when someone is standing in the way of him obtaining the next level of truth. There are a few fight scenes, and a couple particularly sadistic torture scenes that don't quite plumb the gratuitous depths of Takashi Miike at his most insane but are never the less grueling to behold. But, as with the series of increasingly twisted revelations, none of the violence seems out of place. The man has been locked up for fifteen years, after all, in solitary confinement, with no explanation as to why. He's bound to be a little frazzled, and within the context of his character, everything he does makes sense. Still, dental work performed by hammer is pretty intense.

When the hammer does fall, it's precisely because Dae-su is now focused and driven that he gets deeper and deeper into the secrets that lie behind his imprisonment and, consequently, the revelations that will conspire to destroy his present. These revelations never come across as contrived or happening simply because something needs to happen to propel the script along to its climax. The screenplay by Jo-yun Hwang andChun-hyeong Lim is perfectly paced and presents each layer as an organic and entirely believable outgrowth of the previous, even during the end when things begin to get exceptionally complex and a little far-fetched. Within the confines of the film's internal logic, however, they make perfect sense and remain solidly believable.

The film is peppered with bits and pieces of comedy, but it never dominates the situation, and the film remains for the most part, tensely paced and hauntingly grim. It's obvious almost from the beginning that no good is going to come of anything that happens in the film, and Dae-su is a sympathetic enough character that the knowledge that this is all going to end badly for him keeps you involved in the story. The villain of the piece, Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu) is acceptably freaky, but the film relies largely on the talents of Hye-jeong Kang as cute, beleaguered sushi chef Mi-do, who finds herself thrust into Dae-su's life seemingly at random, though the viewer knows it's very unlikely that anything happening to Dae-su is happening at random. Her career is really only just beginning, but she turns in a strong performance here, matching up very well with the far more experienced and accomplished Min-sik Choi. You know bad things are probably going to happen to her as well, and you really just don't want them to.

All in all, quite a nerve-wracking though enjoyable film. I really like Park's direction in this movie. It's slick without indulging into overkill. The color palette goes for the over-saturated, ultra-rich look that is enjoying increasing popularity, a welcome change for me from all the washed-out or blue/yellow tinted films we've been suffering through the past few years. It works to make the very normal world around Dae-su seem not quite right, as if there is something off-kilter and sinister and somewhat fairytale-like about it, albeit one of those fairytales where everyone ends up cooked by witches or eaten by trolls. After watching a string of really awful Korean sci-fi films that looked beautiful but were almost impossible to watch (Yesterday and Natural City), it was nice to see another Korean film that doesn't skimp on cutting edge production but also remembers to wrap it around a compelling, intensely tragic, and haunting movie

At first appearing to be another exercise in the revenge genre, OldBoy soon shows itself to be a unique and quite different exploration, further encapsulated in a shocking, albeit not totally unexpected, twist at the end. The film is released (in the UK) under Tartan's "Asia Extreme" label - due to the fairly brutal and horrific violence. Whilst this violence is present throughout the film the most disturbing element is that most of it is not shown, leaving the horrors to the imagination of the viewer. I found this to be the best technique to use, as I would not want anything shown badly/ruined for me, and it enhances the film, in my opinion, by leaving it out.

Interestingly this film seemed to split audiences three ways. Those who think it is amazing and worthy of most, if not all the praise, those who think it is slightly overrated but still very good and those who hate it completely. Personally I would be in the first category, although with repeat viewing very slowly leaning towards the second. As with the most treasured films I have seen, the first viewing is the most powerful and most unique (with the exception of "Mulholland Dr."). Upon subsequent viewings of OldBoy it is true to say that part of the plot and shock factor is diminished from the inital viewing, but to it's credit I still found it a fascinating watch, even through all three of the added commentaries.

For me there is so much to appreciate and admire in OldBoy, from the inspired camerawork to the sparkling cinematography to the outstanding musical score. Whilst these would all be little to nothing if the film was not good, I find them all fascinating in their own right, a refreshing change to most of my (Hollywood-induced) viewing habits. This leads on to what I would consider another of OldBoy's strengths - it's panache. Like the Pay-per-View US TV channel "HBO", part of OldBoy's quality lies in it's simple, brutal honesty - appearing both highly controversial and yet deeply emotional simultaneously. This is certainly one of the reasons I was enthralled by OldBoy. Sadly, this also links in to the comments that the film is misogynistic. Whilst I cannot argue that there are mainly only two female characters present, who are both shown in sexualised situations, I do not feel that the comments are completely true, however the majority of the sympathy is indeed placed with the male characters.

To say any more on the story would ruin some fantastic pieces of cinema for those who have not seen it, but whether you hate it or love it this is, to me, some of cinema at it's very best - unapologetic, controversial, provocative, unique and fresh...

...OldBoy is a stunningly fantastic and original film and is a welcome addition to any film fan's DVD collection.

Park makes cinema with a vengeance. He loves studying the effects of vengeance. Although 'Oldboy' reportedly marks the second instalment of Park's Revenge Trilogy, begun with 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' and presumably concluding with the upcoming 'Sympathy For Lady Vengeance', Park's contribution of 'Cut' to 'Three... Extremes', plus 'JSA', all depict characters who sacrifice their humanity for that cold dish.

'Oldboy's premise is irresistible: Oh Dae-su (Choi), a boorish white collar worker estranged from his wife and daughter, is kidnapped seemingly for no reason and imprisoned in a hotel-style room for fifteen years. On the eve of his escape, following madness and suicide attempts, he is suddenly released. Confronted by Lee Woo-Jin (Yoo), his kidnapper, he is told he has five days to discover the truth or his new close friend Mido (Gang) will die.

With a plot this mysterious and audacious, the danger lies in protracting the investigation and climaxing with disappointing revelations. Working from Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki's original manga, Park and his two co-writers keep the plot steamrolling toward a terrible denouement with surprising twists, Lee finances Oh's investigation and reveals himself early in the game while the reason behind the kidnapping and the revenge is as vicious as Oh's claw hammer. Dreamlike flashbacks transform this revenger's tragedy into a study of memory and loss, blurring the distinction between the victim and the persecutor.

Definitely not to everyone's taste, but ink black humour and Choi's powerhouse performance prevent 'Oldboy' from becoming unendurable: Oh Dae-Suk hunts down Lee by searching for the dumplings he ate for fifteen years, he takes on an army of heavies in one brilliant shot (apparently shot over three days), tortures his jailer to the strains of The Four Seasons and eats a live octopus.

In Choi Min-Sik Park has an actor perfect for the demands of the role. An intense hulking bear of a man, he conveys both the fury that has honed his physique and the arrogant stupidity that dooms him. Yoo's Lee, slyly established as the Dr Frankenstein to Oh's Monster, also succeeds as a charming, intelligent and ruthless nemesis, while Gang's fragile performance is perfect to humanise the beast Mido is trying to redeem.

Park's handling of this explosive material is utterly assured and he also surrounds himself with first class collaborators. Cinematographer Jung Jung-Hoon's visuals, inspired by 'Se7en' DP Darius Khondji, create a darkly comic book noir, art director Ryu Seong-Hie's bizarre set decoration provides a near subliminal sense of unreality, and composers Park and Jo Yeong-Wook's mournful string based score echoes Hollywood thrillers from the forties and fifties.

With Tarantino screaming his praises and an 'Oldboy' Hollywood remake in the offing (that will inevitably buckle where this film refuses to compromise) Park Chan-Wook can take any direction he chooses. He has already declined an offer to remake 'The Evil Dead', so here's hoping he does not stray too far from his native Korea, which allows him to make radical and inspiring cinema such as this.

Old Boy is heavy, and it's violent, but not in an Ichi the Killer sort of way. Nor is it disturbing in a exploitation flick kind of way. This is simply an excellently made, beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, original and enjoyable thriller. I'd go so far as to say it is one of my favorite movies. And that's pretty far.

Old Boy begins with Oh Daesu (Choi Min-Sik) being held in a police station, apparently for public drunkeness. He is in a business suit, and looks like an average, conservative, Korean business man. He appears very different from the dishevelled, unshaven Oh Daesu that graces the cover. This opening scene (actually, there is a brief scene preceding it) is shot brilliantly, and already you feel that you are in the safe hands of a director (Park Chan-Wook) who knows his craft well.

A friend of Oh Daesu shows up and bails him out. Outside the police station, while his friend is in a phone booth, distracted, Oh Daesu disappears. The present he was bringing home for his daughter sits in a bag on the rain-soaked street.

Oh Daesu finds himself a captive in a cell that is decorated to appear like a normal apartment, save for the fake window and the heavy locked door. I really want to give away as little as possible. I'll just say that he is in his 'prison' for quite a long time, his main companion being a television set. Every night, sleeping gas makes sure that he gets a good night's sleep. If he trashes his 'apartment' he isn't punished, he just wakes up the next day to find everything put back in order.

I can sense your worry. No, the whole movie doesn't take place in one room. If you read my review of Alive, then you know that I hate that. The acting is so good, and his plight so compelling, that even if the whole film was shot in one room, it would still be great. However, and I won't tell you how, he gets out.

What lies before our protagonist is a mystery. Who imprisoned him and why? The rest of the movie sets out to answer this question, as well as to ask some philosophical ones of the viewer. I won't get into that here because it will be obvious by the film's end, and asking philosophical questions is pointless if you are bored to death.

Old Boy succeeds on almost every level. Whether or not you buy the revelation of why Oh Daesu was imprisoned in the first place will determine whether you find this movie merely great, or perfect. If there HAD to be a point to pick on, on my first viewing, this was it. I found it a little far fetched. On subsequent viewings I have had to disagree with myself. Upon further consideration, I don't think it is far fetched at all. Not for a thriller, anyway.

Because I tend to try not to go into details too much (I hate reading reviews that give all the cool scenes away) it is difficult to figure out how to properly praise this film. Let me just say that this is a great movie over all. It isn't the kind of film that you have to put up with 'x', in order to enjoy the 'y' aspect. The acting is great. The cinematography is great. The directing and editing are great. Old Boy is never boring. Every scene is compelling. In case you can't tell, I like this movie.

DO NOT BUY THIS FILM IF: You have no appreciation for impromtu, unrequested dental work; you have a pet octopus and in your spare time fight for ustice and equality for all octopi everywhere; or you are presently being held captive, against your will, and are thinking that whoever imprisoned you can't keep you locked up much longer than a few months.

RECOMMENDATION: Very highly recommended. If you are the type, like myself, who will buy movies based on reviews alone, well that puts a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, now doesn't it? Still, I'd feel pretty confident advising that you buy Old Boy, especially if you are looking for something fresh and compelling and not something crappy and run-of-the-mill. Another word for Old Boy: cool. Very cool stuff.

Before entering a restaurant Dae-su is approached by a man in the street who hands him a cell phone and quickly disappears without giving him his name or a reason for the phone. Once inside and enjoying his live meal (Actor Min-sik Choi is actually served a live squid in which he bites the head off and sucks the juices down his throat ferociously. It's all captured on camera even the tentacles of the barely alive fish thrashing about.) his cell phone rings and on the other end is the mysterious Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu). Dae-su draws attention to his own self by raising his voice to the man who hauntingly states he's majored in Dae-su and is the same guy behind his imprisonment. Woo-jin Lee tells Dae-su he has five days to figure out who he is and why he kidnapped him and kept him locked in a cell for fifteen years.

Dae-su hangs up the phone and collapses from near exhaustion and a lack of nutrition. He awakens to find himself in the home of Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang) a young sushi bar girl from the restaurant intent on reading Dae-su's personal journal without him knowing. The two immediately form a romantic attachment, Dae-su being the manipulative, unappealing older man and Mi-do the innocent and compassionately gentle young lady. After tracking down a catering service, Dae-su follows a local delivery to the place of his imprisonment where he extracts revenge on not one, but a whole gang of thugs. As the clues start to fall into place one thing still remains unanswered, what did Dae-su do to deserve such harsh treatment? Find out when you watch Chan-wook Park's Korean masterpiece Old Boy.

Reviewer's Thoughts:
Psychology is the asset of our mentality in which we all break down in destruction harbored by inner fears and framed realities. Life's soul person seems to feed on the amusement we can provide through various emotions teetering the scale of uncontrollable behavior on a level that approaches concepts unreachable to the rationality of ones suggestions. Old Boy is a prime example of the multiple sentimental veneering occurring in the minds of individuals whose worldly disruptions are steadily increased by their own polluted fixations. Recognized by his past directorial achievements, Chan-wook Park (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) creates a story so emotionally consuming and mentally fascinating any forthcoming assumptions are automatically defused as the film breaks down barriers unimaginable to even the most complicated puzzle solvers. The structure of one mans life is examined through the strength of his morality, testing his desires and evocative fantasies through the harsh realms of ultimate torture and complete isolation. The objective isn't to punish the human guinea pig, but provide a series of results and collective answers about his own philosophy of life essentially using him as a tool for retribution and a pawn for satisfaction as well.

With Old Boy Chan-wook Park takes the concept of humanities indecencies and approaches it with a sensible story beset by the scarification of mans loyalty. The larger scope of the film is portrayed as a revenge epic with varying expressive highs and lows that purposely serve to balance the rather blunt appearance of dramatic assaults against the human psyche. Underneath its nihilistic layered outcome and at its core is a blanket of vengeance that conceals a more concise study of the rage and guilty conscience we all find present inside ourselves. The transferring ability to blame others for our own greed and corruption just long enough to forget the pain we truly feel deep within while embellishing in the fact of someone else's misfortune. The film doesn't want to emphasize violence and revenge, but progresses to show a great character study of how anger can be subjugated. But once the revelation makes itself known the forgotten pain can no longer exist as a memory, but rather a substantiation of losing a part of yourself.

The story of Old Boy is told in a fast forward sequential manner supporting our main character Dae-su with quick flashy impulses of historical events and background information. The seclusion from society makes Dae-su even more remotely dissident than the average suicidal demon materializing its ugly head inside the cursed minds of the youth and hostile. Dae-su's advantage if you want to call it that is the separation from the public eye - out of sight and out of mind. But what could have been an interesting studying of one mans inability to enter a world he was vanquished from sadly wasn't. Instead of focusing on Dae-su's disparities and the humanity around him the majority of the film is spent with Dae-su searching for an answer to his imprisonment. It's in this motivation that the assembly of the mystery begins and the true meaning behind it all starts to unravel, but the fault lies in the director taking our main character from a point of loneliness and throwing him into a world in which he seemingly never forgot. The idea is that Dae-su found comfort in the TV and as the years past he acquired new knowledge and an awareness of his surroundings. But the intriguing thing that beckons my curiosity is how simple it was for a man to enter back into a civilization without regret, hesitation, or a feeling of complete abandonment after spending fifteen years away from it. The hypnoses would explain this question (Dae-su was hypnotized during his captivity), but the solution still seems vague, as mere compressed minutes imprisoned unevenly balance the time Dae-su is lead around searching for clues.

Woo-jin Lee has a complex in which he himself could possibly never understand, but the tainted mind of a man with a desire for lust and love seems uncontrollable as it is. The idea of committing incest is one of the most repulsive fixations someone could have, but the love two people share is often bitter sweet when examined in a position of weakness. The energy the body can possess in a pose is alarming and the chemical interaction between two people in a frail state is a recipe for interaction in even the most distressing of ways. The eagerness to spill the seed or to release all climactic hell can often blind the eyes of the soul and shift into a state of frenzy or orgasmic troubles causing a reaction that doesn't want to be controlled. The most peculiar thing is finding out how much will power we all sincerely have inside. Thoughts may arise and should be easily left go, but in this case Woo-jin Lee shares his harmony with his beloved sister. Once the connection dies and the seed freed from confinement, the glory of all things life and sensible hits like a cold sweat upon your brow. Though this is mentioned delicately in the film the result of his sisters death surely played a pivotal role in his mind frame. The uncertainty of what someone would say if they ever found out about both of them and the child that she nurtures inside her and the identity of the father was more than enough scar ones ego. It's this sad revelation that reveals the morally corrupt and the tragedy of our own societies deeds and consequences. We all are human, even throughout the age of innocents and sin we share the same feelings and harbor the same desires. Those who take it further are the ones who suffer and so in Old Boy the result of a forbidden love ultimately ends in a suicidal imbalance.

The film succeeds about ninety nine percent of the way, sadly just falling apart near the climax in what seems like a conventional overdose to bring resolve to an ending that proposes secluded happiness. One can assume all Dae-su has in his life is the love of Mi-do and it should be safe to say all Woo-jin Lee had to look forward to in his life was the bittersweet pleasure of watching Dae-su suffer through the revenge he's cast over him. But once the exposure of Woo-jin Lee's revenge is glorified, the rebound is like a leech constantly devouring the happiness until nothing is left, but the sadness he felt from the start. Each character has a distinction that in a lot of ways can be related to a feeling. For example Dae-su is of the feeling isolation. Living in a world deprived of his existence and everyday necessities, but driven by a past that haunts him and forces him to develop into a maniacal personified monster just to discover a meaning from it all. There's a scene that shows Dae-su entering the world for the first time in fifteen years. His first encounter is with a man ready to commit suicide, which oddly enough depicts the image of Dae-su when he was imprisoned. A man on the edge uncertain of his life and all that has come to be. It's interesting if you think about it, because there's a message here that some will easily pick up. In life we go about our business, making mistakes and learning from our past failures. Some of us have it rougher than others and in this case it seems setup for Dae-su to awaken and find a man on the break of devastation other than himself. The curiosity of what's possibly troubling this man and how his life could be any worse than Dae-su's is pessimistic at best and a complete admiration on the directors part to exploit this scene. Though we don't know the man, we've witnessed the injustice done to Dae-su which itself is a story of survival and triumph. How will Dae-su interact with this stranger is the question and it's downright fascinating to witness.

Old Boy is a movie that makes you think and appreciate foreign cinema. It doesn't hold back in its attempt to expose human desires, grudges, and fears. Min-sik Choi who starred in the romantic drama Failan delivers a powerful performance as Dae-su. At first his questioning of internment comes swiftly, but as the years pass his fait is easily accepted. It's this cynical humorous outlook that makes for sincere and complete story telling. If there was one scene that is the epitome of Old Boy it's of Dae-su holding the man ready to commit suicide by his tie. The stranger is leaning over the edge, close to falling and Min-sik Choi acts like he couldn't really care, but for some reason he's holding onto this fool. The sense I got from the scene was that this was Dae-su entering the world for the first time, like a child enters the world with their eyes wide open anxious to see everything. Even though this man wants to die, Dae-su can't help but hold onto him because he's the first human he's had the privilege of seeing in fifteen long years, like a child not wanting to let go of their mother. He's a brilliant actor and the action is so subtle and gripping that it's just truly amazing when viewed. Ji-tae Yu is fantastic as Woo-jin Lee. His intense charisma and corruptibly evil charm make for a likable character despite his unethical behavior. He's a man who conceals a deep hatred and grudge inside insensitively subjected to forever caress a pain that he cannot let go of. A memory that's always there to remind him no matter how hard he tries to escape from it. Old Boy is just as much of a movie about Woo-jin Lee as it is Dae-su.

And one should never forget the important role of Mi-do portrayed by the lovely Hye-jeong Kang. She's such a ambitious and strong actor that it's odd she comes through as a understated character here, but that's the intentions of director Chan-wook Park. The film projects Mi-do in a state of neglect, uncertain of her own feelings, her past and where she is headed. She's living for the moment because it's all she really has to carry on. I thought the negated focus on her life really helps build the film and makes the climax all the more unbearable. Old Boy is a deeply touching film that exists to bring out the desolation a human can feel inside, while remaining committed to tell a solid story with thoughtful interactions and even providing a rebound of happiness. Chan-wook Park does a magnificent job behind the camera as the director and credit goes to cinematographer for crafting some truly inventive imagery.

Possible spoilers below:
The reoccurring theme in Old Boy is the mirror imaging of Dae-su and his own personal demon entitled "The Monster." The idea exist that we all have two sides to our story, two faces in which we wear like mask to cover up our own fears and disturbing evidence. The ending leaves the viewer to pose a question, was it Dae-su or the monster who we see last? To answer this you have to go back to several key important moments during the film, which are repeated like quotes protecting a message.

"Laugh and the world laughs with you - weep and you weep alone"

and

"Even though I'm worse than even a beast - Don't I have the right to live?"

Within the quotes conceal the feelings of the characters, how they've felt or have come to felt due to their own impartially and injustice. The hypnotist states Dae-su will see himself and his two personas will become evident. The monster will walk away with each step aging one year. Right before the film ends Dae-su is seen meeting with Mi-do and she asks if he had company. The camera pans out and shows footsteps in the snow leading away from Dae-su or towards him perhaps? (The camera angel and lack of detail in the footprints make it hard to interpret) A viewer is easy to assume the footprints came from the woman hypnotist, but in reality the prints are the evidence of the ugly part of Dae-su dying or aging well. The question remains, does he remember what has happened or has he put the past to rest so he can carry on with his life? The answer is truly how you want to interpret the smile Dae-su has on his face. There is no right or wrong, the result is just hard to imagine because we as a viewer know the situation and understand one of them has to live with harboring a guilty conscious forever.

End Spoilers

Overall:
Old Boy is a film that pushes the boundaries of cinema without being condoned for shocking an audience. The movie has a lot of heart and is underlined with more creativity and soul than the majority of American films I've seen that have tried to explore this story format. When you make a film about a love triangle and the barbarity of incest you cannot shy away from truth and reality, Old Boy doesn't do that and it doesn't cover it up either. Chan-wook Park managed to make a film within Old Boy that builds a connection with a viewer through a portrait of human fear - the isolation we wish to never feel, the desire to find eternal tranquility and the second entity in which we find inside ourselves. It's a mosaic of patterns that all lead to a final conclusion, like following the yellow brick road until finally reaching 'Emerald City' just to find out all your hard work of remaining committed to searching and understanding was about as meaningful as living in the small box you desperately tried to escape from and avoid. The only thing Chan-wook Park did wrong was allow Dae-su to enter the world comfortably, but had he not the story would have been completely different. Allow yourselves time to immerse your total attention unto Chan-wook Park's Old Boy that way you'll understand the movie and I guarantee you'll like it.

Oh Daesu (Choi Min-Sik) finds himself in a very unusual prison after waking up from a bender one night. He was on his way home to his wife and daughter, but never makes it there. No one will tell him where he is, why he’s there, or how long he’s expected to stay. While in prison, he’s routinely subjected to gassings, and forced to eat the same meal everyday. All he has for companionship is his notebooks, which he fills with his confessions, and the television, which he uses to stay current with world events and news. It’s through the local news one night that he hears of his wife’s death, that she’s been murdered, and that he is the police’s prime suspect. He vows revenge against whoever set him up once he escapes, which he does, fifteen years later.

Once he’s in the outside world, he sets about trying to piece his life back together and figure out what exactly happened. He revisits some old connections and, with the help of a young female sushi chef named Mido (Kang Hye-Jeong) that he meets seemingly be chance at a restaurant one night, begins to figure why he was setup and by whom. Or at least he thinks he does.

And I’m not going to go into anymore detail on the plot than that. Knowing anything else before going into the film would be a grave disservice to the viewer as it would be way too easy to spoil it for those who have yet to see this minor masterpiece.

Pak Chan-Wook does an excellent job of bringing this movie to life. If some of the elements sound implausible, once the movie gets going it’s plenty easy to overlook them as the film pulls you deeper into it as it progresses. Some of the stylistic choices are slightly reminiscent of the look David Fincher conjured up for Fight Club but without the gratuitous morphing from scene to scene. Old Boy has a gritty, stylish look that suits the shocking, punctuating violence of the story quite appropriately. The grays and greens of the hallways contrast nicely against the reds of the cells during the prison scenes while the cool green and blue hues of the water stand out against the blacks of the finale.

The cinematography is also interesting, as are some of the techniques used in telling the story such as a DePalma-esque split screen effect and montage of events such as the World Trade Center attacks and the death of Prince Diana set aside footage of Oh Daesu in prison to show how much has happened in the world since he was locked up. Camera movements are very fluid and natural, but also slick and pleasant to watch, aided by some unusual computer graphics for a few of the scene transitions.

Choi Min-Sik is exceptional in the lead. He plays his part with equal amounts of pathos and intimidation, lending his jowled looks and unusual physical attributes to the role and creating a wonderful sense of menace. Seeing as he did all his own stunts for the film, the fight scenes have an air of believability to them lacking in a lot of modern films, and sadly for animal rights activists, so does the scene where he chows down on an all too real squid (though this isn’t considered all to unusual in Korean culture). He’s able to brilliantly portray all the physically and emotionally demanding aspects the script requires with realism, and he makes it look easy.

Make no mistake, Old Boy is a dark and depressing film that, although it has a few instances of effective black comedy, hits like a punch to the groin. It is also incredibly well made and extremely compelling.

Final Thoughts:
Old Boy is a dark movie that proves to be more than just a little bit disturbing, but it’s executed with such skill by its director and lead that it really deserves to be seen by a wider audience. The subject matter might put some people off and the film is quite grim, but regardless, I don’t see how I can give this film a rating any lower than Highly Recommended.

However, the question still remains - why do I like Asian films as much as I do? And I think the basic answer is still the same as it was back when I first discovered the movies of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and John Woo. I watch Asian films because I get to see things - be it action scenes, storylines, characters, etc. - that I would never see, in a million years, from a Hollywood film. In short, I like Asian cinema because of films like OldBoy.

OldBoy has been receiving a fair amount of buzz, due to the praise showered on it by pundits like Harry Knowles (who named it his 2nd favorite movie of 2003) and to it's strong showing at this year's Cannes Film Festival (where it received second place honors). However, I highly doubt that this film will make it to American shores. It's probably too raw and uncompromising in its depiction of vengeance and human depravity, far too intelligent to paint such things in mere black and white terms, and far too sympathetic in portraying its characters as damaged, tragically flawed people rather than as simple "heroes" and "villains".

In a plot that feels lifted from a Kafka novel (actually, it's based on Tsuchiya Garon's manga), Oh Daesu is returning home on his daughter's birthday when he suddenly wakes up in a dingy room that will serve as his prison for the next 15 years. Unable to escape and denied even the ability to kill himself (everytime he tries, his unknown captors intervene), Daesu begins to lose every shred of what makes him human. His only companion is a television set, which keeps him abreast of world events (and informs him that his wife has been murdered and that he's the main suspect). With everything stripped away, he becomes obsessed with just one thing - trying to figure out who did this to him, tracking them down, and killing them.

And then, just as suddenly as he was imprisoned, Daesu is released back into the real world, more a beast than a human being (he even refers to himself as "Monster"). While trying to figure out where to start on his "roaring rampage of revenge" (to borrow a Tarantino-ism), his captor makes the first move, beginning a game of cat and mouse that has Daesu running against the clock and through his youth to unravel just why he was imprisoned, and perhaps more importantly, why he was released.

Altogether, OldBoy is easily writer/director Park Chan-Wook's most accomplished, stylish, and brutal film to date (at least, of those widely accessible on non-Korean shores). While his previous films, Joint Security Area (a gripping film about the friendship between South and North Korean soldiers that launched Park into the limelight) and Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (a similarly-themed film about a kidnapping that goes horribly, horribly wrong) were both good in their own ways, OldBoy is in a completely different league.

Park has often been compared to David Fincher, and OldBoy does bear some similarities to Fincher's style. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of The Game, and there are certain stylistic flourishes that are similar to Fight Club (one scene in particular reminds me of Fight Club's IKEA apartment scene). And of course, there's the unrelentingly dark tone of the film. However, Park isn't merely cribbing from some hip director, and OldBoy contains some truly stunning scenes.

In particular, the movie's portrayal of violence is quite jarring. During his imprisonment, Daesu resorts to shadowboxing and watching matches on the TV. When he is released, he finds these skills serve him quite well in the real world. Indeed, his ability to absorb pain seems almost superhuman, and Daesu absorbs a lot of punishment.

In one of the movie's most breathtaking scenes, Daesu takes on a group of thugs in a cramped hallway. Shot in one, continuous tracking shot, Daesu and the gang go at it, and as the camera refuses to cut away, it becomes that much more torturous and draining to watch. This is a far cry from the hyperstylized bloodshed of the Kill Bill movies. Violence is never depicted as a thrilling thing, but as a necessary thing for Daesu, if only because that's all he has left. Make no mistake... OldBoy is a harsh movie, but the physical violence is nothing compared to the emotional violence and wretchedness that ensues.

There is one other thing that Park has that Fincher doesn't - the acting of Choi Min-Sik (Failan, Shiri). There are strong performances from all of the primary cast - Yu Ji-Tae (Ditto, Attack The Gas Station!) actually makes Daesu's haughty captor a tragic figure at times, and Kang Hye-Jeong (Nabi) is appropriately fragile as Mido, the young woman inexplicably drawn to Daesu - but this is first and foremost Choi's movie (for which he won top acting honors at Cannes 2004).

His performance is simultaneously riveting and revolting. Not just in the things that he does (such as devouring a live octopus), but in the whole persona he projects. It's almost frightening to think of what he might have tapped into to get into character, but when Daesu is released from prison, you are convinced you're looking at a beast dressed up in a black suit and sunglasses.

When he first appears as "Monster", there's an intensity in his character that could make a whole squadron of Green Berets wet themselves. However, Daesu transforms before our eyes as the movie progresses, becoming at times heroic and pathetic, pitiful and repulsive. I was truly struck by Min-Sik's incredible performance in one of the final scenes, when Daesu finally realizes what's been going on and is reduced to grovelling at his captor's feet - it's one of the most gutwrenching scenes I've watched all year. In all honesty, I can only think of one or two Hollywood actors who would dare push themselves to those limits, who would even be able to imagine conjuring up that sort of intensity.

However, OldBoy isn't perfect. Park frontloads the movie quite a bit, such that when all is said and revealed, the final twists seem a bit underwhelming (though executed quite nicely). But even having said that, you probably won't see a more intense film this year (if you own an all-region player, that is). Much has been made of the film's bleakness (though I personally found it far more engaging than Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance), and some have even called the film sadistic, saying that Park merely seems to want to inflict as much misery and revulsion on the audience as possible.

But as I look back on the film, I find myself thinking how easily this movie's story could've come from a Shakespeare play, or even (at the risk of sounding sacreligious) the Bible. There's something rather Old Testament-y about this story to me, with its portrayal of vengeance, depravity, and forgiveness (or what happens when forgiveness is absent). However, I think that what might get stuck in most people's craw is how Park refuses to condemn or condone his characters.

Even the movie's antagonist is given a moment of tragedy, without being sappy or writing off the horrible things he's done. And Daesu is never portrayed in a blameless light, despite being the film's "hero". Whenever Daesu gets a chance to lash out at his captors, it isn't with an adrenaline rush but rather a sad sigh that things seemed almost fated to turn out this way. Early in the movie, Daesu wonders if he'll ever be able to leave the "Monster" behind. But by the movie's end, Daesu has lost a part of himself, literally and figuratively.

In the end, I'd be tempted to go so far as to say that Park actually, truly cares about his characters, even the worst of them, and in doing so, reveals that they may not be as far removed from us "real" people as we'd like to think. We all have beasts lying just below our skin, just waiting to go on a "roaring rampage of revenge" of our own, for something to set us off. True, we might not take on a whole gang with nothing more than a hammer, but we do have our limits - and when pushed past them, something will snap and we'll all become monsters in our own right.

The film finds the director, who is most known for the DMZ drama "Joint Security Area JSA," returning to the theme of revenge and retribution he explored in last year's "Poksunun Na-ui Kot (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance)." Contrasting the stark, almost barren quality of that film, Park pulls out all technical stops for "Oldboy," using scores of computer graphics and fight scenes to tell his tale.

The story comes from a Japanese comic book of the same name, in which an ordinary family man is suddenly kidnapped and placed in a cell dressed up as a hotel room. Given no explanation for his confinement or the murder of his wife, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) spends the next 15 years alone, weaving in and out of hallucinatory states with only a television to keep him company.

Dark and moody like a nightmare waiting to occur, these moments in the hotel room are some of the best in the film. The scenes, in which Park uses a collage of images to set the mood, play out like a Kafka story, with Oh unsuccessfully trying to come up with a rational reason for his plight. An expert on personifying tragedy, Choi is at his angst-filled best portraying a man on the edge of madness.

Oh is determined to one day find a way out of his cell and exact revenge on those responsible. Between bouts of madness, he trains himself in the art of fighting, punching the walls until thick calluses envelop his knuckles.

Unfortunately, when Oh finally escapes and begins tracking down his enemy (Yu Ji-tae), the film gets to feel a bit muddled. Perhaps it's a matter of having too much of a good thing, because the combination of the various elements doesn't completely add up. Like different volumes in a comic book, there's something a bit stilted about the transitions and the resulting finale.

Still there are many things about the movie that do work. On their own, the scenes are visually strong, though some of the more repulsive moments do feel gratuitous. (Animal rights activists beware!) And the pathetic yet comical quality of having a half-insane man attempting to seek justice, as well as the overall elusiveness of Oh's quest, will keep audiences glued to the screen.