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Movie: Oldboy
Director: Chan-wook Park
Actors: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu,
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I always thought that great Asian movies were produced in Hong Kong and Japan… until I discovered the South Korean movie market. The gigantic war epics Teagukgi and Silmodo and the crime thriller Shiri are just a few examples of South Korean's growing film industry. And Chan-wook Park's Oldboy put South Korea right on the map after winning the Cannes 2004 Grand Jury price. Oldboy is Park's second film that revolves around revenge. He previously made the interesting thriller Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and is now working on his third revenge flick, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. First, Oldboy, a hard-boiled thriller that explores the definition of vengeance.
The story in a nutshell:
Min-sik Choi plays the annoying drunk Oh Dae-su who suddenly gets dragged off the street during his late night escapades, and thrown into a small dark room. Dae-su is being kidnapped, same food every day, being observed by cameras and his only contact with the outside world is a TV. Then, after fifteen years, he is being released. Why was he being held hostage for fifteen years and who's responsible? Dae-su seeks revenge. His search for the truth brings him closer to the villain, but as soon as all the pieces fall together, it becomes clear that the goal of his journey changes. The question isn't why Dae-su was being captured, the question now is why they've released him?
Oldboy is a killer film that keeps you nailed at your seat right from the start. The film is in every way perfect; the tone and style, the great cinematography, subtle editing, the wonderful score and most of all the acting. I can't tell you more about the incredible story because I won't give away the amazing plot.
Min-sik Choi is overwhelming as Oh Dae-su, a man who slowly goes insane being locked up in a small room but his vengeful thoughts give him hope and a new goal to survive. Oldboy delivers some very brutal torture scenes that'll make Reservoir Dogs look like a happy family flick. The superb fight sequence, which was shot in one take, without editing, is a cinematic highlight. But Oldboy doesn't rely on its shock element, Chan-wook Park shifts, with extreme preciseness, the tone of the movie from down and dirty to melodramatic to even romantic.
Oldboy is a masterpiece, a movie that'll stay with you for quite some time and makes you crave for more Korean cinema.
Written by Reggy 08/04/05
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