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Oldboy follows the story of a man named Oh Dae-Su. We are introduced to him immediately when he speaks to his daughter over the phone on the night of her birthday; he then mysteriously disappears and is placed in a room for 15 years. In this small room he has nothing but a few objects to keep his life ticking over for the next 15 years, he has a television and a bed. It is through this television that he learns of the murder of his wife, with DNA evidence making him the prime suspect, with his daughter now adopted in Stockholm, Sweden. Whilst in this room Oh Dae-Su is given regular hair cuts and washes with people entering the room and attending to him once knocked out through gas that would fill the room as a small jingle played.
After 15 years he is released, it becomes clear immediately that his release is no coincidence and that he is to become a part in a well orchestrated game of cat and mouse where he must find his captor and discover the motive behind his 15 year confinement.
Upon his release, Oh Dae-Su meets a young chef named Mi-Do, instantly attracted the two begin a sexual relationship with each other, with Mi-Do agreeing to help her partner track down whoever is responsible for his kidnapping.
What follows is a film that feels like a combination of Memento and Kill Bill Vol. 1, the first half of the film is spent attempting to unravel the mystery through a series of clues but once the mystery is solved only further questions arise with the man responsible having bigger plans for Oh Dae-Su, provoking further questions and mysterious that remain unanswered until a powerful and shattering finale.
The film is filled with violence and scenes that many viewers may find disturbing, but do not let this put you off watching this wonderful film. Unlike other films where violence is simply added for stylistic shock value, the uncomfortable scenes are here for a reason in what for me was one of the most emotionally powerful films I had seen in a while. Take for example the film’s famous octopus scene where Oh Dae-Su orders a live octopus having just been released from captivity. This scene actually took four octopuses to complete, but that ensures that we see just exactly what we are meant to see, the live animal wriggling about as the consumer stuffs it all aggressively into his mouth. The purpose of this scene is not to shock us, Oh Dae-Su is a man who has just escaped captivity where he saw 15 years of his life wasted, in eating the octopus he is eating more than just your ordinary meal, he is consuming the living life out of a creature, just like his captor did to him.
There are other violent scenes as well, although all are as spectacular as they are fitting to the film and Oh Dae-Su’s revenge consumed character. In one scene we see Oh Dae-Su take on an entire hallway full of criminals waiting for him as he attempts to exit one building. In one of the greatest long takes in the history of cinema we see him take them all one and finally escape, this is no Jackie Chan style, fun and easy way out but it is instead a gritty and brutal battle for Oh Dae-Su who finds himself almost beaten to a pulp, only after fighting off the criminals, removing a knife from his back that he received during the fighting.
The hallway fight scene actually acts as a good symbol for the film as a whole, this is no straightforward revenge story where good overcomes evil, it is not as simple as that for Oh Dae-Su who will find himself battered and beaten just as much as those he faces off against. I won’t say much about how the film ends, but it is completely shattering and utterly brilliant.
Oldboy
(2003, Chan-wook Park)
(2003, Chan-wook Park)
Oldboy follows the story of a man named Oh Dae-Su. We are introduced to him immediately when he speaks to his daughter over the phone on the night of her birthday; he then mysteriously disappears and is placed in a room for 15 years. In this small room he has nothing but a few objects to keep his life ticking over for the next 15 years, he has a television and a bed. It is through this television that he learns of the murder of his wife, with DNA evidence making him the prime suspect, with his daughter now adopted in Stockholm, Sweden. Whilst in this room Oh Dae-Su is given regular hair cuts and washes with people entering the room and attending to him once knocked out through gas that would fill the room as a small jingle played.
After 15 years he is released, it becomes clear immediately that his release is no coincidence and that he is to become a part in a well orchestrated game of cat and mouse where he must find his captor and discover the motive behind his 15 year confinement.
Upon his release, Oh Dae-Su meets a young chef named Mi-Do, instantly attracted the two begin a sexual relationship with each other, with Mi-Do agreeing to help her partner track down whoever is responsible for his kidnapping.
What follows is a film that feels like a combination of Memento and Kill Bill Vol. 1, the first half of the film is spent attempting to unravel the mystery through a series of clues but once the mystery is solved only further questions arise with the man responsible having bigger plans for Oh Dae-Su, provoking further questions and mysterious that remain unanswered until a powerful and shattering finale.
The film is filled with violence and scenes that many viewers may find disturbing, but do not let this put you off watching this wonderful film. Unlike other films where violence is simply added for stylistic shock value, the uncomfortable scenes are here for a reason in what for me was one of the most emotionally powerful films I had seen in a while. Take for example the film’s famous octopus scene where Oh Dae-Su orders a live octopus having just been released from captivity. This scene actually took four octopuses to complete, but that ensures that we see just exactly what we are meant to see, the live animal wriggling about as the consumer stuffs it all aggressively into his mouth. The purpose of this scene is not to shock us, Oh Dae-Su is a man who has just escaped captivity where he saw 15 years of his life wasted, in eating the octopus he is eating more than just your ordinary meal, he is consuming the living life out of a creature, just like his captor did to him.
There are other violent scenes as well, although all are as spectacular as they are fitting to the film and Oh Dae-Su’s revenge consumed character. In one scene we see Oh Dae-Su take on an entire hallway full of criminals waiting for him as he attempts to exit one building. In one of the greatest long takes in the history of cinema we see him take them all one and finally escape, this is no Jackie Chan style, fun and easy way out but it is instead a gritty and brutal battle for Oh Dae-Su who finds himself almost beaten to a pulp, only after fighting off the criminals, removing a knife from his back that he received during the fighting.
The hallway fight scene actually acts as a good symbol for the film as a whole, this is no straightforward revenge story where good overcomes evil, it is not as simple as that for Oh Dae-Su who will find himself battered and beaten just as much as those he faces off against. I won’t say much about how the film ends, but it is completely shattering and utterly brilliant.
RATING: