Old Boy (South Korea)

[Chopper]

just caught this deeply disturbing film from South korea recently. a drunk man is thrown in a private prison or 15 years unbeknownst to the reasons why and who did it to him. after his 15 years he is released into society, a fugitive framed for murdering his wife, and his daughter is living in sweden with an adopted family.

what follows on the screen i can't even begin to explain the story. there is a LOT of violence and mayhem in this film, so much to the point that it even reminded me of Ichi the Killer at times. although in Ichi i felt the violence was much more fetishized and used for the purposes of dark comedy. in Old Boy the violence serves the pure motivations of the characters and is symbolic of the sacrifices they are willing to make to serve their sexuality, vengeance, or their lust for the truth.

hell even Ebert--a film critic who has been VERY outspoken against a lot of exploitational horror films in the past--defended the violence in this movie.

if anyone else catches this feel free to share your thoughts. i'm curious because i haven't had a film crawl under my skin and die in a long time like this one did!!!

[dean]

I've been looking foward to watching this film for a while now but have put it off constantly.  It sounds great though.

Other than deeply disturbing, what did you think of it?

[Chopper]

sorry Dean guess i should've clarified that i liked it a lot. in an interview on the DVD the director stated he wanted to make a film that made the audience feel "exhausted." and this film definitely does that! overall though it was a fun and thrilling film.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I own two different copies of this film.  I own a Korean copy on DVD which I bought when I first heard of the film, and I ended up buying the new American DVD of the film.

Oldboy is without any doubt, the best film that I saw last year.  I went into it pretty much blindly, and the film surprised the hell out of me.

Unlike Chopper though, I wasn't as affected by the violence as much as he was.  One of the films high points is a scene in which the main character (Oh Daesu) is trying to get out of a building, through a hallway that is packed with thugs.  It's a one shot scene that lasts about 5 minutes or so, with Oh Daesu kicking ass, getting his ass kicked, getting stabbed, and eventually kicking more ass.  It is an amazing scene.

The big twist in the film is great, if completely disturbing.  Just when you think the movie is over, and you know all of it's secrets, a quiet little ending happens.  That ending, upon further viewings and thought becomes one of the most disturbing in film history.

Oldboy is a film that needs to be seen.  It's an amazing piece of ART that is unmatched by anything that Hollywood is putting out today.

[Chopper]

" It's an amazing piece of ART that is unmatched by anything that Hollywood is putting out today."

VERY true!

[Mofo Rising]

I loved Oldboy.  If you enjoyed that, I recommend checking out Save the Green Planet.

I wrote a short write up of Korean cinema here.  

I here Symapthy for Mr. Vengeance is also another feel good hit of the summer..

[Amanda]

OldBoy is actually part of a trilogy, isn't it?  2 parts of which are out......

[Mr_Vindictive]

Amanda,

Yep, you are correct.  Oldboy is the second in the trilogy.  The other two films are Sympathy For Mr. Vengance, which Mofo mentioned, and Sympathy For Lady Vengance which is Chan Wook-Park's latest film.

I must agree with Mofo, if you liked Oldboy, then check out Save The Green Planet.  That film is pure insanity.  

[Amanda]

I have it queued on my Netflix.  I saw preview for it on something, and thought it looked great.

This is something of a girly movie, but has anyone seen "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts"?  That was hilarious.  Biggie Monster - tee hee.  

[Chopper]

yeah i just rented Sympathy For Mr. Vengance the other day, i'll probably get around to that one today :)