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User Reviews for: Oldboy

AndrewBloom
CONTAINS SPOILERS9/10  8 years ago
It's easy to call Oldboy a movie about a revenge. It is, after all. Lee Woo-Jin wants revenge on Oh Dae-Su, Oh Dae-Su doesn't realize it for much of the film, but he wants revenge on Lee Woo-Jin. And each man is changed tremendously in the process. Lee Woo-Jin is not the nerdy photographer we see in flashbacks, but a suave millionaire who exacts his plan in style. Oh Dae-Su is not the pudgy lech we see causing trouble at the police station in the film's beginning, but a fearless fighter and nigh-detective with real purpose in his life. And yet, neither of them is better for it.

What's striking is that the spark that begins this conflagration is so tiny. Works like Match Point and Breaking Bad have toyed with themes about tiny events and small coincidences having outsized effects on people's lives. But Oldboy outpaces them on this front. Oh Dae-Su is almost done with his school, moving on. When he sees two people fooling around by chance, he absent-mindedly repeats the gossip to his friend, barely even aware of who they were or what he was seeing. And this small action led to innumerable deaths, torture of the living both psychological and physical, and irrevocable changes for Oh Dae-Su and the lives of the people he's touched.

The hollow consumption of revenge has been examined by more than a few works, stretching back at least as far as The Scarlet Letter and the name-checked Count of Monte Cristo. But there's something bitterly ironic about all this fuss, the entire impetus from the film, beginning with some punk kid thoughtlessly relaying some vague information about something he saw but didn't really process, appreciate, or care about. The film drives the irony home by having Oh Dae-Su scribble a list of his possible enemies in his journals, and have his best friend mention the hundreds of people's lives he's ruined, and instead of the revenge stemming from his many misdeeds, it's from an offhand comment that, unbeknownst to him, had a butterfly effect.

I think that's why this film stays with me a bit. I think it's why, beyond the twists that give it a memorable "holy crap" moment, the bloody end stands out so much. Because the entire enterprise is framed as so empty, so fruitless, so damaging to all involved. Lee Woo-Jin is desperately trying to rectify the grief he feels for the loss of his sister and lover. And yet once he has, once his plan reaches fruition, he asks what he has to live for, imagines her death once more, and kills himself, laden with the realization that all his grand plans cannot heal those wounds.

And he puts Oh Dae-Su in the same position, realizing that his quest for revenge was just as much a sham, that he's done more damage by becoming this monster than if he'd simply died, or gone to live his life, or never bothered to go on this Herculean (or Batman-esque) attempt to get to the bottom of what happened. That's why at the end of the film, he asks to forget, he asks to wipe away the revenge, wipe away that past rather than let it linger with him, to clear his heart of the anger and scars inflicted upon him over the past fifteen years. And all of this, every last bit of it, begins with a brief word to a gossip that the original informant didn't even remember. The absurdity of it, the senselessness of it, lingers far beyond the shock of the film's reveals.

Despite that, it's a film that could run on plot alone. The story of a man trapped without knowledge of why or by whom, who is freed and sets out to find his captor, works at an elemental level to rope in the viewer. The opening segment depicting Oh Dae-Su's is enthralling as a psychological experiment, making us wonder what it would be like to go through something so isolating and dehumanizing. It puts us on Oh Dae-Su's side as we too wonder who would do this to him, why they did it, and hope that he gets his revenge. There's a relentless momentum to the film, that parcels out these discoveries well along the way, while guiding us through Oh Dae-Su's maladjusted reentry into the world.

Park Chan-Wook's direction adds to the atmosphere of the film with his deft camera work and creative choices in presentation. The film is bathed in dingy, Fincher-esque greens and blues that convey the grittiness of the proceedings. While the long-take fight scene is the most notable visual flourish in the film, Chan-Wook uses a great deal of creative framing to convey the emotions of his scenes, from layering Dae-Su, Woo-Jin, and the picture of Woo-Jin's sister in the same scene, to the transitions that blend one scene into another.

There are, of course, those shocking reveals. Watching the film for the second time takes away the jaw-dropping reaction at the true identity of Mi-do. (Who, on second watch, feels less developed than I remembered). But to the film's credit, the twist still works on rewatch because of the effect it has on Oh Dae-Su. His aghast response, his near insanity that once again throws him into vacillations between seeking pity and mercy and making threats and vows of retribution, while over the top, still has power even if the twist itself is muted.

There's a degree of magical realism to Oldboy. The idea that Lee Woo-Jin could pull off his convoluted scheme even with the seemingly unlimited resources at his disposal, that hypnosis could work as well and as clearly as depicted in the film, that all the players would play their roles as necessary for everything the fall the way they did is more than a little unrealistic. And yet it works because more than anything, Oldboy feels like a parable, a fable, rather than a story that aims towards realism.

It is a fable about revenge, taking whatever liberties with plausibility it needs to in order to thread the needle of its message, of the hollowed out emptiness of anger and revenge and its inability to make up for loss. The tragedy is amplified by the nigh-random incident that sets it all into motion. But Oldboy is about more than revenge. It's about the compromises we make, about the lies we tell ourselves, about the way small events can shift the tides of lives, and about the people we can become when the baser elements within us--The Monster and the Calculating Avengers--consume us.

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Reply by gunsgirl
4 years ago
@andrewbloom great review and analysis!
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Reply by AndrewBloom
4 years ago
@gunsgirl Thank you so much!
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Reply by Anormy
one year ago
@andrewbloom "Oh Dae-Su is almost done with his school, moving on. When he sees two people fooling around by chance, he absent-mindedly repeats the gossip to his friend, barely even aware of who they were or what he was seeing. And this small action led to innumerable deaths, torture of the living both psychological and physical, and irrevocable changes for Oh Dae-Su and the lives of the people he's touched."<br /> <br /> "the entire impetus from the film, beginning with some punk kid thoughtlessly relaying some vague information about something he saw but didn't really process, appreciate, or care about"<br /> <br /> "And he puts Oh Dae-Su in the same position, realizing that his quest for revenge was just as much a sham, that he's done more damage by becoming this monster than if he'd simply died, or gone to live his life, or never bothered to go on this Herculean (or Batman-esque) attempt to get to the bottom of what happened. That's why at the end of the film, he asks to forget, he asks to wipe away the revenge, wipe away that past rather than let it linger with him, to clear his heart of the anger and scars inflicted upon him over the past fifteen years. And all of this, every last bit of it, begins with a brief word to a gossip that the original informant didn't even remember. The absurdity of it, the senselessness of it, lingers far beyond the shock of the film's reveals."<br /> <br /> Depsite the effort, you've missed the mark slightly with these points here. There's a tiny lapse in understanding that caused an equal gap in judgement.
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Mitzle-deleted-1476635645
10/10  8 years ago
Oldboy is a Fantastic movie! This is a revenge film about a man named Oh Dae-Su, Played brilliantly by Choi Min-sik, who seeks revenge after being trapped in a cell for 15 years. After being released randomly with nothing more than lots of money and a phone, he must find out who did this and why this all occured.

The basic gist is that a variety of violent set pieces occur for him to find out who did all this to him. One of the most famous scenes in cinema come from this movie, THE one-take fight scene in the hall way. It has a place in cinematic history and for good reason. The co-ordination with the stunt team, camera man and main actors must have been pain staking and I can appreciate the level of detail needed to really portray the visceral nature of the scene.

Choi Min-Sik, again, was a stand out performance. He's able to portray two sides of the character, the drunken father, as well as, the harden prisoner. The supporting actors also did a fantastic job with each performance. Chan-wook Park was able to get an emotional performance for each of the actors and that has got to be commended.

The cinematography and lighting was superb with the outside being more saturated and lively in comparison to the dingy and claustrophobic environments of the interior. The plot was also fantastic, with the ending being particularly surprising and disturbing. The writing was fantastic and each character was well-developed and well-written.

This movie is a master piece in cinema. And if you appreciate film as an art form, you have to watch this movie.
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Scotsmen
CONTAINS SPOILERS4/10  6 years ago
I'm so lost as to why this movie is widely praised. It's impossible to deny that Park Chan-wook is a stylish director and that this movie has some very impressive, memorable scenes. The hallway scene is famous in film buff circles and rightfully so. It's a memorable and exhilarating set piece that appears to be a single shot. Some of the visuals in the film were interesting too, like how the main character relives a flashback while running around his school grounds and the scene cuts between past and present.

Sadly, style isn't everything in a film. Oldboy's plot is beyond moronic. The villain's motivation makes no sense whatsoever and borders on B-movie level stupidity. Basically, the main character told everyone that the villain was banging his sister when they were young. This led to people telling others that the villain got his sister pregnant. As a result, the villain's sister commits suicide. So, to get back at the main character for telling people that he nailed his sister, he gets super rich and plans a massive 15-year scheme. This scheme involves locking up the main character in a prison cell that looks like a hotel room and hypnotizing him into falling in love with his daughter. By the time the main character gets out, he meets his daughter and bangs her, obviously not knowing yet that she's his daughter. After this happens, the villain says, "Ha ha ha, I got very rich and did all of this so you would bang your daughter. Now we both have committed incest and I have gotten vengeance for my sister's death." So the main character cuts his own tongue off for some reason, the villain shoots himself for some reason and the main character gets hypnotized again so that he forgets that he banged his daughter for some reason.

I hope that anyone who believes that this movie has a masterful plot can read that paragraph and get a grasp on how stupid this film is. The whole film is framed so that you're wondering what awful thing the main character did to get locked up for 15 years. The pay-off is literally just that he told people that some dude banged his sister, because the dude did bang his sister. I'm so awestruck at all of the praise this film has received. If you love the film for the style, fine. I can understand that. But to brand this film as some kind of master-class act in storytelling is absolutely unwarranted. It's not disturbing either, like many people want to believe. Yeah, the dude unknowingly bangs his daughter on screen. Have you watched Game of Thrones recently? There's also a scene where the main character pulls some guy's teeth out. It's pretty much all off screen. The general violence isn't bloody or difficult to watch either. Just your typically dude punches goons in the face type of deal. Overall, I thought this movie was dumb as bricks, but I'd recommend it if you want to kick back, watch some seriously cool scenes and laugh at the silly plot.
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Reply by Anormy
one year ago
@scotsmen What you're missing is the powerful theme of forbidden love (and/or just intense, sacred love) presented here. It's core to the motivations and profoundly heartfelt feelings of BOTH the protagonist and antagonist. It proves you didn't really have a thorough understanding of the more abstract points here when you can't even understand why he cuts off his own tongue (or the cultural implications of his begging/groveling (along with the other cultural quirks presented in the movie)), or why the antagonist suicides, or why Oh Dae-Su sought to hypnotize himself at the end. It's great that you were able to at least understand the story, but it seems that the movie still flew over your head. To be fair, it's still a complex film, so it's understandable why one might not completely get it.<br /> <br /> Other reasons why it's praised is because of its take on action (you would have to watch and 'get' something like Kill Bill to really understand), and because of its other overarching themes dealing with Oh Dae-Su as a character.<br /> <br /> (P.S.: Sorry for responding to an old comment of yours that you probably don't care about. I just wanted to make an argument against what seemed like a popular and unfair retort to such a great movie.)
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enry_cami
CONTAINS SPOILERS9/10  2 years ago
DISCLAIMER: I did not see this movie in its original language(Korean), but in a dubbed version(Italian). I may have missed some nuances.

I've seen this movie recommended everywhere and, now that I've seen it, I can definitely see why. What an incredible movie! It really captivated me and I think I may be Park Chan-wook newest fan. I will certainly check out his other movies!

But let's talk about Oldboy. Let's start with discussing the plot. The movie doesn't waste any time at all, it goes straight into it. Five minutes in and I was already captivated and invested in Dae-su's story.
Watching him imprisoned as life goes on outside, with the TV as his only company, you can really empathize with him. You totally get his furious need for revenge and explanations. I won't discuss the plot any longer here, I don't want to make any spoiler. But I will say that it is a very interesting story throughout the whole 2 hours runtime, which not many movie can do. It does have some pacing issue in the last half, in my opinion, but nothing too bad.

A thing I had always heard good praise about Oldboy is the fight scenes. And I have to say that the movie delivered in that aspect as well. The corridor fight scene is one of the greatest ever, but in general every fight felt real. Obviously there was some exaggeration in the ability of the characters to just tank hits after hits, but that is to be expected. After all, a totally realistic fight would be quite boring in a movie.
You could tell that all the fight scenes in Oldboy were well rehearsed and the choreography was marvelously done. Every hit looked like it actually made contact and inflicted damage. There was no excessive use of jump cuts. Just awesome!

The actors were equally good. Choi Min-sik was incredible as the protagonist, truly an amazing performance. I also loved Yoo Ji-tae, what a great villain he portrayed. I'll look for more movies with them.

The aspect that most surprised me about this movie was the music, though. An absolutely beautiful score. Go listen to The Last Waltz (Mido's theme) on Youtube. So full of emotion.

I can suggest Oldboy to anyone. It is excellent and it could be a great entry into Korean movies. It's thrilling and it keeps you on your toes, with great fights sprinkled in. What more do you want?
Awesome movie about revenge, I will definitely watch the other two of the Vengeance Trilogy by this director.

9/10
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Eky
/10  6 years ago
I’m sure that all of you can always spot a film with good acting, superb plot and great cinematography easily but when it comes to a thriller that possesses all those above quality, it would be such a rarity. OldBoy here, second installment from The Vengeance Trilogy directed by Park Chan-wook (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, OldBoy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) really have them all, good story, powerful acting and the most horrifying and clever end twist if not genius. In fact no matter how many times you see this, the twist would still be awesome. The theme of revenge here is taken to the next level, to its supremacy for it’s really carefully-planned. OldBoy has a mind-bending assortment of drama, thriller, romance and beautifully spiced up with sadistic plot, shocking elements, ultra violence and clever psychological twist. Imagine yourself captured, locked in a room for 15 years, not knowing why and who did it and when you finally escaped and thought it’s all over, you were wrong and here’s the punching line, the direct punch to your stomach. Min-sik Choi as Oh Dae su really acted well, he really got us carried away by dragging us into the mystery that surrounds his life, into the depression he’s been feeling and into the deep well of his curiosity. Once again, OldBoy is a way too remarkable, when “revenge” isn’t merely knife-chopping or gun-battling. Enough said.
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