I thought this was going to be a good movie, but I had no idea it was going to be a great movie.
The film begins with what appears to be a drunken jackass of a man, who within a short amount of time is kidnapped and held prisoner within a windowless apartment. Fifteen years pass in the confinement of this apartment and the man Dae-su, played by Min-sik Choi, is released (after undergoing hypnosis) and additionally he is told that his wife and child were murdered. Dae-su seeks revenge because he had his family taken away from him, his dignity, and fifteen years of his life with no understanding of why. Woo-jin Lee, played by Ji-tae Yu, is the antagonist who had him imprisoned, and released to provoke Dae-su even further. Oldboy starts with such a compelling beginning that you are taken with everything the film throws at you, and Dae-su is so psychologically broken that he doesn’t give a damn about what he needs to do to get his revenge. This mystery has it all with some of the most gut wrenching and insane fighting scenes to boot. You won’t forget this South Korean film if you give it a chance. There’s not much more that I can say without spoiling the end, but it has one of the most shocking twists you have ever seen.
Chan-wook Park has directed a very fine film that earns it’s place within the hundred greatest films ever made, and quite rightfully sits at rank seventy-one on the top movies of IMDB.
4.5/5 – Stars
Robert Ring
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