Oldboy (2003) A Film Review

Starring:- Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu and Hye-jeong Kang
Director:- Chan-wook Park

Even if you only watch one foreign language film this year, or even in your lifetime, watch Oldboy; a searing psychological drama and action thriller that will leave you breathless, and dying for more. If director Chan-wook Park had never made another film, then with this masterpiece, his life's work would have been complete.

                                                             

Dae-Su (Min-sik Choi) has been imprisoned without reason or comprehension for 15 years. Eventually, after his escape, he vows to reek vengeance against his kidnapper who has robbed him of everything- his wife, his daughter and his life. He befriends a sushi chef (Hye-jeong Kang) and the pair begin to unlock the terrible mystery.

Choi is evocative of an unpolished, yet more effective Bruce Lee...

Oldboy lacks absolutely nothing. Lovers of Kill Bill will lap the film up, but Oldboy is far superior. The story is quickly paced, but leaves plenty of scope for review and comprehension. Min-sik Choi trained rigorously for the role. Performing his own stunts, he is evocative of an unpolished, yet more effective Bruce Lee. The difference being that the violence in this film is central to the plot, and is extremely visceral, at one stage this reviewer had to turn away such was the carnage!

                                                   

The violence is a mere morsel of the film. Oldboy resonates with Oepidal taboos which combined with ours and Dae-Su's lack of knowledge of the complex, myserious plot, are released perfectly as the film progresses. One thing we are aware of though, is Dae-Su unyielding desire to exact vengeance upon the man who imprisoned him for 15 horrible years. The question remains, however, who is exacting revenge on whom? Who has really been locked in a prison for 15 years? 

Spend a few hours basking in the glory of this picture...

Oldboy is available on netflix.com, so I encourage you to spend a couple of hours basking in the glory of this picture. I can't help thinking that had this been an English Language film, it would be lauded as a Tarantino-esque magnum-opus, deserving a higher placing than its current positioning at 71 on imdb.com's top 250 list.

IMDB.com rating:- 8.4 from 251,168 votes

Supermegahybrid Film rating:- 5 stars