“Oldboy” is a South Korean thriller directed by Park Chan Wook. I watched this movie a year ago when my friend Mahad nearly forced me to watch it. At the time I wasn’t into foreign movies, but “Oldboy” surprised me. The movie was strange but yet a powerful story of revenge that would never be attempted by a big american studio. The brilliant acting, amazing build up, and dark twist made this movie a cult favorite and one of my all times favorite movies. This movie is about Old Dae – Su who is a drunk that fights with his wife.
One night while he was heading home to give his daughter her birthday present he is captured. He is imprisoned for 15 years in a small room and then released. This movie centers around his journey to find his captor and find out the truth about why he was imprisoned. Min Sik Choi is amazing in his transformation from a fat drunk to a monster. He makes you sympathize with him even when he show his faults. Ji tae yu is eerily creepy in his role as Lee woo jin, keeping his calm throughout the whole movie while acting like a maniac.
The acting from the cast makes the audience fully invested in figuring out the mystery. What makes this movie unique is the buildup that happens that leads to the ending. The director does a great job of building up the tension while slowly revealing the big secret. He did that by times in the story for comic relief that endeared us to the characters so you are invested in the characters. Also this movie had some of rawest fighting scenes of all time making it a complete movie. Even though I find the plot unique, the story’s twist can put off many people that watched the movie.
Also the times of violence can be very bloody and gruesome. Some people can not stomach watching it all to find out the mystery. The theme of vengeance can also be confusing to people who did not watch the earlier films of the trilogy. Even though the stories of the trilogy are different the movies share a common theme that is explored. The movie plot twist and violence are weakness some point about the movie. But these are both of the reasons this movie is considered a cult classic.
The dark story makes us question the merits of vengeance and aware that our actions could have a bigger effect than you think. At one point of the movie Old Dad – Su makes a list of all the people he caused trouble to figure out who captured him. This made me think of the famous quote the chickens coming roost. This cult classic has all the attributes of a great movie amazing acting, a unique plot, and a jaw dropping ending. Oldboy made me more interested in foreign movies. This led me to enjoy movies I probably would never watch. Oldboy will expand your mind to different types of films.
