OLDBOY 3 DISC DVD SPECIAL EDITION REVIEW

OLDBOY(C) south korean movie poster


HELLOOO movie fans, deadsurfkiss here! And thanks for coming back for my next review! This week we look at and discuss south korean revenge flick "OLDBOY" and touch on some the ideas and themes it has weaved throughout the amazing story! This is a review for the 3 disc DVD set (It's region 1 and not as hard to find as I thought it would be)

First off, the action is AMAZING and BRUTAL! And comes with an equally poignant story that will tug at your veins and pick at your brain. The film contains a lot of mature content and thematic ideas, so I will be careful not to give away hints to a lot of the plot twists. In the initial scenes of this film it seems to be extremely confusing. We are posed with so many questions on why things are happening to this seemingly very innocent man. He is held captured and left in one place to rot for a very long time. He's not sure who has put him there and why. This is what provides the crux of the movie. Soon enough he is left out of his custom made prison building with walls he breaks. He turns into something exciting yet ultra cool. He is now on the hunt on why he was kept there. But the premise of the story is more like a twisted version of the Bourne series. He could pass of as the anti Bourne. But the identity crisis he is faced with also begins to affect his memory. The culprit who put him in the prison wants him to remember something specific. But the methods he employs to make him get that train of thought is at times disgusting and questionable. But it is the action in the film leading to that thought that makes this film worth the ride. You see knives pelted at the hero and he pulls it out and kills some of his enemies with it. He looses teeth and then inflicts enough damage for them to never forget him. You hear bones snap, and the thud of the impact of fist to flesh, in an operatic ballet almost worthy enough to fill in for the sound track! And oh there is alot of fight sequences, and they are BLOODY. But the violence as brutal and at times terrifying as it is, leaving with that out of breath feeling, also leaves a sense of PURPOSE. You know why the fights take place, they're not just mindless mash~ups! I guess even years from now down the line people will still be guessing where this plot curve ends, and wonder..who things were REALLY resolved because the ending has a fullfilling, but also open ended feeling too, almost as if there, dare I say, could be more to the story. It takes a lot of interesting fights and some animalistic behavior on the part of the main actor to actually reach that final moment, that final point at the end. But the transformation that the main protagonist undergoes is astonishing. But finally when the end comes you are posed with a slight mystical feeling that comes from some thought provoking final minutes. Just trust me on this ...don’t miss the ending of this film!!!!



OLDBOY(C) Manga TPB cover. Manga(C) 2003.

Oldboy is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. It is based on a Japanese manga of the same name written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. Oldboy is the second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and followed by Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
The movie follows the story of one Oh Dae-Su (played by Choi-min-sik), who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor's motives...not one shred of reason, why he is where he is. When he is finally released, Dae Su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and strangeness. His own quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls for an attractive sushi chef (played by Kang-Hye-jeong).
A couple years back, I read an entertainment article on cnn.com and they named it one of the ten best Asian films ever made! (I believe it came in no. 7). I don't subscribe to too many things coming out of CNN, but this I would gladly agree with as far as scope, story, performances and action. The production value on this is gorgeous, and stark, and gritty! The acting supurb, and the twists in this are so unexpected and original. I never read the manga "Oldboy" But if the movie reflects the essence of what this manga work is about than I would say that it would be worth (and quite advised) to pick up and read.





AN INTRODUCTION, AND A LITTLE ABOUT THE PLOT

The film opens with a man holding another man over a building ledge by his tie. The man holding the other man is asked his name after he says that he wants to tell a story. The man is Oh Dae-su, a Korean businessman, husband and father. The scene flashes back to an overweight Dae-su as he sits drunkenly in a local police station while his friend, Joo-Hwan, bails him out. After Dae-su calls and talks to his daughter Yeun-Hee from a public phone, Joo-Hwan takes the phone to reassure Dae-su's wife of his imminent return. After hanging up, Joo-Hwan turns around and discovers Dae-su is now missing. Days later, Dae-su awakens confined in a shabby hotel room, with no explanation of where he is or why he is there. He is not allowed visitors, nor phone calls, and is fed only fried dumplings through a narrow slot. Experiencing hysteria and hallucinations during his captivity, he frequently attempts suicide but is often gassed into unconsciousness. Dae-su, resigned to his fate, keeps himself occupied with shadowboxing and recording his captivity with tattoos, using a television as his calendar as he describes it. He trains for fighting by punching an outline of a man painted on the wall. While watching television, Dae-su discovers that his wife has been murdered, his daughter sent to foster parents and that he himself is the prime murder suspect. Dae-su makes plans to escape, and begins to tunnel through the wall. Close to the realization of his plan, Dae-su is set free on the rooftop of a building with a new suit of clothes and his prison diaries, fifteen years after his imprisonment began. Upon his release, Dae-su meets the man attempting to commit suicide by jumping off the edge. Saving the man seconds before he falls, Dae-su tells him his story up to this point.
As the man starts his own tale, Dae-su gives up interest and wanders off, mugging a woman for her sunglasses. As the woman attempts to get help from a policeman, the jumper falls onto a car in the building's courtyard, allowing Dae-su to escape. While wandering the streets of the city, Dae-su meets Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeong), a sushi chef at a local restaurant, who takes pity on him when he passes out and brings him to her home. Receiving a phone call from his still unidentified former captor, Dae-su resolves to find him and locates the restaurant that provided the fried dumplings during his imprisonment, following the delivery boy to his former prison. Once inside, Dae-su ambushes the warden and tortures him for information, which includes tape recordings of his captor, his only spoken motive being that "Oh Dae-su talks too much." Dae-su fights his way out of the prison past hordes of guards, suffering several serious wounds before escaping. Collapsing in the street, a stranger places him in a taxi, only to direct him to Mi-do's address and identify Dae-su by name, showing his face briefly, which Dae-su knows but can't place, before the taxi leaves. The next day, the man, named Woo-jin (played by Yu Ji-tae) reveals himself as Dae-su's kidnapper and offers Dae-su the chance to play a game, where he must discover Woo-jin's motives behind Dae-su's kidnapping. Mi-do will die if he fails, but if he succeeds, Woo-jin will kill himself. Later, Dae-su discovers he and Woo-jin briefly attended the same high school. During the investigation, Dae-su and Mi-do grow closer together and become physically and emotionally intimate, culminating in them having sex. This is where the questions become apparent, and many of them imediate. Who exactly is Woo-Jin? What is his relationship (if any) to Dae-su? And what does Mi-do have to do with Dae-su's kidnapping and held so highly in the game that Woo-jin offers Dae-su? These are the focal pints of the main story, and as Dae-su learns these, culminates into some shocking plot twists not usually used or expected in film. But they were so well executed and at precise times, you are left with even more questions. Two of them being, who is really deserving of revenge? And at what cost does one pursue revenge?

As complex and weaving as the story is, it's really a simple concept. A good analogy would be to take an egg, drop it into boiling water and watch it begin to crack. That's kinda the idea here. The transformation Dae-su goes through to become who he becomes upon his release from the hotel room, is ASTONISHING! And not just a physical transformation, but also a mental one. The way he percieves, the way he analyzes, and sizes up situatons..all metamorphosized into something stronger, reimagined, better. And through this change he is given the tools to complete the game that Woo-jin puts him through. I'm not one for spoiling films, I know alot of people have seen this south korean masterpiece...but I also know it's still a very well kept secret from north american shores (Hollywood is planning a remake of this, which will be gauranteed to be changed and screwed up and essentially bad..so see this before they destroy the aura of this gem!) So, I will not talk anymore about the actual film, but instead tell you to go and rent this, buy this...do what ever, but just make sure you see this! I set the story up enough (hopefully) for you to WANT to hear and see the ending of this tale. Because this is how it was set up for me, right down to the boiled egg analogy haha! (Thanks brad if your reading this! =P) And I promise you you won't be disappointed! If you like revenge flicks, Dirty Harry, Memento, fight club, or if you've seen the film "The Killer" you will love love love this!!!

OK on to the goodies in the DVD set!

Tartan Asian Extreme has released several editions of the film in Region One territories, including a single-disc edition, featuring the film and a small amount of special features.
But the big prize is the three-disc collector's edition! It features a massive amount of material, including:
Three Audio Commentary Tracks with the Director, Cinematographer and Cast (with subtitles)
Five Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries which running back to back contain more than 2 hrs of really great film making nuggets. Film buffs and aspiring film makers? This stuff isn't on the single disc and is almost as valuable as the film itself!
Deleted Scenes, there are some irelivant scenes, but kinda cool to watch on thier own, I like this stuff because you get to understand WHY the scene was cut, and there is audio (again with subtitles) of director Park-Chan-Wook explaining these decisions, awesome stuff!
Interviews with the Cast and Crew. These also have subtitles and aren't very long, but cool to see the perspectives of the actors and thier ideas for playing the characters).
A Featurette titled: "Le Grand Prix at Cannes" A behind the scenes at the Cannes Film Festival.
And a three-and-a-half hour making-of documentary entitled "The Autobiography of Oldboy" This alone is worth the price of the DVD collection! This documentary delves into every aspect of the film. It has a section were the director talks about the contraversial aspects of the film and the long debate about how to film such topics since they were not really used in a film (especially a south korean one)

OK find this sucker and watch it! Or better yet, look for the three disc set (only about 50$, not bad for the material you get) and emerse yourself into a grim, brutal tale of revenge!!!

10 out of 10!!!

Later, Deadsurfkiss