Movie "Oldboy" (Oldeuboi), 2003 - Review 📝✏️

I continue to enjoy the works directed by Park Chan-wook. And today I offer you to immerse yourself in the world of art film, which he created in the film 'Oldboy'.

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But before I start my enthusiastic review I want to give you a few words about Park Chan-wook.

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Park Chan-wook is a South Korean filmmaker, screenwriter, film producer and former film critic. After watching Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) he decided to be a director.
He films very beautiful movies filled with deep meaning. I'm advertising to all people I know his latest film - The Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi) because it impresses with his plot twists and eastern beauty.

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If you are a fan of a cinema, then oriental movies are for you. It strikes with its eastern philosophy and an incredible world.

And now let's turn to "Oldboy".

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PLOT

Oh Dae-su is arrested for drunkenness. He is released to celebrate his daughter birthday. But on the same night, he was abducted. Oh Dae-su finds himself in a room without windows. He will spend 15 years in this room, not seeing the sunlight, not feeling the fresh air.

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After 15 years, he was released, as well as kidnapped. Now the purpose of his life is to find the kidnappers and take revenge.

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REVIEW

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As you understand, I love Asian cinema and I'm very upset that it is not popular. Perhaps because Asian films are very realistic and cruelty. I know that the Americans have filmed their version of Oldboy, but there is a lot of pathos and no deep philosophy, which in Oldboy seems boundless.

The plot is absolutely fantastic - the protagonist from one prison falls into the next one. After 15 years in freedom, he still feels imprisoned. Revenge flows in his veins instead of blood, he does not understand the new world in which he turned out. Despite the fact that he watched TV all the time, he was out of touch with people. He is a modern Mowgli.

15 years and he has nothing: no family, no home, no memories that he can share. The worst thing is that he does not know the reasons why he was kidnapped and why he was released. However, after release, the kidnapper continues to play with him.

This is a bloody detective, where the main character is no different from the antagonist. In an acute desire for revenge, both heroes destroy the destinies of people and kill. Blood flows like a river, it permeates the heroes clothes. Will this revenge bring pleasure and tranquility?

The picture is not as beautiful as in other Asian films. It is underlined dirty, like the story itself. The camera is constantly twitching as if the viewer is watching a documentary. The musical accompaniment maximally immerses to the depths of the soul. In contrast to the abominable shots, we hear Vivaldi. The titles end and the music sounds in the head.

This film is very cruel but bewitching. After "Oldboy", you are afraid to go out so that you are not abducted and locked in prison. You start to remember, but did not you do something that offended a person?

"Oldboy" is an endless dance of two people, in whose veins anger flows. They are both impersonation of the ouroboros - a snake eating its own tail.

Suffering is so intense that after learning the denouement of this detective story, you can not say a word. The level of acting is raised to a high level. I believe that this film is a masterpiece, to which other films are very far away.

At the end Oh Dae-su asks

“Mister, even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?”

And at this moment, we understand the depth of the suffering of the main characters.

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AWARDS AND RATINGS

"Oldboy" won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and many local awards.

IMDb 8.4/10 Rotten Tomatoes 80%

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FACTS

• Movie slogan: «15 years forced in a cell, only 5 days given seeking revenge»;

• Quentin Tarantino was impressed by the film and he cried with Evergreen - antagonist. He said the film is "Absolute masterpiece" and voted for its awarding the Golden Palm, but the film did not have one voice for the prize. The winner was Michael Moore and his film Fahrenheit 9/11;

• This is the second film of the trilogy about revenge. The first film is "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), the second is 'Lady Vengeance" (2005).

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TRAILER

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