Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Oldboy

13:04 / 05.08.05

Blown away by this film when I saw it the other week, also watched the director's commentary and the cast interviews. It's such a prescient dissection of the nature of revenge. It's very sinister, but very subtle aswell.

One thing I found strange when I listened to the cast documentaries. One Ji-Tae claimed that his character Woo-Jin

*SPOILER*

****

wanted Oh_Daesu to be happy. I didn't see this at all, although I do know they cut a section out of the film where Woo-Jin arranges for the hypnotist to visit Oh-Daesu a while after the great revelation.

The director saidn that optimists about the couple's future will ignore the bleak mountain back dropof the final shot, and concentrate on the sunset. I hadn't noticed that there was a sunset, which was telling.

What did you make of it?

lonely as a cloud...

14:11 / 05.08.05

I thought it was fantastic. Much better than its predecessor, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, which was less psychological and more gory. Excellent film, and I'm looking forward to Sympathy for Mrs Vengeance, part 3 of Park's Vengeance trilogy.

20:54 / 05.08.05

I loved it, so much style and the raw emotion at the moment of the revelation is spectacular. Park has such a great eye for shots, he makes everything seem exciting, and I love the little flourishes here, like the giant ant on the train car and the calendar ticking off passing days. The prison sequence is another highlight, particularly the split screen passing of time montage.

I showed this at a film series I'm doing in my town and when the box was opened, and he saw the picture, you just heard this huge gasp, and that's when I knew the film was working.

And, I too can't wait for Lady Vengeance, early word is very strong.

lonely as a cloud...

07:32 / 08.08.05

PatrickMM - any chance of a link on Lady Vengeance? Is it even out in Korea yet?
Also, I'd just like to mention JSA, the first Park film I saw - I think it's just getting a proper DVD release in the UK now, and, while very different to the Vengeance trilogy, it's a great movie.

16:10 / 08.08.05

Memento is obviously another thriller that has the passage of time as its central theme, and strangely, it reminded me of Oldboy. I imagine "Irreversible" is similarly unsettling.

20:56 / 08.08.05

Lady Vengeance was just released in Korea on July 28, so it probably won't be theatrically released elsewhere until at least the end of the year. I haven't heard of any DVDs turning up, but they probably will fairly soon, and I think it's a must import film.

As for Irreversible, very affecting, definitely see it. Even moreso than Oldboy, it's a movie where the extreme violence is absolutely critical to the story.

15:40 / 10.08.05

I showed this at a film series I'm doing in my town and when the box was opened, and he saw the picture, you just heard this huge gasp, and that's when I knew the film was working.

They got it immediately the box was opened? My word. I had to watch the whole sequence...
Patrick, do you know the reason for the imprisonment in the original Manga story? It would be difficult to imagine it without *that* twist...

19:10 / 15.08.05

Ah, I meant when that first picture of Mido appears, there was a huge gasp. And, no, I'm not sure why he was imprisoned in the manga story. Google doesn't turn up anything, I think the film has completely overwhelmed any discussion of the book, to the point that you can't even find it on the net.

16:31 / 10.06.06

Spoilers!

I rented Oldboy after the constant critical wanking I found on the net. They were pushing this movie as if it was the second coming of [insert best director ever].

I saw it and I liked it. When the daughter is introduced and they think they know each other, I thought, Hey. Maybe that's the daughter. But then they "do the horizontal bop" and I put the daughter-idea out of my mind. What was I thinking?

The one-take fight scene is phenomenal. I've always wondered why people don't do more one'rs (as some film-makers call it). This one'r is certainly one of the most impressive I've ever seen.

The squid scene didn't really gross me out or anything. Didn't shock me, didn't make me gasp. Whatever. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess.

As much as I liked Oldboy, I don't think it's as complex and sophisticated as some critics seem to think it is. I don't think it's any more layered or rewarding as any other pulp fiction. Certainly it's great pulp fiction, but I don't think it's as complex and nuanced as the critics would have us believe. I think it's just a well-done revenge flick.

The first film in the trilogy... what was it called? Anyway, I saw it and was supremely disappointed. It was slow, tedious, boring, peppered with flat characters and an ending that went on forever.

I do look forward to the third film, considering how much of an improvement Oldboy is to the first.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

16:55 / 10.06.06

(copied from redundant thread; sorry 'bout that)
Plus, in the tradition of great revenge flicks, Min-sik Choi is EXACTLY what I would think of if you said "imagine a Korean Charles Bronson."

17:13 / 10.06.06

I was really impressed with the movie in terms of dealing with our perception of taboos.
On the first run through of the sex scene I was bit squeamish and chalked it up to a plethora of social implications on the dynamics. However when we get the big revelation the charged dynamics of that scene really becomes apparent. It goes from a level of mild tolerant discomfort to off the charts. Brilliant.

My local art house theater is going to show Lady Vengence in a few months. We're excited.

23:51 / 11.06.06

The thing I love about Oldboy is its energy. Certainly the plot has some interesting stuff, but when I'm watching it, what I love is the operatic moments where the movie just takes off, the combo string/techno score pounding beneath these perfectly framed images. Things like the opening shot, the buildup to the box revelation, Oh Daesu screaming in the car with Mido and particularly the opening prison sequence are just so over the top I can't help but smile.

I think that's why I had a bad reaction to the first viewing of Mr. Vengeance, it's so gritty and just nasty, you don't really enjoy the film. Lady Vengeance finds a balance between the two approaches with some fantastic flourishes, but a generally more down to earth, real emotional base. I loved it, it's not as strong as Oldboy, but it was a really powerful film.