MOVIE REVIEW: Park Chan-wook’s OLDBOY (2003)

It’s summer for me now, and it’s time for Netflixing! Or well, a little bit of it anyway, since I’m still going to summer school.

Oldboy title screen

Synopsis and spoiler-free analysis:

Oldboy (2003) is a South Korean movie directed by Park Chan-wook. A very highly acclaimed movie, Oldboy is a thriller-mystery about a man named Oh Dae-su (played by Choi Min-suk), who had been imprisoned by an unknown enemy, and was framed for a crime that he did not commit. After fifteen years, Dae-su is released, but is still continually plagued by his captor.  He spends his freedom trying to figure out who captured him and why. The film Oldboy is based on the manga of the same name by Marley Carib and Nobuaki Minegushi, and has also been remade by Spike Lee in 2013.

Intriguing and unpredictable:

The first word I would use to describe Oldboy is intriguing. It’s a crazy thriller-mystery, and it is rightfully labelled as that. There is not a dull moment in Oldboy, and if there is, the purpose of it is to let the audience catch up with what they just witnessed. Oldboy keeps you fixated on figuring out the mystery along with our protagonist – but even so, the plot is not the only thing that keeps you captivated. The visuals used in this film are very attractive – but we’ll talk about that some more later. The second word I would use to describe this unpredictable. This film is provocative both in terms of the plot, and in terms of events used to build the general mood of the film. There are quite a few moments where your eyes will go wide with horror or disbelief. But to maintain the unpredictable-ness of this film, the less I say the better it is. So I’ll just leave it at that for now.

“Uh, what did I just see..?”

Visually attractive (but not “pretty”):

Like I said before, the film is very attractive – but not necessarily “pretty”. I love the style of Oldboy. I would say the overall mood that the world of Oldboy takes on would be described as “gritty”, which was pretty necessary and expected from a plot like that. It wasn’t “gritty” the way American films are gritty though – there were actually a lot of bright colours and fun effects and camera tricks used. It looked cool and current despite coming out over ten years ago, and despite the graphics not being super great thirteen years ago. As mentioned, the film uses provocative imagery that is visually appealing in terms of “art” and whatnot, but maybe not so psychologically attractive. They’re beautiful, inventive shots – but the subject matter is quite taboo. It seems as if the beautiful images (and beautiful women) are used to juxtapose the events of the story which aren’t so pretty. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

One very pretty and moody shot from Oldoy

“The Last Waltz” (and the soundtrack in general):

I just have to mention “The Last Waltz” in particular, at least for a little section. “The Last Waltz” (composed by Jo Yeong-wook) is a song on the soundtrack for Oldboy that was played throughout the film, particularly in scenes with both the main female character, Mi-do (played by Kang Hye-jung), and the protagonist. The song, while romantic sounding, also somewhat unnerving and incredibly heart-wrenching. You can tell that there was emphasis placed on the soundtrack – it’s quite excellent throughout the whole thing. “The Last Waltz”, with its haunting beauty, is definitely my favourite from the movie. I’ve been listening to it almost everyday since my first viewing of the movie last week.

The lovely female lead, Mi-do, played by Kang Hye-jung

Recommended for:

Okay. Let me just say that this movie is not for everyone. I think I say that a lot (maybe that’s just a common theme with the movies that I watch), but I mean it this time. It’s very graphic – both in terms of sexual content and violence. Some might even call it excessive. It’s definitely not a family film – and I mean this both in terms of the writing and the visuals. If you’re squeamish, stay away (I also feel like I have said this in at least five reviews). And while this is an action film, I don’t think the action is where you’ll be getting your thrills from. This film is not a conventional action film at all.

So who is this for? Well, while this film is not the most conventional action film, it’s a damn good thriller. Oldboy keeps you interested and guessing about the big reveal right until it happens – and it’s an unexpected one. Aside from that, this film is must-watch for people who love artistic films.

Yeah I don’t know.

Spoilers section:

Scroll down to the TLDR and ratings section if you haven’t watched the movie yet.

Could you live with it? Would you?:

I guess this is the most interesting thing that I want to know after watching this movie. It’s not exactly “fun” to think about, though. Knowing what you know about the situation that our main characters are in, would you choose to live with the truth? Or would you choose to alter your memory, as Dae-su chose? I think when I first thought about that question, right after watching the movie, I was like, “Hell yeah, I’d alter my memory. Screw living with the truth.” But when I really thought about it, I realized that Dae-su would have had to come to this decision in the “real” world before altering his memory. So knowing that, do you think you would still make the decision to alter your memory? I mean, you’d be committing the taboo for the rest of your life as a result of your memory alteration – is it truly better that you don’t know that you are committing a taboo, but nonetheless committing one?

Side note: this was not a good movie to watch with your sibling. Which I did.

I mean, they were kinda cute.

TLDR; and ratings section:

Recommended for: People who love visually attractive films, people who like a good thriller, people looking for something truly unique
Not recommended for: People who are squeamish, people who do not like films with excessive mature (sexual and violent) subject matter

Visuals: 9/10 – Oldboy looks great – many of the scenes were artfully and skillfully shot, and I love the overall tone of the movie that was greatly enhanced by the visuals. The only thing was that not all the special effects were great – but hey, we’re talking about a movie that was made over 10 years ago.
Sound: 8.5-9/10 – Oldboy not only looks great, but sounds great. I will forever be haunted by the song “The Last Waltz”; you are sure to notice the care that was put into the score of this movie.
Overall enjoyment: 7.5-8/10 – Oldboy was a really, really interesting watch. Albeit strange and grotesque at times, it is guaranteed to keep you intrigued until the very end – if you can stomach it, that is. It might not be a movie you’ll wanna watch over and over again (because it can be a little mentally straining), but you may not have to right away – I haven’t stopped thinking about it since watching it.