Directed by Korean golden boy Park Chan-Wook, Oldboy
is a blistering ride of a film and established Korea firmly
on the map as a serious player in the horror film
stakes.
Oh Dae-su is a drunken business man who suddenly
gets kidnapped on the night of his daughter’s birthday.
He is kept for 15 years in a room with no human
contact or no reason. He learns from the news on his
TV that his wife has been killed and he is the main
suspect. Exactly 15 years after he was first captured,
he is set free on a roof of a building.
Dae-su goes to a sushi restaurant where he tries to
rape Mi-do the chef. She confesses to feelings for Dae-
su and says she will have sex with him when she is
ready.
Dae-su eventually finds out his daughter was adopted
in Stockholm. Uncovering more clues about his captor
he learns that he was put into a private jail by Woo-jin
Lee who comes forward and gives Dae-su an
ultimatum – if he can find out Woo-jin’s motives for
imprisoning him in the next 5 days, Woo-jin will kill
himself. If he fails, Mi-do will be killed.
Dae-su and Mi-do grow close and have sex. Dae-su
realises he went to the same school as Woo-jin and
mocked him for his incestuous relationship with his
sister. He was unaware of the familial ties and Woo-
jin’s sister suffered false pregnancy symptoms and
killed herself.
Dae-su goes to Woo-jin and admits that he
inadvertently drove his sister to suicide. Woo-jin
reveals Mi-do is Dae-su’s daughter and he has used
hypnosis to make them fall in love and have an
incestuous affair. Dae-su is horrified and begs Woo-jin
never to tell Mi-do. He cuts out his tongue to show his
silence. Woo-jin has flashbacks to his sister’s death
and shoots himself dead.
Dae-su is later hypnotised but the ending is ambiguous
as to whether it worked or not.
The plot of Oldboy is so original, so fresh, so
ambitious, whenever you watch it for the first time, it is
like looking at cinema as a medium with new eyes. It
gives one hope for the future of cinema, that we have
such innovative directors as Park Chan-Wook who can
set new precedents for direction and storytelling. It is
not sensationalist in its gore and violence and relies
more upon plot to carry the film forward. It is also
beautifully and sensitively scored. Oldboy has put Korea
on the map as producer of disturbing gripping
psychodramas.
is a blistering ride of a film and established Korea firmly
on the map as a serious player in the horror film
stakes.
Oh Dae-su is a drunken business man who suddenly
gets kidnapped on the night of his daughter’s birthday.
He is kept for 15 years in a room with no human
contact or no reason. He learns from the news on his
TV that his wife has been killed and he is the main
suspect. Exactly 15 years after he was first captured,
he is set free on a roof of a building.
Dae-su goes to a sushi restaurant where he tries to
rape Mi-do the chef. She confesses to feelings for Dae-
su and says she will have sex with him when she is
ready.
Dae-su eventually finds out his daughter was adopted
in Stockholm. Uncovering more clues about his captor
he learns that he was put into a private jail by Woo-jin
Lee who comes forward and gives Dae-su an
ultimatum – if he can find out Woo-jin’s motives for
imprisoning him in the next 5 days, Woo-jin will kill
himself. If he fails, Mi-do will be killed.
Dae-su and Mi-do grow close and have sex. Dae-su
realises he went to the same school as Woo-jin and
mocked him for his incestuous relationship with his
sister. He was unaware of the familial ties and Woo-
jin’s sister suffered false pregnancy symptoms and
killed herself.
Dae-su goes to Woo-jin and admits that he
inadvertently drove his sister to suicide. Woo-jin
reveals Mi-do is Dae-su’s daughter and he has used
hypnosis to make them fall in love and have an
incestuous affair. Dae-su is horrified and begs Woo-jin
never to tell Mi-do. He cuts out his tongue to show his
silence. Woo-jin has flashbacks to his sister’s death
and shoots himself dead.
Dae-su is later hypnotised but the ending is ambiguous
as to whether it worked or not.
The plot of Oldboy is so original, so fresh, so
ambitious, whenever you watch it for the first time, it is
like looking at cinema as a medium with new eyes. It
gives one hope for the future of cinema, that we have
such innovative directors as Park Chan-Wook who can
set new precedents for direction and storytelling. It is
not sensationalist in its gore and violence and relies
more upon plot to carry the film forward. It is also
beautifully and sensitively scored. Oldboy has put Korea
on the map as producer of disturbing gripping
psychodramas.
