Oldboy

UK Release Date. 15 October 2004
Certification. 18
Running Time. 2 hours
Director. Park Chan-wook
Cast. Kang Hye-jeong, Yoo Ji-tae, Choi Min-sik.
Rating. 86%

Review.

The re-emergence, and renaissance, of Korean Cinema in the 21st century was signalled by the release of Park Chan-wook's modern day masterpiece, Oldboy, film that won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Since then, Park has advanced creatively with more accessible films, most prominently with Stoker (2013), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision To Leave (2022). Nonetheless, Park remains one of the most ferociously original auteurs.

Adapted from a Japanese manga series written by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi, Park's neo-noir saga centres on Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a man kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years by a mysterious tormentor, only to be released one day without explanation. Far from the catatonically reduced ghost of a man one might expect following his imprisonment, Dae-su is desperate to discover the identity and motivation of the man whole stole his life, and he embarks on a path of revenge that leads him into a strange and terrible maze of conspiracy. 

The first act follows a fairly conventional revenge thriller template, with exhilarating fight sequences filmed with clarity and precision by cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung. The film's most famous sequence - a linear, virtuoso single-take hallway fight, has inspired various imitators over the past 20 years. As the film moves into the final act, each and every bloody action becomes near unbearable. The horror of the film lies in Park's slow twisting of the knife into Dae-su's heart, taking away any kind of temporary satisfaction with each new humiliation.

While vengeance and the futility of revenge are major themes in the film, Oldboy also flirts with the possibility of catharsis and redemption. A Shakespearean tragedy laced with stylish thrills and a perverse psychological dimension, Oldboy is the centrepiece of Park's 'Vengeance Trilogy', alongside Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (2002) and Lady Vengeance (2005).

Two decades on, Oldboy has lost none of its savage beauty or its capacity to shock and delight.