"Weep, And You Weep Alone" (Old Boy [2003] (DVD))

Member Name: SRowlands

Product:	Old Boy [2003] (DVD)
Date:	20/12/05 (200 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ultra cool thriller with a great storyline

Disadvantages: None - unless you don't like subtitles !

When you consider the exports from Korea, what comes to mind ? Many people will probably think of Hyundai cars, drugs, petroleum - possibly tobacco and that is probably about it.
So it may surprise you to know that the Korean film industry has taken the movie world by storm with this new release - "OldBoy".

The film opens in a police station, with Dae-su Oh in a somewhat drunken stupor. When he awakes the next morning, he finds himself locked alone in a small room, with just a bed, a shower and a television. Realising this is not a police cell, he tries to find out where he is, or why he is there, but his pleas fall upon deaf ears from his captors.
As the anxiety grows, he realises that he doesn't even know how long he will be held captive, so makes the best of his situation.
He tries to keep his health up by exercising, and increases his knowledge from the vast array of television programmes he watches. Each night, a medolic song plays, as sleeping gas is pumped into his chamber, making him fall into a deep sleep.
Days, weeks and years pass, and Dae-su plans an escape by scraping away at the motar of his cell walls.
Fifteen years later, with no explanation, he awakes on a rooftop out in the fresh air. Both confused and pleased to be free, he walks the streets to see people for the first time in one and a half decades.
When a stranger approaches him and hands him a wallet full of cash and a mobile phone, he is warned not to ask him anything, as he knows nothing.

Dae-su is now faced with a challenge of finding out who imprisoned him and why, and to exact his revenge. He is fortunate enough to find a young girl - Mi-Do - willing to help him in his quest - but he is not sure if he can trust her or not.
It is not long before Dae-su comes face to face with his captor, Woo-jin Lee (played by Ji-tae Yu), but also a dilema. His captor and tormentor of fifteen years gives him a choice - if Oh Dae-Su can find out the reason why he had him locked away for fifteen years within five days, Woo-jin Lee would kill himself. Fail, and Lee would kill Mi-Do - and every other girl Dae-Su falls in love with in the future.

What follows is a race against time to try and solve the riddle, whilst encountering hurdles put in his path by Lee.


The film grabs your attention from the very first scene - the dramatic music score draws you into the story with the realisation that this is a top quality film. The opening scene in the police station is quite amusing - many people will be able to associate with the antics Dae-su gets up to. Much of this scene was ad-libbed by Min-Sik Choi. It also gives you time to relax before you're hit with the dilema that Dae-Su is put into.
The thought of being locked up in a single room, with no human contact for a few weeks, let alone fifteen years is enough to send a shudder down most people's spines.

As Dae-su progresses in his search for the truth, the film has some very gruesome moments. In one scene, a man has his teeth pulled out one by one - one for each year of his imprisonment. Another sees Dae-su eating a live squid - the tentacles clutching at his face as he attempts to consume the creature. (In fact, during the course of filming the scene, Min-Sik Choi actually consumed four live squid !!).
Fortunately the intenseness of the film is carefully balanced with some great humor - not side-splittingly funny, but very appropiate to the movie.

There is a huge plot twist too, that hit's you harder than finding out Bruce Willis is dead in "Sixth Sense" !

A major part of this film's success is credited to the direction and cinematography. I'm no art student, and I haven't studied media, but I do appreciate the quality that goes into the creation of unusual and original film sequences.
A superb example of this is a corridor fight scene. Dae-Su is confronted by about twenty henchmen in a long, dark corridor. The camera shot is from the side - as if looking at a subway station platform. As he battles one enemy after another, the camera pans along. This continuous camera shot actually took three days to achieve !
Another great, yet very simple effect is the cut-scenes are often represented by a clock changing minutes.
The film was directed by Chan-wook Park, who is also known for his part in the horror / thriller trilogy, "Three Extremes".

The film has a manga-like feel to it, which is not surprising as it is actually based upon a Manga magazine story. This is represented in the dark feel of the movie, with the ultra-cool characters.

The soundtrack is also amazing - it has a mixture of original scores that relate to the scene (either funny, dramatic or just plain cool !), some classical pieces including Four Seasons, and some up to date acts such as Starsailor.

You've probably already guessed that I am going to highly recommend this film, as I have not yet found any point to criticise. Well, unfortunately, some people may be put of by the fact that this is a subtitled movie. It's a shame when this is the case - there have been so many fantastic movies to come out of Asia over the past few years - "The Ring", "Audition", "The Eye" to name just a few.
The subtitles on this film are nice and clear - they consist of white text with a black outline. The text is short and does not detract your attention from the film.

Of course, there will be some other people who may not enjoy this movie due to it's somewhat violent nature (as described above). I need to stress that this film is not overly violent - the scenes in question are fairly short, and relevant to the movie. (If you'd been locked up for 15 years, with no apparent reason, you'd have some frustration to unleash too !).

This movie has already taken the movie world by storm. In Cannes, the move won the prestigious "Grand Prix". Upon receiving the award, the director thanked the cast, the crew and each of the four squid !
It has also been acclaimed by critics across the globe.

The DVD is now available for rent, and to buy in the UK. There are different versions available - I have an imported version that is a Region 0. This has a documentary on the making of the movie, although this is all in Korean with only Chinese subtitles available. There is also the music video "Bring My Love" by Starsailor - one of the tracks featured in the film.
It is worth checking which version you would be buying, and see what features are available - however this should not put you off viewing the movie.

This is one of the best movies that I have seen so far this year, and would probably rate quite highly in my favourite movies of all time. It's good a stream of high quality, enjoyable and original movies come flowing out of Asia, and the availability of them increasing.
I would urge anyone with an interest in good movies to watch this at your earliest opportunity !



**** STOP PRESS UPDATE !!! ****

I have just found out that this movie is going to be remade by Hollywood, with an expected release date of 2006.
I have very mixed feelings about this - as I have expressed above, the original movie is excellent and should be seen in it's original format. However, for those who really can't stand subtitled movies, this may come as welcome news.
I doubt, however, that Hollywood will be able to capture the atmosphere and style of the original - as has been seen in so many remakes over the past couple of years.
Ringu (remade as "The Ring") was a pretty good remake, although the plot diversified from the original movie and it did lack much of the horror and style that the Japanese are so good at portraying. The Grudge (original version Juon: The Grudge) was a like for like remake that failed miserably. Yet again, Hollywood just couldn't recreate the style and atmospheric horror of the original.
I'll await the remake with some anticipation to see if my suspicions are confirmed... look out for a new review "OldBoy USA" in about a years time !!!

Summary: A Korean movie that is far better than most Hollywood movies !