A Quest for Vengeance (Old Boy [2003] (DVD))

Name: annallon

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Product:	Old Boy [2003] (DVD)
Date:	29/08/08 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very slick, fast, provocative protagonist, very good acting and cinematography

Disadvantages: Takes a bit too long, I feel.

When Park Chan-wook was directing this film, I'm sure he had no idea this film would have massive successes in the international market in 2003 (outside of S.Korea). The first film in the vengeance trilogy, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance did not reach out to many cinemas outside of S.Korea so he had no expectations that this film would even go beyond the first's successes. But this film appealed to the mainstream of beyond Korea and exposed the entire korean cinema that no one could have ever imagined.

This character in this immense film Oh Dae-Su,superbly acted by Choi Min-sik, is wrongly imprisoned for seemingly no reason. We see him quite drunk in the beginning of the film, going out with his friend, and he rings his daughter, who we assume is just a by-product and had no relevance to the plot we were about to watch unfold. It was a stormy dark night when he is kidnapped, dumped into this room. It does not seem like a prison, it is like a regular hotel but with no way out and no idea how long he is there for. He has regular dumplings every day, and is knocked out by a particular gas that's leaked into his room. We can see the pain he goes through when he's imprisoned, he has no-one to speak to, so he revolves his life around his tv. He learns from it, he talks to it, he uses it for release. We even see dried out bloodstains on his floor, from his recent suicide attempts. There is just so much a man can take from being imprisioned with no idea how long. He attempts to bulk himself up by using the equipment provided in his room- the walls.

After 15 years has passed, he is released in a suitcase on a rooftop. This is where he begins his tale of Vengeance. He wanders the town, trying to find his way around the surroundings. So much has changed in the last 15 years. He goes to a sushi restaraunt, and the female chef, which is played by Kang Hye-jeong. She takes pity on him and takes him home. He reveals to her what had happened in the last 15 years and she agrees to help to get the answers Dae-su seeks which sets the film into momentum.

Not to reveal the entire plot of the film, this is merely a review.

There is a fighting scene in this film in which he goes to the shabby hotel to find out why he was held and by whom. He gets himself into a sticky situation, and has to fight against 20 or so men. Its cinematography is stunning as the entire fight sequence is in ONE TAKE only. He succeeds with messy fightings and makes his way out clean. When anyone watches this scene, they are amazed because it is one fantastic scene, Choi is amazing in this too.

There are a few things in this film where it seems to be pointless and contributes nothing to the plot but actually as the plot evolves at the end, it begins to make sense, as each of the product have been entwined into the plot so delicately.

What I do like greatly about this film is the sudden twist to the ending. Just when you think it's all fine and dandy, the film goes to another extreme to make you gasp. It was not an ending that anyone could have conjured up while watching the film which makes its ending quite successful. Ignorance is indeed, bliss for Oh Dae-su. ( This sentence will make sense to you when you see the ending)

The success of the film overseas is due to the slick Hollywood-style that is uniquely korean somehow and it appeals greatly to the masses that subtitles does not even seem to matter. Throughout the film, it keeps the viewer on tenderhooks as he tries to get his 'vengeance' and as you reach the end, it seems very rewarding to have got that far in the film. It is honestly one of the best products that South Korea has put out in couple years.

Summary: Very successful film that is not overrated in any way at all.