This jaw-dropping revenge thriller from the director of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance took home the Cannes festival's Grand Prix award.
Oldboy is the ultimate Danger After Dark film. Astonishing in its inventive visual approach and merciless in its shocking narrative trajectory, this new film from Park Chan-wook (whose previous work Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance took this festival's Jury Award for Best Film two years ago) is the pinnacle of international genre cinema. Apparently Quentin Tarantino and his Cannes fest jury agreed: they gave Oldboy the Grand Prix award. Every scene in Park's film contains surprises, yet they are integrated into a fully conceptualized whole, and one is left floored by the degree of creativity on display. Adapted from a Japanese manga, the story is a neo-noir revenge thriller that plays like Prisoner of Zenda filtered through post-Fight Club sensibilities: family man Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is abducted and imprisoned by unknown forces, held captive without explanation for fifteen years. Upon his eventual release, Dae-su must reintegrate into a world now unfamiliar to him and learn why he was mysteriously incarcerated for so many years. With the help of a young woman he meets, Mido (Gang Hye-jung), Dae-su traces his torment to the wealthy Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-tae) but Dae-su can't recall ever wronging, or even knowing, Woo-jin. Yet there is a connection between the two men and the worst is yet to come. Park is at the peak of his game with Oldboy, and the results are unparalleled. To paraphrase an old Tarantino statement: to just say that Park knows how to make a good thriller is like saying Michelangelo knows how to paint a ceiling. Essential. (Korean with English subtitles) -- Travis Crawford
awesomeness++. this was one fucked up movie that stays with you long after you leave the theater. very gruelsome not for the faint hearted. a lot of omgwtf.
wonderful direction and cinematography. the 'hammer fight' scene stands out because it was one long amazing continous panning shot. just awesome.
anyway, this is a must see. 4.8/5.0.
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