Old Boy

[Tiger]

was round at a mates weekend before last having a smoke and a drink, when he says late on 'oh brillant old boy is on film four'. i had no idea what this film was about and when i asked my mate 'he said i've no idea, Dom (another friend) says its a great film'

So we sit down to watch said film set in Seoul, with subtitles, and one of the vicious, but brillantly shot/acted vendetta movies unfolds before our eyes.

probably due to my state, its defo one of those films i'll need to watch again as there were a few points in the film were things moved so quickly that i had little time to ponder them, as i was concentrating on the story as it unfolded.

basically its the tale of a guy who after a night out, awakes in a single room, where he's kept for 15 years with no explanation, and no contact with the outside world apart from a tv set. on his release he sets out to find who imprisoned him & act out revenge.

there's a fight scene in the film which is brutal, very intense, but completely believeable, and one of the best cinematic fight scenes i've ever scene. But i should warn you that people who are easily offended shouldn't watch this film.

however on the flip side i'd say anyone who likes challenging films, great acting, and cinematography should track this film down


spoiler below
please don't read this bit if you haven't seen the film, as while the ending left me gobsmacked, feeling a little disorentated with all that went on, and to be honest a little sickened, its much better watching it with no idea of what to expect. however the end scene where the main character has everything explained to him, and opens the purple box is great cinema, despite its subject matter. up until this point i had wanted the lead despite his faults to exact his revenge, but the twist came completely out of the blue to me and i now feel was the directors way of explaining the futility of revenge and how it doesn't solve the reasons why you wanted revenge in the first place.

when i watch it again it'll be good if the film a little like say donnie darko or fight club makes more sense second time around

[Malt Refund]

Ya Oldboy is awesome.. the best part was like the 10 minute scene in the hallway where he is kicking everyone's ass. It's goes on forever and it's all in one take. I saw it in theaters a second time just so I could see that part again.

Also check out "Sympathy for Mr. Vengence" which is by the same director, you can probably find it at Blockbuster now.

[Tiger]

true thats the fight scene i was talking about, and i think i need a breather before taking on another of his films, they're hardly easy watching; but will check it out

[Deckard]

I also caught this for the first time when it was on Film 4 recently, they're showing some good stuff at the moment. Getting me back into asian cinema big time.

Originally Posted by Malt Refund

the best part was like the 10 minute scene in the hallway where he is kicking everyone's ass. It's goes on forever and it's all in one take.

Oh yeah, they should put that scene on a continuous loop and hang it in an art gallery, it was just pure class! Reminded me of those parallax scrolling 8-bit games.

Watching him devour that particular delicacy in the diner though, near the beginning of the film, was a bit icky.

[adam]

It really annoys me that they're remaking this as an American movie. I don't like this need to remake great non-American films because mainstream audiences won't see films with subtitles. Just drop 25 million in advertising and get people to see the original. It deserves the props.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance I thought was also great, but not nearly as stylized as Old Boy, so don't expect an entirely similar experience. Haven't had a chance to see the third one yet.

[Malt Refund]

Originally Posted by adam

Haven't had a chance to see the third one yet.

Lady Vengence (the third one.. whats with these titles?) should be coming to DVD soon hopefully. ^__^

[b.miller]

Lady Vengeance is good too but neither Lady nor Mr. can touch oldboy in my opinion.

I know there's been like 2 or 3 threads about this movie before but I'm too lazy to search/link them.

but yeah Oldboy is great. I'm pretty lucky to have gotten to see the whole trilogy in a theater but Oldboy is a movie that I'll see whenever it plays

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Malt Refund

the best part was like the 10 minute scene in the hallway where he is kicking everyone's ass. It's goes on forever and it's all in one take.

I bought this last weekend after having recommended it to me for ages and have to agree with you. I was mesmerised by this sequence. About 3/4 of the way through the shot he's still ducking blows coming in from behind him and you barely see a punch/kinch/hammer blow that doesn't seem real.

Another thing that really got me with this film was the heavily stylised music, and how it was used in the film. Almost every piece seemed simultaneously inappropriate and yet perfect for that particular moment of the film.