Oldboy

Floro's Late To The Party Reviews - Oldboy

First and foremost, if you view this blog as a list of potential recommendations, Oldboy has instantaneously leaped to the top, with a few specific caveats that I'll cover shortly. I was nailed to my seat immediately. I felt this movie for hours after watching it. I put on the Butler/Marquette basketball game (I don't care about non-Cuse NCAA basketball) just to have something mindless on to distract my brain enough so I could process important tasks like feeding the cats and dogs.

How about food now.

The caveats:

1) It's foreign. Korean, specifically. The version I saw was dubbed, and that worked quite well for me. Some people believe "dub" should only be followed by "step". Those people are wrong in this instance, but if you're one of them...get over it. You are wrong. Watch the movie.

2) I saw it on Netflix Instant. I saw it now because there is an expiration date on seeing it this way. April 1st to be specific. That's not much time, and I knew I needed to see it (Big thanks to Aaron for the recommendation). Now you know too. Hurry up. Watch the movie.

3) I was not aware that Spike Lee is putting out a remake this year starring The Samuel L. Jackson. I want to believe that they can pull this off. I don't think they will, if for nothing else because they won't be allowed to. I was also not aware this was somewhat based on a manga. I understand it's not quite the same. See the Korean version. Watch the movie.

4) Oldboy is abundantly demented. Not like the rash of tortureporn like "The Human Millipede has Eyes in the Hills of a Hostel: Saw 72". No, this is a different kind of demented. It calls Hitchcock's brand of implied horror, but it doesn't shy away from violence. The movie is directed expertly to ratchet up the tension gradually, while putting you and the characters through barely fathomable levels of mental anguish. Relentlessly unforgiving, astoundingly twisted, and powerfully human in its own ways. This movie is not for everyone. I mean it. Now that you have a warning, you can make your choice. I chose to watch it, and I recommend that you do the same, IF you're willing to go through something this intense and disturbing.

Dinner and minimal short term memory helped her get over it pretty quickly

What's so intense and disturbing? Our protagonist (I'm not willing to calling "hero"), Oh Dae-Su, starts out drunk in a police station on the night of his daughter's birthday. His friend bails him out, and on the way home they stop at a pay phone to call his daughter. After ODS let's his friend on the phone, he is kidnapped and locked in a room.

No one talks to him. No one tells him why. No one tells him how long he'll be a captive. No one lets him die. No one lets him kill himself. He gets framed for his wife's murder, and eventually forgotten. Then, one day, fifteen years later, he is randomly and inexplicably set free. This is actually the beginning of his torment. That's right, 15 years of unexplained solitary confinement is not the beginning of his torment.

His all consuming quest for revenge and an explanation lead him to a cute girl at a sushi bar that he shares an oddly familiar connection with. This connection leads them to a relationship as she joins in his search, but I am going to take a moment to talk about their first meeting.

ODS sits at the sushi bar, and demands to eat something that's still alive. I guess 15 years of fried dumplings (the only meal they serve in no reason prison) combined with 15 years of desired vengeance does that to a person. He is served live octopus. It is a real live octopus. They did 4 takes. Choi Min-Sik (actor that plays ODS) said a Buddhist prayer for each real live octopus he ate live, for real. The take they used is the most viscerally stark contrasts between life and death I have seen in cinema...well ever, I think. Closest moment I can come to is the death scene in American Beauty up until the kid says "wow" 3 minutes after you already did out loud.

Not a spoiler, the movie opens with him saying he's going to die.

Eventually Oh Dae Su makes progress in tracking down his captors. With the help of his trusty hammer, he takes important steps to get closer to solving the mystery.

The hammer has more screen time than some of the supporting characters.

Then things get even worse. We, along with the characters, start to discover why this all happened. And we learn that we would have been better off not knowing. I am not going to say any more towards the plot. I had a strong guess on one of the twists relatively early. No way do you see everything coming. And as it twists and turns, so does our protagonist. It plunges into the depths of what one person can handle, and pulls out a dark insanity that can't be put back.

The direction is amazing. I had to debate myself out of tracking down the soundtrack, which was an outstanding series orchestral tunes. The performance put on by Choi Min-Sik is of a rare class, and deserves the Oscar for that year (which is currently held by Sean Penn for Mystic River...until I can change that mistake). If this film were not as intense, unsettling, and if it came from a country that America would consider as "having a film industry", it would have ruined the "I guess we owe them" year at the Oscars for Return of the King.

I don't think the Spike Lee/The Samuel L. Jackson version is going to plumb the same depths, or cause that much havoc. I think they're going to wuss out when it comes to ruining a person in every way possible on film. It might all work out to be a decent movie by itself. I want to believe that The Samuel L Jackson can act the range needed to do the original justice, let alone match it. I will definitely watch it, but my hopes are low.

You should know yourself well enough to know whether or not you can watch this movie. If you can handle the premise, and are somewhat prepared for the outcome, do yourself a favor - Watch the original movie. If you miss the Netflix Instant window, track it down. Plan time after to sit quietly, or go for a nice walk. You'll need it.