Oldboy is one of my favourite films of all time. This is a beautiful film, not simply violent, although it is.
This is the far superior film to Spike Lee's remake - however, if you can't handle subtitles, the remake is quite watchable.
The original seems to have everything. It is intellectually interesting. Poetic cinematography, pacing and choices of details; ways of revealing the story. We don't meet the villain, at first. We are with Oh Dae Su (Min-sik Choi.) He is a drunken bufoon, seeking a payphone to call his family.
Some of us have been in this situation before. Get drunk and self-pitying. Start trouble and the cops step in to sit on you, until you settle down. Though they usually don't let you go until you've sobered up a bit – in case you relapse.
Kidnapped without reason, without a word. And held prisoner in a hotel room for fifteen years.
What is particularly interesting is that Dae Su reacts to this extraordinary situation, just as man on the street would react. He panics, he begs, he freaks out, he tries to negotiate, he surrenders, and he sets about to change into the man he wants to be. A man who can deal with this situation. All he has is time. So he works hard and gradually, he changes.
One of the key points about this movie that makes it so special, is that not only could it happen to you, but that also you could rise to the occasion if all you had was time. Or that's the theory.
Dae Su in the beginning is a pathetic waste, a loud-mouthed nobody. If you can't see something of yourself or better in him, you ain't looking properly.
The other interesting thing about this film is how Dae Su tries to deal with the lack of explanation for what he sees as his punishment. He begins to write penance – a novel of his sins. In an effort to deduce the motive behind his situation – but also as part of his chosen process of change.
This may be worse than prison – in prison they tell you how long you've got, it may change – but an idea of duration keeps one from having to imagine forever.
It's not enough to hold him, he must be trained to fit our design (with gas and visions) and his life must be taken from him.
Tragedy will force the hero from his heart to materialise (our villain may want this – he is after all a fan of Dae Su, after studying him for all this time.) But that may not be the point, taking from him is further cold-blooded penalty for his crimes.
The narration is relevant to the tone – Old Dae Su – old, calm, morbid. Stone Heart Dae Su is telling the story of his imprisonment as we watch Early Dae Su – silly, weak, surrendered.
Early Dae Su, after only a year inside. Old Dae Su is telling the man who found him, after Dae Su got out.
I love the form that this story has taken – almost a fable.
Spectacularly shot, melodic and it has a feeling of piercing originality. At the same time you can really get into it and hope for the hero – Hope he changes, hope he gets free, hope he wins vengeance and the truth which he seeks.
The story is one mystery after another but it will all make sense in the end – such a fantastic design. A flourishing genius of images and relationships. Of this one man, Dae Su and his quest to avenge the death of his heart.
Dae Su is crazy – authentic psycho, as a result of his journey.
The people he meets are fascinated by him, just as we the viewer are impressed and intrigued. What will he do now?
And then the violence begins and it is pretty. Old Dae Su continues to narrate himself, because he rarely talks (a big change.) The changed man impresses us and is fun to watch unleashed on the world. But he mustn't get too comfortable. He must not forget his reason – he must take it all back, not by living but by fighting.
The villain – Lee Woo-jin (Ji-tae Yu) is decadent, callous, pure and beautiful like blood.
Oh Dae Su is the ultimate action hero. But this isn't really an action movie. It is a unique, sad, violent, love story.
The fight feels real – he takes on so many bodies, he is such a badass. He even impresses himself. But it's not easy for him. He feels the pain, he fights awkwardly against so many and for someone who isn't experienced against real opponents. He just never gives up and he's had fifteen years training himself for this.
Stoning his heart so that he can really dish out the pain. This is the hard part. He no longer shies away from hurting the other guy worse than a normal person might consider reasonable. Once you understand that about him, the violence makes sense.
It's something any one of us could do after fifteen years of stoning heart and training body – that is the theory that this film presents us with.
The ending is perfect. Who will win? Who will die? Whose heart will crack? Why was this done to Oh Dae Su?
5 stars
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