| Movie of the Month: Oldboy |
Title: Oldboy
Lenght: 120 minutes
Language: Korean
Release Date: November 21, 2003
Oh Dae-su isn't a perfect man. The movie opens up on him walking around drunk at night, when it is his daughter's birthday. Clearly, Dae-su isn't a role model. Without any warning, Dae-su finds himself in a mysterious room, where his forced to eat dumplings day in, day out, and can only watch TV as his window to the outside world. What is most torturous is that Dae-su doesn't know how long he has to stay in that room, or why he is in that room.
After 15 years, Dae-su wakes up in a suitcase, on top of a roof. He chooses to find out why he put into that room. But after having 15 years of dumplings, Dae-su wants to eat something alive. He stops by a sushi bar, and gets served a live octopus but a cute chief. After a few incidents, chief Mi-do finds herself being Dae-su to her apartment.
Dae-su and Mi-do find themselves searching for the answers to his punishment together, growing a close bond to each other. This movie is one with a lot of twists, and it is almost impossible to say more about this film without giving up many of it's great twists. The story is told in a fairly linear fashion, showing flashbacks as Dae-su finds out more information.
But what can be said, is that Oldboy has one of film's greatest villains, the man who captured Dae-su. The man is a intelligent and rich man, who can hold a grudge. I loved how composed he was, well dress, but he gives the audience the willies.
So if you are already a fan of this film, you may already know of it's affiliation to Lady Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Director Park Chan-wook filmed three movies with the theme of Vengeance, Oldboy being the second in the series. The movies seem to stand out and very unique from other movies, with many stylized sequences that are heavily edited on the computer. But in a good way.
One of the most memorable scenes is when Dae-su and Mi-do meet. Dae-su eats a live octopus. Although eating living octopus is common in South Korea, the octopus is cut up first. So the scene was still holds a graphic nature when actor Choi Min-sik gobbles down the octopus. During filming, Choi Min-sik had to eat four live octopodes. Since he is a Buddist, he had to pray after eating each one. When the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, Park Chan-wook thanks cast, crew, and the octopodes.
Actor: Choi Min-sik
Movie: Oldboy
Movie: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Movie: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Asian DVD Club DVD Torrent Files (iso/vob)
Idols Unlimited Megaupload Part Files (avi)
Avistaz Asian Torrents Torrent Files (avi)
If you sign up with Asian DVD club, there are many different versions of the movie that you can download, watch on your computer or burn to DVD. You can also download a more direct file of it from Idols Unlimited. Or download a torrent with it in two parts. But if that isn't your thing, it is very easy to find this movie on DVD, in many various countries.
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