Oldboy (2003)
Korean revenge is as twisted as they come.
Presentation:
Park Chan-wook creates an iconic piece of Korean cinema, firmly establishing the Korea revenge drama. Considering it was made in 2003, it is sick and twisted even by today’s standards. It stands out for it’s brutal violence and one man army action that skirts on the line of cathartic and redundant. The film starts slow and seemingly innocuous only up until the final scene, which shouldn’t be predictable. The only thing you can foresee in this Korean film is that there will be some seriously messed up shit.
Conclusion:
An unstoppable train of determined violence. At a glance, the pitch meeting for this story should be met with raised eyebrows. It’s a risky plot that borders on cartoonish, but the director pulls it off, which can only be accomplished in Asian cinema. It’s not the finest piece of storytelling, but there’s a certain lightning in the bottle in this mystery that just works in Korean cinema. Absolutely diabolical. Do not watch the American remake.
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Recommendations
The art film directors wish they made.