With Tartan Asia Extreme films you take your chances. Some are just gorefests with various supernatural elements I tend to avoid. But others are far more sophisticated. This is one of those. Sure, there are the usual way-over-the-top action scenes. But interspersed between them is some great dialogue and an actual story that is built around actual characters. Though, admitedly, rather far-fetched at times.
And even though some will see “the twist” coming, the important thing is this: Dae-su Oh doesn’t.
And there will be those who think: What’s all the fuss?! In fact, they’ll boastfully endorse this sort of behavior! Which is to say that what one person will commit suicide regarding another will joyfully celebrate. Dasein.
It’s the not knowing that consumes him. Who did this to me? What is the reason?
The part about hypnosis. Different people have different opinions. Is it real? And, if so, what can or cannot be done with it?
IMDb
[b]Four live octopodes were eaten for the scene with Dae-su in the sushi bar, a scene which provoked some controversy abroad. Eating live octopus in Korea is commonplace although it is usually sliced first. When the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the director thanked the octopodes along with the cast and crew. Min-sik Choi is a Buddhist and had to pray after eating the octopuses.
The line on the painting of Dae Su’s cell reads “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.” These are the first lines of Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s famous poem, “Solitude”.[/b]
wiki
[b]Film critic Roger Ebert has claimed that Oldboy is a “powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare”.
An American remake is planned for release in 2013, which will be directed by Spike Lee.[/b]
trailer:
youtu.be/YLn1y9v6yno
OLDBOY [Oldeuboi] 2003
Directed by Chan-wook Park
[b]Dae-su Oh: Sir, sir Wait come here Come talk to me. I won’t tell you to let me go. Just tell me why I’m here, okay? I should know the reason at least. Shit, I’ve been locked up here for two months already. Sir, wait, come here. Sir, wait. What is this place? Sir, just tell me how long I have to stay in here. Just tell me that, huh? Sir! Fuck you! Come here, you asshole! Son of a bitch! I saw your face, asshole! You’re dead if I get out! Come here, asshole!!
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: If they had told me it was going to be fifteen years, would it have been easier to endure? Or harder?
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: When the melody turns on, gas comes out. When the gas comes out, I fall asleep. I found out later it’s the same Valium gas the Russians used on those Chechen terrorists.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: If you stand aimlessly at a phone booth on a rainy day, and meet a man whose face is hidden by a violet umbrella, my advice is that you make friends with a TV.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: The TV is both a clock and a calendar. It’s your school, your home, your church, your friend…
[Dae-su masturbates to a pop star onscreen]
Dae-su Oh: … and your lover. But my lover’s song is too short.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover after receiving three chopsticks with his prison rations]: All I could think about in that moment was the guy in the next room was eating with only one chopstick.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: 9 years…10 years…11 years…12 years…13 years…14 years
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: The most important thing is what floor I’m on. What if I pierce through the wall and it’s the 52nd floor? But even if I fall to my death I’m still getting out.
…
Thug: You dickshit!
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: Dickshit. New word. Never heard of it. The TV doesn’t teach you curse words.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: Can 10 years’ worth of imaginary training be put to use?
[he beats up all the thugs]
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: Apparently, it can.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: She looks familiar…
…
Dae-su Oh [on phone]: Why did you imprison me?
Woo-jin Lee: Who do you think I am?
Dae-su Oh: Yoo Heungsam?
Woo-jin Lee: Wrong
Dae-su Oh: Did Lee Soyoung hire you?
Woo-jin Lee: No, wrong again.
Dae-su Oh: Lee Jongyong? Kang Changsuk? Hwang Jooyeun? Kim Nasung? Park Ji woo? Im Dukyoon? Lee Jaepyung? Kuk Suran?
Who the hell are you?!
Woo-jin Lee: Me? I’m a sort of scholar. And my major is you. A scholar studying Dae-su Oh; an expert on Dae-su Oh.
…
Woo-jin Lee: Who I am isn’t important. Why, however, is important. Remember this: “Be it a rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink as the same.”
…
Dae-su Oh [about to use a clawhammer to yank out Mr. Park’s teeth]: I am going to avenge 15 years in prison. Each one I yank out will make you age for one year. Ready to talk?
…
Dae-su Oh [after a very bloody beating]: Anyone here with an AB blood type, raise your hand.
…
Dae-su Oh [voiceover]: I’ve now become a monster. When my vengeance is over, can I return as the old Dae-su?
…
Woo-jin Lee: First, “who?”. Then, “why?”. If you figure it out come see me anytime. I’ll raise your score. You have until July 5th. Oh no, only five days left. Too short? Chin up. If you succeed I’ll kill myself and not Mi-do. That’s right, Mi-do. I’m going to kill every woman you love until you die.
…
Woo-jin Lee: You really are the very monster I created, aren’t you? But you won’t find out the “why” of this if you kill me. Fifteen years of being curious would go to waste. What a dilemma: Revenge or truth?[/b]
Just as in The Vanishing, right? It’s the not knowing that tears you apart.
[b]Dae-su Oh: Revenge is good for your soul. But after you have had your revenge the pain will find you again.
…
Mr. Park [handing Dae-Su a business card while sporting a big gold-toothed grin]: This dentist is very good.
…
Mr. Park: You see, they say that people shrivel up from fear because of what they imagine. So, don’t imagine anything and you’ll become brave as hell.
…
Mi-do: So, do you trust me now, you bastard!
…
Dae-su Oh: You need not worry about the future. Just imagine nothing.
…
Dae-su Oh [holding up a sign in electronics store]: I’VE BEEN BUGGED. PLEASE FIND IT.[/b]
They do.
[b]Dae-su Oh: What was she like?
No Joo-hwan: Her? She was a total slut. On the outside she acted like a prude but she was a filthy whore on the inside. A total slut.
Woo-jin Lee [on telephone with Dae-su after stabbing No Joo-hwan to death]: Dae-su…My sister was no slut.
…
Mi-do [looking around the inside of Dae-su’s “cell”]: You stayed in this place for fifteen years?
Dae-su Oh: Yeah, but after the first ten years it felt like home.
…
Mi-do: You get locked up for 15 years just for saying that?
Dae-su Oh: Whether it be it a grain of sand or rock in water they sink as the same. That’s what Lee Woojin believes.
Mi-do: So, what is the significance of July 5th?
Dae-su Oh: That’s the day Lee Soo-ah died.
…
Mi-do: What should I pray for?
Dae-su Oh: “Dear Lord, next time let me meet a younger man.”
…
Woo-jin Lee: Your tongue got my sister pregnant! It wasn’t Woo-jin Lee’s dick; it was Dae-su Oh’s tongue![/b]
The irony embedded in the denouement then becomes crystal clear.
[b]Woo-jin Lee: Your gravest mistake wasn’t failing to find the answer. You can’t find the right answer if you ask the wrong questions. It’s not “Why did Woo-jin imprison me?” It’s “Why did he release me?”
…
Mi-do: Dae Su. In front of me is some kind of box. Mr. Park is telling me to open it. It’s the same violet box…
Dae-su Oh [shouting frantically]: No! No Mi-do don’t. Don’t open it no matter what!
…
Dae-su Oh [on his knees, pleading with Woo-jin Lee]: Please. Don’t tell Mido. What has she done wrong? You know it was all my fault…I have committed an unforgivable sin against your sister. And I also…I did you wrong. Please leave Mido alone…If by any chance Mido finds out the truth, you son of a bitch, I’ll tear you limb from limb! And your remains will never be found. Why? Because I’m going to swallow every last bit of it![/b]
Then back to begging, groveling at Woo-jin’s feet:
Dae-su Oh: I’ll do anything I beg you. Woo-jin, if you want me to be a dog, I will! I’m Woo-jin’s dog from now on! I’m your puppy! Woof Woof Woof Woof. Look, I’m wagging my tail I’m a dog. I’ll guard the house. I’ll be your slave dog. The box…Just leave it closed.
Then he takes a pair of scissors and cuts off his own tongue—for starting the rumor that led to Soo-ah’s death.
Woo-jin Lee [to Mr. Park on the phone]: The box…Leave it closed.