Oldboy . . . yeah, fashionably late
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
Let me get the basic introduction out of the way first. Oldboy is a South Korean film based on a Japanese manga, un-coincidentally title Old Boy. It’s a 2003 film that, according to wiki, was well received when it was show at the 2004 Cannes film festival.
The wiki article has a fairly good plot synopsis. I’m sure that there are also detailed analysis of this movie on the net. Needless to say, in internet years this film is ancient. I’ll avoid simply giving a summary of events in favor of talking about a few scenes that I will probably remember from this viewing.
I found myself eagerly awaiting some free time that would allow me to sit and watch this film uninterrupted. It is interesting that a film with a major plot element being a fifteen year imprisonment doesn’t really stress the lost years angle. Dae-su is taken away from everything he knows and in the blink of an eye the audience is transported to the future. The drunk weak man we saw at the start of the film is now a hardened monster.
We do experience his captivity to the extent that we know it happened. The viewers are given the chance to see the progression into the form that will be the Dae-su for the majority of the plot. They do not get the chance to empathize with the human aspect of his imprisonment. In some ways it is almost comical how his capture is expressed. If this were a movie about the depths and variations of the individual then it wouldn’t make much sense. However, this isn’t a film setting out to examine the human condition. It is a film about vengeance and pain. Aside from the occasional bit of humor the film doesn’t deviate too much from this theme.
There are a few scenes that were memorable mostly due to sock value. That is not to imply that the movie doesn’t keep the viewer entertained. It does a very good job of not getting boring.
Give me something alive:
Dae-su walks into a restaurant and orders “something alive.” This particular scene isn’t notable simply because he is eating a squid (I think) that is still moving around. As far as I know that isn’t too unusual. It is the vigor with which he begins to digest the small creature. A single bite and the head is removed. He pauses as if to recover from taking too much out of the slimy thing. Its tentacles flail about his mouth and hand as they instinctively/unconsciously attempt to aid in an escape. It is too late. It is dead; it just doesn’t know it yet.
Let me get the basic introduction out of the way first. Oldboy is a South Korean film based on a Japanese manga, un-coincidentally title Old Boy. It’s a 2003 film that, according to wiki, was well received when it was show at the 2004 Cannes film festival.
The wiki article has a fairly good plot synopsis. I’m sure that there are also detailed analysis of this movie on the net. Needless to say, in internet years this film is ancient. I’ll avoid simply giving a summary of events in favor of talking about a few scenes that I will probably remember from this viewing.
I found myself eagerly awaiting some free time that would allow me to sit and watch this film uninterrupted. It is interesting that a film with a major plot element being a fifteen year imprisonment doesn’t really stress the lost years angle. Dae-su is taken away from everything he knows and in the blink of an eye the audience is transported to the future. The drunk weak man we saw at the start of the film is now a hardened monster.
We do experience his captivity to the extent that we know it happened. The viewers are given the chance to see the progression into the form that will be the Dae-su for the majority of the plot. They do not get the chance to empathize with the human aspect of his imprisonment. In some ways it is almost comical how his capture is expressed. If this were a movie about the depths and variations of the individual then it wouldn’t make much sense. However, this isn’t a film setting out to examine the human condition. It is a film about vengeance and pain. Aside from the occasional bit of humor the film doesn’t deviate too much from this theme.
There are a few scenes that were memorable mostly due to sock value. That is not to imply that the movie doesn’t keep the viewer entertained. It does a very good job of not getting boring.
Give me something alive:
Dae-su walks into a restaurant and orders “something alive.” This particular scene isn’t notable simply because he is eating a squid (I think) that is still moving around. As far as I know that isn’t too unusual. It is the vigor with which he begins to digest the small creature. A single bite and the head is removed. He pauses as if to recover from taking too much out of the slimy thing. Its tentacles flail about his mouth and hand as they instinctively/unconsciously attempt to aid in an escape. It is too late. It is dead; it just doesn’t know it yet.
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