Thursday, April 9, 2009

Oldboy (2003) DVD / a film by Chan-Wook Park starring Min-Sik Choi; based on the comic by Nobuaki Minegishi

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"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."
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Abducted by unknown perpetrators one rainy night, businessman Oh Dae-Suh has been mysteriously held captive for 15 years inside an isolated, oddly furnished cell. Now after his abrupt, unexplained release, a vengeful Dae-Suh actively seeks out the responsible party only to have his vindication efforts confronted by a peculiarly diabolical individual. As revelations concerning the reason for his confinement come to light, he's awakened to a startling secret about his own--now long forgotten--past which hides a frighteningly daunting truth.

Oldboy is an absolutely awe-inspiring film, one that clicks on virtually all cylinders. Instantly it engages the viewer with its clever cinematography, inventive storytelling and dark humor following a tenacious protagonist through a maze of self discovery. Add a powerfully rendered love story and a twisted, very noir ending and you have a sublimely original cinematic production. The movie's technical aspects are likewise as admirable. Park's direction and storyboard give the movie an undeniably flawless synergy--the scene sequencing, choreography and selective use of bleach bypass arguably as impeccable as anything before or since. An unprecedented film which will undoubtedly become a Hollywood remake, this flick is a definite must-see-before-you-die movie.

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