Short, non-spoilery review of one of the greatest films I've ever seen.

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2005)

Oldboy tells the story of a man who, after being imprisoned for no immediate reason, goes after his captor who framed him for the murder of his family.
A masterpiece of deception and the power of suggestion, this violent and intense little Korean film is one of the best films I've seen so far this year. I plunked my $8 down at the film festival counter and watched the movie with the older, snotty film fest crowd who didn't bother to read about the film that they were going to watch.
And, yes, I chuckled to myself as they gasped and said ,"Oh...it's subtitled..." And I chuckled when they squirmed during the more intense scenes.
I was lucky enough that this past month's Fangoria had a nice little article about Oldboy AND the festival actually got it...or else I would have been ticked. It's the middle part of Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy that started with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and will end this year when he releases Sympathy for Ms. Vengeance.
It's powerful, gritty, realistic, and fantastic and if you get to see the British release print that's circulating the country right now, do so. It seems to be uncut. The only bothersome thing is that it has white subtitles. I prefer yellow ones, myself...easier to read.