This was what all the fuss was about?

Rating: 3/10 (15 October 2006)

I don't go to see a lot of movies anymore, despite the fact that when younger I would see easily 5 movies a week, two or three at the movies and the same in rentals.
Now, I usually only go to the theaters a few times a year for something special, and when I see an interesting DVD, I just buy it, I don't rent.
So, somehow I came across this film when reading things online and noticed a very high Rottentomatoes.com rating. (that should have told me something right there).
The "Kafkaesque" description intrigued me. A guy wakes up in a prison, everything is controlled, and literally years go by. He is framed for his wife's murder. Why? At first, the dubbing seemed distracting, a little too "bright", but I got used to it. In fact, right away, you could see a lot of effort when into the camera work for this film, and the music. It was compelling.
The story starts to slip when the guy gets out of the prison. First, this guy is hard to look at, just kind of wacky. He refuses to listen to another man (had he just been released too???) and when that man falls to his death, it is done for comic effect. I started thinking, uh oh.
Next, he meets a young woman and eats a live octopus. Not clear why. Perhaps a metaphor that those with the power will consume the lives of those that they can dominate. See, I remember film school too.
Anyways, the absurdity of why this guy was locked up, and who is really seeking revenge on who are plot details better left unsaid, but are actually quite disgusting. In fact, this movie is nothing like what I thought it would be.
I thought there would be a lot of stylized action. Either the director doesn't know how to stage action, or I don't know what. There could have been a great fight sequence at the beginning with the young punks, but the camera just turns away. Later, at the "big fight scene", Oh fights off literally dozens of guys with sticks, armed with only a hammer. There is no fight choreography, no real action, just a slow camera track. Oh is no fighter, but somehow beats up all on-comers, often not really connecting with them but they fall over anyways. At one point he is beaten down but just keeps going in a very odd fashion.
At another potential fight sequence, he is simply pushed down by another gangster, and cannot even coordinate standing back up again. By this time, I knew there was not going to be too much action by this guy.
This is not an action film. There is plenty of blood and guts, and the "twist ending" comes way before the end of the film. The lead character is so degraded, he begins to degrade himself. And when his ex-best friend laughs at how silly he behaves in his self-degradation, his laughing and attitude makes no connection to what he does to himself in the elevator a few minutes later. If this is all he had to live for, why not lock the guy up again? Here are the problems I have:
1) At some points, Oh can kill 50 people at once; the next scene, one guy can overpower him.
2) What's the point of the film? Incest is OK as long as you shut up about it?
3) Why would OH make the choice he did at the end, knowing who the girl is?
4) Doesn't a normal restaurant delivery service question bringing tons of food every day to a building that has rooms and screaming coming from it?
5) Wouldn't you eventually die after being gassed every night?
6) Hypnotism has limited powers, and only on people who WANT to be hypnotized. By now, everyone over the age of 10 knows that, so what was the deal here?
7) I don't buy films where the good guy or the bad guy are in some way omnipotent. Or where a character has to have chosen an exact path from a whole series of variables to arrive at the outcome that the other parties--and the script...are expecting. This was the problem with films such as Arlington Road, Seven, The Game, and dozens of other titles. I believe it is a result of lazy or untalented writing.
8) Never, ever go see a movie that Quentin Tarantino recommends!
So, if you thought this film might have great action, forget it. Martial arts fighting? No. A decent story? Uh uh. Nice shots of the mountains at the end? Yes.