Average revenge film with an extremely weak payoff

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2004)

After reading praise after praise about this film on the internet from mostly western viewers (such as the completely clueless Tarantino) and seeing as how it won a major prize at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, my expectations were naturally high when I finally got around to viewing it.
I'm sorry to say that I do not share in their optimistic appraisal of this movie.
After being imprisoned for 15 years for unknown reasons by an unknown person/persons, Daesu (Min-sik Choi) is naturally a bit upset and is dying to figure out who imprisoned him and why. Borrowing a page from M. Night Shyamalan's guide to movie surprises, writer/director Chan-wook Park (along with 3 other writers) attempts to craft a whodunnit that will keep you guessing and interested until the very end. Well, they only half succeed. I'll admit that I'm normally slow when it comes to movie surprises, but this one jumps out at you as soon as Daesu gets out of prison. It couldn't be more obvious unless the director was sitting next to you whispering it into your ear. From that point on, the movie really begins to drag as we watch Daesu meander from one place to the next in an unfocused attempt to find his enemy and discover the reason behind his imprisonment. Perhaps the main problem with the film is the severe lack of information given to both Daesu and the viewer. Rather than finding out the real truth on his own, he is essentially told everything in the end thanks to a well choreographed monologue. This is not a "detective"-style story that gives you clues along the way. Some secrets and identities are revealed much too early, leaving only the unknown reason for Daesu's imprisonment the movie's last remaining attempt to keep the viewer interested. When we finally learn of the reason, it's a total letdown and should leave any experienced movie watcher either scratching their heads in total disbelief that someone actually considered this as a basis for a film or make you angry enough to stop the movie right then and there. With the movie's undeniably gritty sense of style and beautiful classical score, this should have been mind blowing. But it's not. It's pathetic. It's obvious the filmmakers really didn't know how to craft a film of this caliber, so they fall back on the "H" word (you'll catch the "H" word when you hear it in the film) to solve ALL of their screen writing problems.
Thankfully the movie does have some positive aspects. The lighting and color scheme really reflect the inner conflicts within Daesu. This is a dark film, and it shows. The cinematography is inventive and vibrant with clever scene transitions and unique movements. The aforementioned score couldn't be better. It's a great mix of classical pieces, original music inspired by classical pieces, and moments of pseudo techno/industrial music, and it certainly does a great job of infusing the viewer with a sense of doubt and depression. Min-sik Choi gives an extremely admirable performance as the mentally conflicted Daesu and handles all kinds of scenes from action to romance with a great sense of confusion and surprise. Finally the relationship between Daesu and the mysterious Mido (Hye-jeong Kang) is really quite touching, allowing for some nice dramatic moments.
That being said, it's ashame that the film's story couldn't match its style.
Chan-wook Park has directed some of Korea's best and most memorable films in recent memory, such as JSA and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but Old Boy is simply a semi-interesting film. In the realm of revenge flicks, this is perhaps one of the more ambitious (which is definitely a good quality) films out there, but ambition can only get you so far, and Chan-wook Park just can't pull it off. Worth a look for film fans, but it's just not remarkable enough to be recognized on a global scale. Beware before you buy, for you could end up being sorely disappointed as well. 6/10