Astounding, beautiful and profound

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2006)

I would give this movie eleven stars if I could. I could not disagree more with the negative comments made about it. Not only is an incredibly beautiful film, the performances are brilliantly subtle and the plot is intricate without being impenetrable. The hammer sequence in the corridor of the private prison alone makes the film worth buying, let alone the wonderful, elegant, ambiguous ending. It is violent, but the violence in most American blockbusters where hundreds of people are shot and blown up with the intimation that it is necessary for the eventual victory of "good" over "evil" is far more distasteful to me. Oldboy is like a modern Sophoclean tragedy and also, I think, reminiscent of Fritz Lang. Whilst some people may prefer to anaesthetise themselves by watching mindless Hollywood pap, I'll stick to this, thanks.