This Asian gem left me hungry for more.

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2015)

This film gets a 5 out of 5 stars in my book. The story is compelling, and while this is not a traditional horror film (more thriller actually) it is vastly discussed in horror circles mostly because of its notorious ending. Park's journey to the ultimate revelation of horror is just as tumultuous as the finale. There is constant movement and a symbolic use of coloration, especially regarding the womb-like prison abode.
We first see Oh Dae-Su as a stumbling drunk in police custody grasping at his daughters pale feathery gift although her birthday is only hours from over. Abruptly he is imprisoned not by the police, but by some unknown captor for what ends up being a drug induced and hypnotized 15 years. Oh Dae-Su becomes mentally and physically strong both despite of and because of this. Although he has aged in captivity, he almost appears younger upon release. He intermittently sinks into madness, losing track of time but by hash marks in his little hotel type room only to emerge back onto the surface of relative normalcy later, and then screw his daughter.
This is a story of vengeance as it plays out man against man (actually family against family) upon Oh Dae-Su's subsequent release. He searches for his captor for retaliation, but his captor has just begun the little game he has in store for the hapless Oh Dae-Su. I did not see this ending coming necessarily. (No pun intended.) I made a guess toward the end, but dismissed it that no movie would go that far. It did. Holy cow did it. This is one of the best films I've ever viewed, and I'm not just being kinky OK maybe a little.
I was immersed in the plot for the entire running time. Lighting was good, but the street gave a necessary darkness in the beginning. The fact that there was almost constant motion added so much to the flow of the film. Special effects were awesome as was use of color particularly during the hypnosis scenes. I really can't say enough good things about this film. If your hungry for some twisted Asian cinema, check it out. I wonder if that means you'll want to see it again after two hours?