Best film at Cannes? Please explain.

Rating: 5/10 (25 April 2005)

I just saw this at the Philly film festival and I was amazed at how so many people were conned into thinking this was such a great movie. While sitting on the steps before the movie started (all seats were sold out at that point) I heard such a buzz: "...best Korean film of all time... won best picture at Cannes... ending will blow you away...". In fact the guy who introduced OLDBOY said to the anxious crowd before the lights went dark that "OLDBOY may be the greatest movie ever made". I must admit I almost fell for it too. It looks beautiful and the director is nothing if not innovative and technically brilliant. However the praise goes only as deep as the razor thin plot line. To say this movie is contrived is a drastic understatement. I don't want to give anything away (why? I'm not quite sure) but lets just say this: the ridiculous ending to Park's OLDBOY is on par with the likes of Shamalan's SIGNS and whoever the moron was who directed last year's abysmal SAW. Now if you were amazed by the ludicrous 11th hour revelations in those movies (although SIGNS at least was pretty good up to that point) then you probably won't feel utterly cheated and let down by OLDBOY. I found myself saying "good God they can't be serious!". I can't really trash the movie for too many other reasons other than the weak story and atrocious ending. Everything else was pretty good, not #92 of all time and Cannes darling good, but decent and enjoyable. I actually cared about the characters which almost never happens in movies today, and the blood and violence which others have complained about I thought was a strong point. But the story! Come on already. I'm in awe that Quentin Tarantino, who can spin a story like no other, bought into OLDBOY. Another prime example of writers managing to stink up a great premise. One more thing, Park's earlier film SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, while also no masterpiece, was far, far superior to OLDBOY in my opinion. Worth watching.