What Does This Film Accomplish?

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2006)

I've read a number of the reviews posted on this site for "Oldboy." They run the full spectrum from 1 to 10, which in itself has to make any observer wonder exactly what is it about this movie that makes so many people have such divergent opinions.
I guess we need to ask ourselves what is a movie supposed to do? Is it to provide us with entertainment? Is it supposed to give us a message? Or is it supposed to evoke certain emotions within each of us? I'm sure many movie fans can debate this topic till they're blue in the face. As for myself, I believe if the viewer gets one of the above mentioned items from a movie, then the director has done their job.
"Oldboy" is the first of director's Chan-wook Park's three vengeance movies, however all three movies are stand alone projects and can be viewed in any order the viewer desires. I did this by watching "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" first and then "Oldboy" two days later. The English language soundtrack makes "Oldboy" more accessible to the average viewer in contrast to the subtitles only, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance." A number of writers have commended Mr. Park for the premise of this movie and I have to agree wholeheartedly! The concept of a man being locked away for 15 years, for no apparent reason is a solid foundation on which to build any movie. While many reviewers have voiced sympathy for the protagonist, Oh Dae-su, it should be noted that he was an obnoxious drunk who got wasted on his daughter's birthday and once he was locked away he managed to fill several journals with the names of people he had wronged and could possibly be responsible for his abduction, not exactly a model citizen.
After 15 years of imprisonment Oh Dae-su is finally released. It's at this juncture of the movie where people start to split on their opinions of this movie. Many reviewers feel that the movie should have been strictly about Oh Dae-su's quest for vengeance, however in my opinion that would have been too simple. Mr. Park throws a wrinkle into this scenario by having Oh Dae-su's ordeal continue. The individual responsible for Oh Dae-su's confinement has much, much more in store for Oh Dae-su, and as we quickly learn the torment is only just beginning. While Mr. Park may have been a bit over ambitious with this twist and some of the criticism about this fact is justified I think in the end movie fans gained more by the director going this route.
Several people have complained about the scene at the sushi bar, where Oh Dae-su eats a live octopus. Having seen a whole family of Koreans do this on the Discovery Channel I had to ask myself what was all the fuss about? Obviously many reviewers aren't aware of certain Asian customs and values and this could explain some of the negative reaction to this movie.
During Oh Dae-su's quest for answers we have several scenes of intense violence. While I do agree with critics of the fight scene, who say it was poorly done, I have to remind them that this isn't a Kung-fu movie and therefore to ask for similar standard is simply not realistic. The teeth pulling scene has also drawn it's share of negative press, however when all is said and done we were only shown Oh Dae-su with the hammer next to his victims mouth and then a cut away to a table with the extracted teeth being flipped onto it. More suggestion than anything else! Does the movie drag as some have claimed? I would say yes, there are probably a few extra minutes that could be sheared here and there. As I stated above Mr. Park was quite ambitious and in some instances he may be guilty of trying to give us too much.
A number of reviewers have nitpicked the apparent age difference between Oh Dae-su and his nemesis. In some regards this could be considered a valid complaint, however we need to remember that Oh Dae-su was subjected to great mental and physical stress and surely that could explain this situation.
Once we learn why the events we were shown were put into motion the story takes another wild twist, I can say that the vengeance exacted on Oh Dae-su was way beyond any crime he may/or may not have committed. I will leave his guilt in this matter up to each individual viewer to decide for themselves. I can only say that I was extremely disturbed at the vengeance that was exacted upon him. I also was bothered by the conclusion of the movie with the decision which Oh Dae-su made, but then as I also said at the beginning of this post he wasn't a model citizen.
In closing, I return to my original question, "What does this film accomplish?" For me it left a very sick feeling in my stomach, much like that which I experienced when viewing "Seven" for the first time. If one of the possible goals of a movie is to evoke a strong emotional response from the viewer then Mr. Park certainly achieved a success in my opinion. Is this movie perfect, no it isn't, but it is certainly worth a look.