It will get people talking

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2005)

A middle aged man is kidnapped and forced to live in a room for 15 years without knowing why nor who incarcerated him in the first place. He is given dumplings every day, and he has only the TV as a means of communication with the rest of the world. Then, he is released, and is along with a nice suit, he is given sufficient money for his personal use, only to learn that he has to find his captor in 5 days.
ChanWook Park's thriller that has captivated thousands and shocked or disturbed others is surely going to be, for better or worse, a big thing when it opens in select theaters in the US. Many of you have said that it sucks, and that it is overly ambitious for what it is. Well, I give you that: it is ambitious, but that it does its job. By no means is this movie original, nor innovative. I can name a few movies coming out of Hollywood that have done a similar job and succeeded as well as this one did. But this is no Hollywood. This movie has come out from South Korea (which by the way has been releasing countless excellent movies lately) and I tell you, in my view, it has rivaled (or even surpassed most) many big budget films that I have previously mentioned. This movie assures movie goers that one not need flashy settings, untalented pretty faces as actors and big budgets to make an excellent film like this one. It is not the best in movie history, it is not the best in recent memory, but it is pretty darn good to be the best of 2003.
If you didn't understand my point and haven't seen the movie, don't waste your time reading my post and go see it. You will thank those people who have given this movie nearly a perfect score.