Creative

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2012)

Korea has been releasing some very interesting films over the past ten years, and Oldboy is no exception. Oh Dae-su has been mysteriously trapped in a room for fifteen years. Earler clues show him being bailed out of a police station by a friend after a fight while drunk. He is kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room and fed dumplings through a slot in the door. A television is kept on, which broadcasts reports on his family. His wife has been killed and daughter given to foster parents.
The Kafkaesque nightmare continues when he is framed for his wife's death. When he attempts suicide, a sedative is gassed into the room to put him to sleep. In Shawshank fashion, he digs a hole in the wall to escape. Suddenly, he wakes up on the roof, dressed in a suit. He is given a cellphone and goes to a restaurant and meets a chef, Mi-do, who takes him home. She gives him an instant message from his captor.
Woo-jin finally admits to being the abductor, and tells Oh that if he can figure out the motive for his troubles, Woo will kill himself; if not he will kill Mi-do. The plot becomes complicated, as we learn of an incestuous relationship and a suicide.
Oldboy looks like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. It is a stylish thriller and never boring. I was impressed.