A Classic Revenge Thriller

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2009)

Oldboy was my introduction to Korean cinema, and what an introduction it was. Initially it seems to make little sense the first thing we see is a man with a dog leaning backwards over the edge of a tall building and another man is holding onto his tie which prevents him from falling, this man says he has a story to tell. Then the story begins with the man, Oh Dae-Su, drunk in a police station, a friend collects him but while his friend is making a call in a public phone box he vanishes. The next time we see him he is imprisoned in a room never seeing his captor who feeds him through a hatch in the door and gasses him anytime something needs doing in the room. He learns from the television that his wife has been murdered and that evidence at the scene suggests that he is the killer even though he has been in his room for a year at this point.
As the years pass Oh Dae-Su plans his revenge while trying to escape but shortly before he manages to break out he is gassed again and wakes up outside on the roof of the tall building where he meets the man with the dog. After letting his story he leaves the man who then jumps but Oh Dae-Su does not look back. While looking at the fish in a restaurant window a stranger gives him a wallet and a phone. He goes inside and after eating a live octopus receives a call during which he passes out. When he wakes up he discovers that the girl who served him in the restaurant has taken him home. Although he initially doesn't trust her they soon falls in love. Shortly after this he is told he has five days to discover why he was kidnapped or the girl will be killed. He only has a few clues as to his captor but as he follows them and gets closer his life gets more confusing till eventually he realises what he did to earn such a terrible punishment.
The action is exciting and and a few places fairly gruelling such as when he uses a claw hammer for tooth extraction although some people might find the octopus eating more disturbing. Min-sik Choi did a great job as Oh Dae-Su and Chan-wook Park's direction was top notch. Although an English dub was available on the DVD I watched it in Korean with English subtitles.