Oldeuboi: Entirely Exquisite

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2010)

The second of Chan-wook Park's "Vengeance Trilogy", Oldeuboi appears to be the most revered and respected of the thematic triplets. Having absolutely loved the first, Boksuneun naui Geot, I was highly sceptical that this could possibly do any better.
Having been imprisoned inexplicably for fifteen years, Dae-su Oh finds himself released just as suddenly and mysteriously. Knowing nothing about where or why he was kept, he sets out on a quest for revenge, meeting along the way a sushi chef with whom he begins to fall in love.
One of the opening scenes, in which Dae-su stumbles drunkenly about a police station, provides us with nice humour: partly a way to lull us into a false sense of security; partly a way to make the darkness which follows tolerable. Like its predecessor, Oldeuboi is incredibly dark and gritty, both its themes and imagery constantly exploring the very depths of depravity and despair. The scenes of imprisonment are strange: while Dae-su's cage is neither bare nor uncomfortable, he himself becomes increasingly so, the scenes of graduating delusion and hallucinating building to an inevitable crescendo of tragedy. It is difficult to watch him spiral downwards, not least of all when he learns that he has been framed for the murder of his wife. Min-sik Choi's performance incorporates a flurry of perfectly timed and pitched emotions, cementing an incredibly real character within our minds and allowing him to evolve whilst all the while remembering his thirst for vengeance and the effect of his incarceration. Hye-jeong Kang grounds the film with a meek humility, her unassuming sushi chef the only element of sanity in Dae-su's insane world. The narrative effectively keeps us guessing, the final turns in plot unforeseen and quite striking, adding to the facets a consistently excellent story, and one which invites thought in a genuine manner. Worth noting is the corridor sequence relatively early in the film, a superb technical achievement and one of the film's crowning glories. A true spectacle which presents action in a unique way, bringing a brilliance to what might have been a mundane scene.
An entirely exquisite follow-up to the first of the trilogy, Oldeuboi succeeds under the magnificence of Park's direction. Ensuring the further remarkableness of this astounding offering, it leaves all demanding to see part three. For me, it falls just short of the level of excellence achieved by its forebear. An amazing film in any case, it is yet another example of the prowess of South Korean cinema.