Excellence, the best film of the last 4 decades

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2005)

This is simply put, amazing cinema. The music that accompanies the film is as recognisable as distinguished classical music such as Beethoven and Mozart going as far as to incorporate Vivaldi's four seasons' winter movement. The music, however, is just the start of what was an unfortunately overlooked film. The acting of this film was of such calibre it didn't even bring to question "I wonder how the actors prepared for these roles, how do they work so well together, where does this chemistry come from?!" as they perform to such a fine extent that the viewer is immediately immersed in the film to the extent where there are no actors, there is no film, only a constant denouement which leaves a viewer at times, so immersed that we become isolated from our own world, accepting Dae-Su's viewpoint as our own. This is a critical skill that this film harnesses as the subject material is quite difficult to grasp and accept freely otherwise. It gets to a point where Dae-Su is approached and depicted as an almost Travis Bickle type character, that is to say, an anti hero. Plot holes such as the age difference between dae su and woo jin are covered effortlessly by acting, choreography and cinematography that puts films widely regarded as classics such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Million Dollar Baby" to crippling shame. This film without a doubt is the best film i have ever seen, by a long way, there is something here, not for everyone but those who are willing to suspend the constraints of our reality in return for stepping into Oh Dae Su's.