Do I Deserve to Live?

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2005)

Director: Park Chan Wook Duration: 120 minutes
Some films just do not allow themselves to fall into generalizations and these films pose conundrums when one tries to explain them. I've owned _Old Boy_ for a number of months now, but for some reason or another I had been able to make myself sit down and watch the film. For some reason I thought it was a horror film and being that I generally do not care for horror films I let this one sit on the sidelines while I watched other films. However, I was finally inspired to watch this film when my Korean office partner told me how much she enjoyed the film, been amazed by Choi Min Sik's acting, and how long the film stuck in her head after watching it. Trusting my friend's taste in film, last night I finally settled down to watch the film and similar to my reaction with other films that I had underestimated, I wondered: Why the heck had I had not watched this film earlier?
The film begins with a drunken Oh Daesu, Choi Min Sik, sitting in the police office. He is a noisy drunk heaping abuse on the police officers and constantly trying to urinate on the floor. He tells the police to let him go because it is his daughter' birthday, but when his pleas fall on death ears, he becomes even more recalcitrant to remain calm in the police office. Eventually Daesu's friend comes to pick up his inebriated friend. However, while talking to Daesu's daughter on the phone, the friend notices that Daesu is missing.
Daesu finds himself imprisoned in a room that resembles a cheap motel room. Fed a diet of dumplings and with a television as his only companion, Daesu will live for fifteen years inside of that small room. Occupying his time watching television, punching the walls, writing the names of all who might have had him imprisoned in that room, watching television, and carving a hole in the wall with a metal chopstick, Daesu grows older his youth withered away within that room. However, one day, he finds himself on top of a building finally free to hunt the individual who had imprisoned him. Daesu eventually makes a new friend in the personage of the young sushi chef Mido, Gang Hye Jeong, who for some reason seems to fall for Daesu as he consumes a live squid, who accompanies him on his search for the individual who ruined his life.
This is an extraordinary film. Choi Min Sik's acting is top notch and one can really feel his anger and frustration inside of his prison. I won't go into details here, but his performance during the final minutes of the film must be witnessed to be believed. The music is grand and the special effects are nicely done. The ant poking through Daesu's skin is creepy as hell.