Well I didn't see that coming... (the twist)

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 2018)

''In our lives, we have good things and bad things, happiness and pain. Life is full of pain and happiness and that's what I wanted to show.'' - Park Chan-wook
I was reluctant to write a review on this one, mainly because I don't know what can I say about this film that hasn't been already said.
I can write about the story, best to describe it as the groundbreaking revenge tale with a genius twist and ending, but it has already been mentioned by many people on here. What you see is the story of Dae-su, who has lost everything he had, deprived of his freedom for fifteen years and naturally wants revenge against whoever is responsible for everything he went through. On the other hand you see the ''bad guy'' behind the Dae-su's imprisonment, another complex character who has his own understandable reasons for what he did. And we have a girl caught in the middle of the pandemonium. While everyone thinks that this film is about the twist, I can assure you there is way more than that. Everything about the story does make sense, and without any plot holes (which is a huge plus).
I can write about the stylish camerawork done in the most Park Chan-wook way possible, but that has also been mentioned. The smooth and colorful cinetography that makes you feel every second of it like you are there inside the film, surreal sequences to explore the emotional states of certain characters and action direction which plays a rather small but important part. Hallway scene might be getting all the praise but for me every single frame in this film is equally dazzling.
I can also write about the soundtrack, Cho Young-wuk's emotion filled compositions in full synchronization with the moods of their scenes and so on...
Analyzing each and every second of every minute, only conclusion I can reach is that everything about Oldboy is both sturdy and elegant, and totally worthy of applause. Despite knowing all there is to know about this film, I can watch it over and over again, it never gets boring. I can use all the fancy words I know to glamorize this film but my words will be just another pack of praise words among a million others, and that is a good thing. Being ''just another guy who likes Oldboy'' is awesome. To see that this film gets all the love it deserves makes me very happy.
Guess it's time for me to use the word that I don't use often. This word:
✨M A S T E R P I E C E✨