Stylish human suffering

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2014)

Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi) has spent fifteen years imprisoned within a highly guarded motel room. He doesn't know where he is, why he has been imprisoned, or even by whom. All he has are dumplings to eat, television to watch and nothing but time to spend. And suddenly, one day, he gets released and told that he has a short amount of time to figure out why he lost fifteen years of his life.
From that intriguing setting we end up getting one of the best thrillers ever made. Directed by South Korean Chan-wook Park, Oldeuboi is perhaps the best film he has made to date. And this film truly shines because of its director. The story, based on a manga series of the same name, is iron tight and translated to the silverscreen very well. Park utilizes camera angles, lighting and colours with a master's hand and the film looks phenomenal. Long shots without cuts are used when needed, the whole film has a very stylish neo-noir look to it and it's also paced so that you're always held at the edge of your seat. It provides just enough information to keep you satisfied, but it's only at the end when all is revealed, and that ending twist is perhaps the best I've ever witnessed. Horrifying, sick and yet logical all at the same time.
Min-sik Choi is also a very strong leading actor. He ranges from pathetic white collar loser to a hardened avenger without never missing a beat. It's also a very physical role to pull off, as he has to go from an overweight office worker to a man who has spent fifteen years with nothing else to do but work out. And yet he does it seemingly effortlessly.
It's rather hard to talk more about this film without spoiling everything, but trust me when I say it's worth a watch. Personally I'd raise this to my personal Top 20. It's that good.