Hollywood, HAND OFF!!

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2011)

The movie Oldboy is, as previously mentioned, an extremely violent motion picture. This might be the films first and major downside, and I lay the emphasis on might because it depends entirely on the person that is watching the movie whether you call this movie appropriate or inappropriate. I for example had no problem whatsoever with all this violence, since it has almost become normal to my generation. I can however understand the people that say that this movie is inappropriate, because literally bashing someone's brains out isn't exactly motivating world peace. Neither does it contribute to the tastefulness of the movie. This aspect is further enhanced by the eating of a live squid, that was still twitching once it's head was bitten off. This scene is probably the highpoint of the movie gore wise. Not to say that there are no other moments on which you might have in a different direction and maybe even cover your ears. This is also the movies' second downside, you probably shouldn't watch this movie if you have a weak stomach. Also and this may only be a problem to few, the movie is spoken in Korean so unless you have South-Korean relatives, or you are, it will be very hard to follow the story without subtitles. This movie isn't just down all the way, on the contrary, it has some of the best dialogue, scripting, acting, directing, camera work, editing and soundtrack that I have ever seen in a movie. The dialogue and the script keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire movie and will lead you to one of the most memorable plot twists I have ever witnessed. The amount of tension that is created in some of the scenes is just incredible. This of course, is too created by the acting and the soundtrack. The soundtrack is perfectly fine tuned to the mood of the movie and the actors look like they where made to play these roles. Also the ease with which the movie goes along is just incredible, it's like the movie has just been shot in one single take, props to the editing team and the director off this movie because this is about as smooth as it gets. Now the camera work deserves a standing ovation just on it's own. The finesse with which the movie is filmed and all the seemingly impossible shots that the crew managed to pull off are just incredible, for example one of the fight scenes takes place in a corridor and the camera just keeps on rolling until Dae-su has defeated all the evil and conquered the entire corridor. This of course is also an ode to the devotion of the actors, just imagine how long they must have practised this entire routine. All in all this is a great piece of cinema, if you have the time and the guts (wink) to watch this movie. I am sure it is time well spent. Because well made films are becoming rare in the time of reboots and remakes. I will leave with one last word of advice: Hollywood, HANDS OFF!!