Artistic violence

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2006)

OLDBOY is a movie that comes around perhaps only every several years. The second installment of the "Vengeance Trilogy" following the well done Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the result is a supreme advancement over the previous effort. Visually, it will leave you floored. Personally, it will leave you devastated. Based on interviews I've seen of Chanwook Park, this was his intention; to create a film mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. I can honestly say he achieved this on all levels and then some by making something richly philosophical.
Min-sik Choi gives the performance of the year and potentially his career. As Oh Dae-su, he undergoes a transformation of at least three different personas, performed almost all of his own stunts and otherwise poured his heart into the movie.
Forget the naysayers, OLDBOY constitutes what original cinema means. Well deserving of its place on the IMDb Top 250.