A modern classic.

Rating: Null/10 (1 February 2012)

Oldboy is a great film. Not only did it put South Korea on the cinematic map, it did so while delivering a great, psychological horror story, told with a completely fresh flair and style.
It is a violent film. The violence is over-the-top and shocking, with scenes of torture and bloodletting that are grotesque and wince-inducing. However, Oldboy has little in common with the stereotypical action or gore movie, in which the focus is on the violence itself rather than trivialities like plot, characters and themes. In such works, the events in the film function mostly as a tiresome haul that needs to be completed before the satisfying arrival at the blood-splattered money shot. Oldboy, on the other hand, smoothly weaves the violence into its story in a natural and unforced manner. Also, by refusing to shy away from the images of obscene violence, the film puts an uncomfortable magnifying glass over the ugly side of revenge. Showing the disturbing violence for what it is rather than glorifying it, it makes an impression that lasts far longer than that of Tarantino's shallow revenge fantasies.
After his previous work, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, director Park Chan-Wook went a whole new direction. While that film was slow-paced to the point of being meditative, and had stylistic touches but maintained a cold realism, Oldboy is fast and stylish and bursting at the seams with cinematic ideas. Film-wise it follows an anything-goes principle, and it does so without ever feeling silly or excessive. The unexpected use of CGI, unexpected violence, unexpected turns of the story – everything is designed to catch the first-time viewer off-guard. Yet despite this, the film flows beautifully and makes perfect sense.
The combination of music – everything from low-key electronic loops to intense Vivaldi pieces – and images is simply fantastic. Every shot is eye-catching, from the dark and crumbling slums of the city to the antagonist's sterile penthouse and the final scenes' snow-covered mountain tops. It is a film that is great both to look at and listen to. Even so, it avoids making Tarsem Singh's (director of The Cell and The Fall) mistake of letting the images be the entire film. Instead, Oldboy's story more than holds its own against the visuals and soundtrack. When the film's final revelation comes crashing down, it is as shocking to the audience as it is to the protagonist. This "twist" scene also has one of the movie's greatest, tensest build-ups; if only for this single moment, the movie is well worth watching.
Oldboy is an example of a filmmaker having a good vision, the means to make it a reality, and the dedication and talent to pull it off. Direction, story and actors work together so well, it makes creating something like this look easy. If you can handle the violence, you will find an extremely well-written, creative, dramatic, humorous, original and entertaining film, one that takes you for a cinematic roller-coaster ride in its truest sense. A must-see.