Effusion of pure emotion

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2013)

Oldboy is a Korean flick, part of the 'Revenge' trilogy by Chan-wook Park. The movie is about Oh Daesu, who is mysteriously abducted on the eve of his daughter's birthday and kept in detention for fifteen years by someone unbeknown to him. He finds himself in a small room, with a television and no means of escape. He is served food through a slot in the door and put to sleep by introducing various gases through the air shaft. While he is kept captive, he hears of his wife's murder, with which he has been charged. The movie reflects the internal struggle of Daesu in coming to terms with the dire situation he finds himself in. The fifteen years fill him up with relentless hatred for his mystery captor and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. When released, he sets out to find out who was behind all this and why he was subjected to imprisonment for so long. He befriends a young girl who's a cook at a diner and seeks help of his best friend from fifteen years back in order to unlock this mystery. He finds out that his daughter was adopted while he was away and is currently in Stockholm. Very soon, his captor does reveal himself. Still, Daesu finds himself unable to kill him without finding out what the reason behind his torture. It is this pursuit of putting the pieces together that drives the rest of the movie as clues to the mystery present themselves one after the another.
Min-sik Choi and Ji-tae Yu have both put in brilliant performances. The movie finds its strength in Choi's portrayal of the strong emotions that drive his actions. From a state of being despairingly lost and demented, he is driven by the pure emotion of revenge and becomes obsessed in his pursuit. All that is wonderfully captured in one of the scenes, in which Daesu fights a mob of crooks by himself, with a knife stabbed on his back.
The plot keeps the viewer engaged and eager to find out what happens next. Interestingly, the director also delves into the psyche of his characters with the aid of some surrealist representation at times. I was slightly disappointed with the crowning revelation and felt it wasn't as convincing but I did find the absence of complication agreeable. Instead of leading the viewer into deeper layers of interwoven story lines in order to justify the strong tone of the movie, a simpler and an authentic rationale has been chosen.
While I expected a more intense conclusion to the movie, the uncertain ending adds to the quality of the movie and does justice to it. Overall, it is the undiluted and pure portrayal of the strongest human emotions make the movie what it is.