What a ride...

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2010)

This is probably the movie that brought me into Asian cinema. I had seen a few films of Kurosawa or John Woo before, but I never took a look further into it. Oldboy changed that completely. Oh Dae-su is kidnapped on his daughter's birthday and then held captive for 15 years. He than one day wakes up on top of a skyscraper, at the exact same spot he was captured. Now he is looking for the reason of his captivity and he wants revenge
I first heard about this movie from other critics calling it one of the best movies of its year or something along those lines. So I rented it and was absolutely stunned. The cinematography is so beautiful yet gruesome, it's full of pictures that will stay in your head days after watching it. Might it be one of the memorable fight scenes or the breath-taking finale. The story is very simple in its premise, but develops very well and takes a few unexpected turns. A guy looking for revenge sounds very familiar and not original at all, but what Park Chan-wook does with it, is something no one else could have done the same way. In my opinion he might very well be one of the best directors of the last decade and this shows exactly why. Choi Min-sik and Yu Ji-tae do an amazing job playing their respective roles. The often very unusual scenes aren't easy to play, but the two pull it off pretty good. The other actors do a decent job as well. The soundtrack is just great and has a style close to romantic composer Edvard Grieg. The songs fit perfectly to the scenes and underline the tragic tone of the movie.
I think this is one of the best movies of the 2000's. It has a great story, solid actors and a magnificent score. The film may be a little violent at times and the story with its difficult themes is definitely not for everybody, but you should give it a shot.