After many years of hearing great word of mouth and reading countless excellent reviews, my anticipation finally hit boiling point and led me to watch what could be not only my favorite foreign film, but perhaps my favourite crime film of recent memory.
Directed by Park Chan-wook, and based on the manga of the same name, Oldboy is the second film in Chan-wook's revenge trilogy and arguably the best one of the bunch. The story centers around Oh Dae-Su, who after being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years of his life, he is suddenly released as he goes on a journey to find his captor and learn not only why he was kidnapped, but more importantly, why he was released.
This film is dark, bitter and difficult to watch but don't let that stop you from taking one of the most gripping and interesting psychological cinematic experiences you can have while watching a film that doesn't let meer entertainment be its goal, where it options to challenge the viewer and takes them forward on a journey where you want be the same from once you started.
The visual style of the film works perfectly with Chan-wook crafting a near perfect neo-noir setting for his characters to traverse with the soundtrack by Jo Yeong-wook working splendidly in tandem with the cinematic exploits that we love getting wrapped up with on screen. The acting is solid, while maybe not being breathtaking, there are some definite scenes of amazement when you see the true emotion these actors can get to and never find yourself being distracted by moments of poor acting. The acting may be solid but that doesn't stop some moments being truly breathtaking especially the final 20 mins of the film truly making me hold my breath and feel completely wrapped up in Oh Dae-Su's story.
Whatever you do DON'T watch this film with the English dub. While it might appear easier to watch than the subtitled version, don't let that stop you from watching the film how it was intended to be watched. I'm glad I watched the subtitled version as the passion that is put into every one of every actor's lines transcends language and after hearing some of the half-assed attempts from the dubbed version, don't waste your time.
In conclusion this film not only had be hooked from beginning to end but had a psychological hold over me that has lasted days after watching this film. My only complaint is that I didn't watch this film sooner and had to wait till now to enjoy such an excellent film.
My score: 9/10
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