The Greatest Films #1:Old Boy

I’ve decided to start putting together a list of the greatest movies that everyone should see. I love doing top ten lists and everything, but I really would love to discuss classics for a few paragraphs. Also, I hate it when articles get long winded so I’ve adopted a 3 paragraph system that will make the articles super easy and fun to read.

Background:

Old Boy is one of the best Asian films ever made. The fact I left it out of my list of best films of the decade was a huge blunder, but what are you going to do? During the 2000s two countries dominated world cinema in terms of creativity and quality: Mexico and South Korea. The two countries were having filmmaking renaissances similar to France in the 60s, U.S. in the 70s, and Hong Kong in the 80s.

Fueled by fantastic filmmaking grants and tax incentives, as well as an audience more interested in in local films, the film industry in South Korea began to thrive. It is safe to say many of the films from South Korea will be, if nothing else, the most unique you’re likely to ever see. Old Boy is no exception.

What it is about:

Directed by master Park Chan-wook Old Boy opens with one of those great premises that you wish you thought of first. Adapted from a famous manga (graphic novel), Old Boy opens with a man Oh Dae-Su being arrested for public drunkenness. After he is released from the cops he is mysteriously kidnapped and locked in a hotel room for fifteen years.

Given only fried dumplings for food and only a TV for entertainment. He fills his days training for the moment he is released when he will get sweet revenge on his captors.

He is released and immediately falls for a local Sushi chef, Mi-do, who helps him on his quest for vengeance. A man, Woo-jin, reveals himself as Oh’s capture and says if he does not find the reasoning behind his imprisonment in five days, Woo will kill Mi-do. This is when the movie truly becomes great.

Why it is a great film:

Violence is plentiful in this movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if most people called it an exploitation film. It features teeth being ripped out, tongues being cut off, suicides, murders, drawn-out fight scenes, and much more. But violence has never been so important. It is used to make Oh Dae-Su’s vengeance more visceral, not to just exploit.

Oldboy also contains one of the great fight scenes of the past ten years. American filmmakers are known to cut fifteen times in one punch. Paul Greengrass could cut fifteen times in one sneeze. (I guess he’s from the UK, but you get the point) Park ambitiously films a fight scene with no cuts for almost four minutes. Why are the no edits important? Well, first because it is “cool”. Second because it is important for characterization. We need to see the extent of Oh’s exhaustion when fighting wave after wave of goons. Every time a cut happens it is like the bell ringing in a boxing match. Using few or no cuts shows the relentlessness of Oh’s rage.

Viewers will be shocked to the extent that the director uses sex and violence as a story-telling devices, but it is most certainly necessary. The places the film goes are soul-shattering and will likely leave you rocked to the core. The end unravels like a nightmare and it is fair to say you should go into this movie knowing as little as possible about the second half.

Word was that Speilberg had his fingers all over a remake with Will Smith starring. Thank god that never happened.

-Collin