Oldboy 2003 Film Review
Watching Oldboy was a surreal experience. You might have seen a number of films that surprised you with their script, cinematography, and many other aspects, providing a unique experience but Oldboy stands unique amongst them despite the test of time. I’ve seen many such movies, but Oldboy ranks highest among them all. The life of Dae-su, the main character of the film, is a depiction of tragedy and ill fortune.
From the beginning, where Dae-su seems to invite trouble into his own life and yet remains aloof, it all gradually builds up in scenes where tragedy darkens his life even during moments of pleasure. In the end, tragedy triumphs, and Dae-su becomes completely blurred to the loss and acceptance of it. That is pretty much the theme of the entire film.
Park Chan-wook has given a beauty to the theater of this film. The entire movie runs among limited characters, all related to each other, but the nature of the movie remains unaffected. The brute emotions are the beauty in this movie. Dae-su is following an enemy who is as ambiguous to him as the crime he committed but hasn’t consciously accepted as his guilt.
Only in the end does he connect all the dots and uncover the chronicles of the events. To his own surprise, he was running after his own trauma, only to find psychological defeat and physical surrender because while he was trying to punish his incarcerator, he was committing another sin. Lee Woo-jin, the antagonist, didn’t really put Dae-Su in private prison to take revenge but only to create a man who he wanted to take revenge on, not by capitulation but by making Dae-su defenseless and powerless against reflection of his own life.
Dae-su was released from prison as a man but only to become a creature with lost memory and no future in sight. The dialogues were sharp, humorous on occasions, but mostly of a deceptive nature. Less was said but more was understood; the emotions were as pure as they could be. Every character was gripped by loneliness, their existence never free from horrors and guilt.
Mi-do was deprived of affection, veiled with innocence, as if tragedy never wanted to leave someone with happiness. From childhood, Mi-do only knew loss and trauma. Finally, when a ray of hope appears in her life, it all leads to the worst outcome, derailed and suddenly breaking her into pieces. Her eyes searched for a lover, and fate accused her of being too greedy.
There are two suicides in the film, both stemming from the purposelessness of life. When the shining sun doesn't bring a new day and the passing night leaves a person abandoned, it is a farewell to all. Lee Woo-jin lives only to teach a lesson to an imbecile who he thought had spoken a lie and must face the consequences. For himself, the guilt made him an empty shell, living as a prisoner in his own body, ultimately releasing himself with a gunshot to his own temple.
The soundtrack of Oldboy deserves special praise. The scenes are brought to life with the help of music. Everything moves in harmony when accompanied by music. A few words on the entire movie will suffice to conclude the review. The movie is based on a Japanese manga of the same name, but the theme and setting are different not only in degree but in kind. The movie has a few adaptations, but it would be an injustice to draw any comparisons among the works. Oldboy is a serious movie with many raw emotions on display.
