MUBI

As screened @ Cinemuse
Certainly one of the most intriguing, deeply contemplative and artistically, poetic films I have ever seen. Yes, perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but one cannot deny that this film deeply impacts the viewer on so many levels.

It left me speechless. I knew that the story resonated with so many emotions, fears, dreams and desires, but at the end, the story did not allow me to make any judgment call… just yet. I had to allow it to simmer. To slowly sink in to my inner self and let it come to the fore… in it’s own time… when it so pleases. Only “La double vie de Véronique” had me so speechless at the end.

Every scene flows seamlessly, artistically and poetically into the next. Nothing felt out of place, or forced. The cinematography and direction style, a perfect compliment to this contemplative study of man’s darkest emotions, greatest fears and deepest desires.

To comment thoughtfully on all of the film, I would have to watch this film again… perhaps even a few more times. But allow me just to touch on the scene where the main character escapes from 15years of imprisonment and isolation. The first human he sees is, is a man on top of tall building, holding a maltese poodle, and wanting to kill himself. This man, who so desires affection, love and understanding, is met with our main character at a moment where he desires exactly the same, but in a totally different capacity. A most contradictory flow of emotions ensue. It is brilliant screen writing.

Along with a performance from actor, Choi Min-sik… which is like none I have ever seen. I cannot recall any film where an actor so convincingly portrays so many conflicting emotions. So elaborate, while at the same time, so controlled, so subtle. In my book… most worthy of an Academy Award. Perhaps, an Academy Award won’t even do it justice…

(I now feel like David Attenborough on BBC’s Planet Earth. Everything is ‘most’ this… and ‘biggest’ that… and ‘greatest’ this! Well, that’s how I feel about this film.)

Ante la locura de estar encerados en un mundo tan cotidiano y dejar que esa rabia aflorezca , sacamos el mounstruo que tenemos como lo encontramos como hacemos para que ese mounstruo acabe en el fondo de nuestras almas sin siquiera tocar una pizca de nosotros , ante tantoodio tanta rutina el hombre se a preparado para nacer como un nuevo ser integral , por que el hombre hace el mal , sin importarle nada ? que creen de la maldad ? del bien ? son tan ingenuos para dejarlo pasar asi no mas , vivimos presas de nuestra propia carniceria de odio nada mas somos tan putrefactos que hacemos eso y nos escudamos en nuetra porqueria de sntimientos inocuos OKKKK
Pasemos a la pelicula OLD BOY lo que hable arriba es la pelicula leanlo con calma si es quieren leerlo y despues analicen si quieren ver este auntetico festin de emociones sadicas y locura ……………………..
que les parece ?

This is the second in the vengeance trilogy and appropriately it is my second favorite in the series. This film is extraordinary in that it asks a question that vengeance movies seldom ask (if ever): are you really innocent? Have you perhaps done something that merits punishment? Would you recognize it when that punishment befalls you?

Choi Min-sik’s performance is a tour de force, making Oh Dae-su simultaneously sympathetic, pathetic and contemptible. Park Chan-wook’s direction borders on the surreal as it descends into the darkest corners of the human heart. I can’t say that I’ve seen anything like it.

how stupid i am,.calling this piece of pure art and entertainment overrated ! i didn’t know what’s got into me the first time around.,maybe i’m not in the right mood.,or maybe its my prejudice against korean film.or maybe,i’m just too young to understand it.well,that’s not important now,.the important thing is, now,.from the story into the visual perspective,this is a winner.whoa.
yes,the story is a little controversial,and disturbing,but fortunately,chan-wook,with his great directorial flair,makes me forget of the controversy with his very unique and beautiful style.

An astonishing film in so many ways. It’s storytelling is jaw dropping, from the first thirty minutes alone I had been reduced to a ball of moist clay and the shape of my being completely under the film’s spell. It sent me to awesome invulnerable heights where Oh Dae-su had seemingly become an unstoppable, mean, green, vengeance machine. From my shaky throne I was thrust into the ultimate depths of depraved suffering, left to writhe in a pool of my own bloody vomit with no visible light at the end of the tunnel. But alas the shape of my miserable being was, in the end, given a soft bed of snow, cooling my enraged soul and giving me hope… roll credits…

A twisted tale of revenge that vacillates between psychological thriller and bilious gore. Many find in this film the philosophical antithesis of the conventional good guy / bad guy revenge flick; for me, the entire premise is so outlandish and twisted that I think it’s overreaching to attempt to extrapolate any grand statements about life or the human existence. But who cares? It’s an engaging story, well-told, cleverly photographed.

Buttressed by one of the gnarliest denouements in modern cinema, “Oldboy” has the style to entice and the storytelling chops to leave one in awe.

Whether it does leave you in awe or just turns your stomach by the end, watching “Oldboy” is a truly unforgettable experience. Only the first of its several plot turns is when the young, married man Oh Dae-Su is stolen away after a drunk evening and locked away for more than a decade for who knows what or why. Once he’s out, he’s understandably consumed with vengeance at who could’ve possibly thrown him away for such a while.

The striking cinematography makes for fluid shifts in setting to serve the narrative, from from sunburned cityscapes and dingy gallows all the way to clean, chic high-tech palaces and back into ghostly flashback sequences. The actors, who mostly are stuck portraying archetypes as opposed to fully fleshed-out personalities, are perfectly fine. They play it straight, as the story calls for them to so often, but Dae-Su’s school days friend, and even the villain, allow for some humorous asides from the vengeful narrative.

There are also the gruesome bits that have reaped much attention on this one, such as Dae-Su munching on a living octopus, and a few men getting their teeth pulled with a hammer. And that’s not even mentioning the unnerving sequence at the heart of its tale.

What makes “Oldboy” so good and memorable is in its resolution. It’s an impressive ride up to a certain point, when you become aware of how it’s relying a bit on its artifice to keep its appeal. But once that resolution comes, it provocatively, but in unspoken terms, asks of its protagonist and the audience, when you have a chance to walk away from it, are revenge and vengeance worth it?

It’s weird calling something wonderful that ends on such a ghastly note, but “Oldboy” is just that. A film with style to burn, burn, burn and the plot and story to elevate it to high tragedy.

I don’t think a villain has spoken two sentences in a film, not in a purely fictional work anyway, that leave you so stunned as the one does in “Oldboy.”

“I have a bug on me. Can you find it?”

The poetry of vengeance. Park Chan-Wook directed this haunting virtuoso mystery. The Korean cast is superb. The cinematography is exquisite. The editing—amazing. The music—unexpected and beautiful. And none of this would matter if it wasn’t so moving, so funny, so dark, so tragic. And it has the single-most, jaw-dropping fight scene in cinema history. Pure Genius.

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Overrated good movie.

Unique storyline told from the David Fincher playbook. That’s just my observation.

The lead performance is commited, and the material gets unneedingly convoluted during the second half. The pacing is tight, I just found the climax baffling, after all the guy went through a catharsis and greater emphasis on his relief should be the emphasis.

It pulls no punches, that’s the great thing about it.

IT IS NOT a masterpiece, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.