Cause it is a good movie.
Movies aren’t about the history, but about how it is told.
See The Birds for example. That’s the dumbest plot I’ve ever seen:
A bunch of birds start attacking a small town in California. Why is that? Cause a woman brought an exotic bird – which is some kind of evil Hamelin Flutist of the birds – to the town…
And guess what? That’s a masterpiece…
Ok that sometimes the aesthetic isn’t enought to save the dumb plot, but in those cases it is!
Wait, that’s why the birds were attacking?
When did they explain it?
Thank you, Johnny.
I disagree.
Watch it again, every bird attack comes right after the exotic bird song.
Yes, it’s a horrible movie.
You just blew my mind!
I never noticed that!
Anyway, I think that we should all just gang up on Knowing. I think we can all agree that it’s worse than Oldboy and, therefore, worthier of our negative criticism.
Knowing is a good example of a extremelly dumb mother fucking aikhedi4lkhifhaihieasdq plot which the aesthetic isn’t good enought to save it!
Plus, it has Nicolas Cage.
Once again, we’re emphasizing the “twist” in a film … why are “twists” significant again? Oh, that’s the trend, that’s right. Anyway, I totally agree with the OP’s conclusion about this film, however the “twist” is the least of this film’s problems.
Jonny, yeah except for that fight sequence when he’s fighting with a knife in his back. I think people like it because its a safe choice for something shocking.
I enjoyed it, but I see it as a really dark popcorn movie.
People like it because it has the same kind of appeal as Donnie Darko.
Wait, what’s wrong with saying he was hypnotized? That wasn’t the twist itself, that was just the mechanism they used to get to the twist. How else could they have possibly done it, anyway? How could they have gotten him to do what he did otherwise?
And the “whole movie was explained away”? Not at all! Not the villain’s motives. Not what he did. Just how they got him to do it. It’s not like he woke up and it was all a dream, or something dumb like that. That’s like saying the twist in memento explains everything.
Not that I have a strong connection to oldboy, I just don’t think those are legitimate reasons to hate a film that much.
I had the same experience as Johnny, brought it after all the praise and best of decade lists and I just did not see what all the fuss was about, I found it totally uninteresting disposable fare, some cool stylistic stuff but nothing much else. How people love it so bewilders me
I’m with Jirin. It’s fun stuff but nowhere close to the best from that region.
I’m so happy I don’t listen to ‘fuss’ and just enjoy watching movies.
I loved it, because it explores some very dark themes about humanity. That being said, do I think Park Chan-wook is the best South Korean filmmaker? No, but at least he’s got his head on his shoulders, unlike… Kim Ki-duk… ;)
Savvy
I don’t like the film either. It’s not about overdose of sex and violence, it’s all about pretentiousness with sex and violence, when it’s not even needed. I felt the protagonist just appears in different scenes, without making any sense where or how the hell he has found out to be there or how his logic works, just to be involved in another incest/violence/gross sequence, to fascinate those who think it’s a big deal. What a hot air balloon! Not my cup of tea.
@JOHNNY
When you reveal key plot details that happen very late in a film, please alert others by saying SPOILER so that you won’t affect their viewing experience.
I just thought it was a bad movie all together. For some reason I was just bored throughout. Some of the action scenes were pretty cool, but it was just dull I thought. Perhaps it needs a rewatch.
Personally, I like it. The movie is by no means perfect but i’m glad I watched it.
The Birds is a boring, uninteresting film…no one has yet to convince me otherwise. the arguments for why its a masterpiece have been weak.
it is not a masterpiece but it is a good movie
I give Hitch the credit it was well made but I did not like it. way too long for me.
it’s a masterpiece PERIOD
the thing is, i liked the main character, i liked the visual style, and the action scenes, but the hypnotism thing ruined it for me. how can you hypnotise someone into forgetting so many traumatic events?? or fall in love? and how come the villain, who he went to school with was like twenty years younger than him??
but the opening scene where he’s wasted is fucking hilarious. one of my favorite scenes from a movie.
I’m squarely with the people who believe you can’t get hung up on details of a film like this… the plot is dense and twisty and pulpy, and this excuses its implausibility. Contrived game-changing twists and deus ex machinas are just a basic feature of the pulp thriller genre, and Oldboy has just as much a right to use them as any other super-kinetic stylized action film.
The film isn’t famous for its clever or interesting narrative movement (like 6th Sense / Vertigo / early Nolan). What it does right is that it presents a kind of twisted noir premise, and then as it spins out the scenario, it peels back layer and layer of more twisted shit. This makes it a very vicious, sinister movie, taken as a whole… the little gruesome, provocative moments are just accents on its general shape. This shape: it’s a kitschy action/pulp noir thriller, a basic brawling revenge story, layered over a much darker, more malevolent family saga of cruelty and retribution.
It’s true, Park is no Hitchcock, but come on… you can reject any movie by picking out one element (a particular plot point) and fixating on it to discredit the whole thing. Park is a director with a unique vision, and a really authentic, effective way of bringing it to the screen.
That’s my advocacy for the day.
Well said Jesse.
I’m not a fan either.
No!
johnny
i kept seeing it on all these top movie lists and finally i broke down and went down the street and picked it up for 6 bucks because i knew they had it at the used bookstore. so i watched it with my girlfriend, and when the whole movie was explained away with “hypnotism” we both sat there in shock. THAT was the twist? THAT was how they explained everything that is the stupidest plot i’ve ever heard. at least for a major release that got so much praise. HYPNOTISM?? what the fuck?? why did people respond to this movie so much???
if it weren’t for the hypnotism and meeting the villain so early on it would have been awesome, but that just ruined the whole thing for me.
why is this movie considered so great?