Tuesday - Movies
The Age
Thursday August 14, 2008
Oldboy (2003)
World Movies, 11.30amWinner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2004, this South Korean hit takes concepts close to the heart of Asian exploitation cinema - such as all-consuming revenge and martial arts mayhem - and recasts them with director Park Chan-Wook's eye for stylish intensity and a feel for devastating moral repercussions. From the first musical cue and razor-sharp edit, Oldboy rarely abates in either energy or the search for the limits of both body and spirit. As Oh Dae-Su, an obnoxious drunk kidnapped off the streets and imprisoned by unknown captors without reason for 15 years, Choi Min-Sik gives a brooding, mesmeric performance. He's beyond the definition of a human being, yet is exposed to all that life has to offer as he seeks retribution with a hammer in his hand. Broken down to the point of insanity and then rebuilt, he's returned to the world at large and challenged to find his jailer and divine the motives. More savage than noble, he brutally ricochets through the streets and - memorably - corridors of Seoul. A pitched battle against his captors is at once staggeringly bloody and technically audacious. It's only after it's passed that you realise it's shot from an angle that doesn't exist. -- CRAIG MATHIESON
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