Old Boy (2003)

After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Garon Tsuchiya (story), Nobuaki Minegishi (comic)

Stars:

Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang

Top Rated Movies #66 | 26 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Min-sik Choi	...	Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu	...	Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Mi-do
Dae-han Ji	...	No Joo-hwan
Dal-su Oh	...	Park Cheol-woong
Byeong-ok Kim	...	Mr. Han
Seung-shin Lee	...	Yoo Hyung-ja (as Seung-Shin Lee)
Jin-seo Yoon	...	Lee Soo-ah
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Beggar
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Suicidal Man
Tae-kyung Oh	...	Young Dae-su
Yeon-suk Ahn	...	Young Woo-jin
Il-han Oo	...	Young Joo-hwan
Su-hyeon Kim
Seung-jin Lee

Storyline

An average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, Oh Dae-Su soon finds out that his kidnapper has a greater plan for him and is set onto a path of pain and suffering in an attempt to uncover the motive of his mysterious tormentor.

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Plot Keywords:

imprisonment | revenge | love | hypnosis | brother sister relationship | 

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Taglines:

Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Russia] Wild Side Films [France]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

29 September 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

Old Boy

Filming Locations:

Songgye High School, Chinju, Kyongsangnam-Do, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$44,465 (Hong Kong) (15 October 2004)

Gross:

$2,181,290 (USA) (20 December 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Egg Films, Show East

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four live octopodes were eaten for the scene with Dae-su in the sushi bar, a scene which provoked some controversy abroad. Eating live octopus in Korea is commonplace although it is usually sliced first. When the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the director thanked the octopodes along with the cast and crew.

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Goofs

When Oh Daesu passes out after eating the octopus, you can see camera equipment reflecting in the silver platter dish as the scene zooms out.

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Quotes

Dae-su Oh: [Dae Su is on his knees. Begging] Please. Don't tell Mido. What has she done wrong? You know it was all my fault... I have committed an unforgivable sin, against your sister. And I also... Did you wrong. Please leave Mido alone... If by any chance Mido finds out the truth, you son of a bitch, I'll tear you limb from limb. And your remains will never be found. Why? Because I'm going to swallow every last bit.
[Crawls over to Woo-Jin and starts to grovel to Woo-Jin]
Dae-su Oh: Woo-Jin! Please, sir, I made a ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofed in You Are Beautiful: Episode #1.3 (2009)

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Soundtracks

Waltz
from "Masquerade"
by Aram Khachaturyan

User Reviews

One step ahead of America

Oldboy takes a hammer and "batters" its American equivalents, leaving them as pulped as a chewed up squid. Park Chan Wook displays what America misses with his ultra-stylish, ultra-violent thriller. Why watch Ben Affleck fail spectacularly to summon any displayable talent, when Min sik Choi serves up a memorable role as the disturbed, vengeful Dae Su Oh, in the second of the Vengeance trilogy. Park skillfully creates a compelling plot that will have you guessing through the entire film, up until the final shocking revelation. The Cinematography expertly done by Jeong-hun Jeong, who also worked on the follow up to this film, Chinjeolhan geumjassi. Everything about this film is done in style and panache and creates a memorable experience, and has many memorable scenes.

Many people accuse this film of being "unrealistic". These people forget that this a film, not a documentary. No one complains About Star Wars being unrealistic, and rightly so. Films have a right to stretch out reality, don't forget the reason it does this is to be entertaining.

Although the film has strong violence of a graphic nature, I advise you to watch it, if only to broaden your perspectives of world and Asian cinema.