Oldeuboi (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 250 #84 | 17 wins & 11 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
Jin-seo Yun	...	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:

money | imprisonment | revenge | police | birthday | 

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Taglines:

End of confrontation, one must die.

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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] Tartan Films [United States]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

21 November 2003 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Oldboy

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$85,351 (USA) (15 April 2005)

Gross:

$707,391 (USA) (2 December 2005)

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

Min-sik Choi is a Buddhist and had to pray after eating the octopi.

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Goofs

All throughout the hallway fight scene, it is obvious that the goons don't actually kick Dae-Su. Many times they kick him and his body doesn't react, while other times their kicks are even too far from his body that it appears they are kicking air, despite the fact he is motionless on the floor.

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Quotes

Dae-su Oh: [Dae-su is about to use a clawhammer to yank out someone's teeth] Each one I yank out will make you age for one year. Ready to talk?

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Connections

Remade as Oldboy (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Waltz"
from "Masquerade"
by Aram Khachaturyan

User Reviews

One of most well-made films I've ever seen

I decided to check this movie out after Ebert's 4 star rave review, and the cult status this movie has received (and was also intrigued by the sexy-looking Ultimate Edition), so I decided to rent it. I was VERY surprised at how different it was than I expected it to be - I expected a ton of violence and not much in the way of writing or acting. The first time I saw it, I wasn't blown away, just kind of like whatever.

When I watched it for the second time, however, I really started to notice how well it's made, in addition to liking it more. Every shot is bursting with background detail, a great amount of attention on the production design (the theme of a certain color in a scene was restrained, yet perfectly balanced). The actors really gave it all, especially the 2 male leads who really blew me away. The music is a varied mix of beautiful classical music and some pretty cool techno. The screenplay is brilliant; the characters are developed very well, extremely complex, and the plot is not only ingenious, but the payoff and twists are 1000x better than any Shamaylan movie.

Simply put, from a technical point of view, it's one of the best movies ever. From a critic's point of view, it is a very well-done movie that goes a little overboard in sex and violence, and is just a little strange.