Oldboy (2003) Oldeuboi (original title)

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Garon Tsuchiya (story)
Nobuaki Minegishi (comic) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 November 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Imprisonment | Revenge | Police Station | Friend

Awards:

17 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

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
Su-kyeong Yun
Myeong-shin Park
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dae-han Chi
Yi Yong	...	Delivery Boy
Joe Cappelletti	...	Young Dae-su (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Mari Devon	...	Beautician (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Crispin Freeman	...	Woo-jin Lee (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Steve Kramer	...	Newscaster / Cop 1 (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Sherry Lynn	...	Mi-do (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Michael McConnohie	...	Dae-su Oh (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Lee Soo-ah (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Kirk Thornton	...	Park Cheol-woong (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Hypnotist (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Chan-wook Park

Writing credits
Garon Tsuchiya		(story)
Nobuaki Minegishi		(comic)
Jo-yun Hwang		screenplay
Chun-hyeong Lim		screenplay
Joon-hyung Lim		writer
Chan-wook Park		screenplay

Produced by
Dong-Joo Kim	....	producer
Dong-ju Kim	....	executive producer
Seung-yong Lim	....	producer

Original Music by
Hyun-jung Shim

Cinematography by
Chung-hoon Chung

Film Editing by
Sang-beom Kim

Production Design by
Seong-hie Ryu

Costume Design by
Sang-gyeong Jo

Sound Department
Alex Gordon	....	adr engineer
Seung-cheol Lee	....	sound

Visual Effects by
C. Jin Im	....	main titles supervisor
Jeon-hyeong Lee	....	visual effects
Ju-won Lee	....	digital compositor
Il Hwan Na	....	digital compositor

Music Department
Seung-hyun Choi	....	composer: theme music
Yeong-wook Jo	....	director of music
Ji-soo Lee	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Damien Saccani	....	development executive

Production Companies

• Egg Films
• Show East

Distributors

• 3L Filmverleih (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• 3L Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Bazuca Films (2006) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Lucky Red (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Show East (2003) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Toshiba Entertainment (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Europa Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Fundamental Films (2009) (China) (TV)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (all media)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2010) (Finland) (TV)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2003) (USA) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Rialto Distribution (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Rialto Distribution (2005) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Rialto Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Starmax (2004) (South Korea) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• HFR  dailies

Also Known As:

"Oldeuboi" - South Korea (original title)
"Old Boy" - International (English title) (DVD title)
"Old Boy" - Japan (English title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Argentina:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Taiwan:R-18 | Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (tv rating) | Brazil:18 | Italy:T | Norway:18 (unrated) | Norway:15 (DVD) | Belgium:16 | Israel:18 | Chile:18 | Belgium:KNT | Argentina:16 (DVD rating) | Mexico:C | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Poland:15 | Denmark:15 | Czech Republic:18 | Peru:18 | Canada:R (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Company:

Egg Films

Trivia:

According to the cast commentary, Min-sik Choi wanted the cameraman to follow his legs when playing with the toy wings. He was trying to do a "moonwalk" originally done by Michael Jackson.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There seems to be a mistranslation regarding one Chinese character. Dae Su and Mido go to several Blue Dragon restaurants to test-taste the dumplings. The Chinese characters actually translate to Green Dragon.

Quotes:

Dae-su Oh:[after a huge fight] As I expected, I can't get along with anyone today either.

Movie Connections:

References Branded to Kill (1967)

Soundtrack:

Bring My Love

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.