Old Boy (2003)

After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five 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 #67 | 38 wins & 18 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-Seok Yoo	...	Young Woo-jin (as Yeon-suk Ahn)
Il-han Oo	...	Young Joo-hwan
Su-hyeon Kim
Seung-jin Lee

Storyline

Abducted on a rainy night in 1988, the obnoxious drunk, Oh Dae-Su, much to his surprise, wakes up locked in a windowless and dilapidated hotel room, for an unknown reason. There, his invisible and pitiless captors will feed him, clothe him and sedate him to avoid committing suicide, and as his only companion and a window to the world is the TV in his stark cell, the only thing that helps Oh Dae-Su keep going is his daily journal. But then, unexpectedly, after fifteen long years in captivity, the perplexed prisoner is deliberately released, encouraged to track down his tormentor to finally get his retribution. Nevertheless, who would hate Oh Dae-Su so much he would deny him of a quick and clean death?

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Plot Keywords:

imprisonment | brother sister relationship | revenge | psychological torture | captive | 

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Taglines:

Imprisoned for 15 years... ...5 days to seek revenge

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Genres:

Action | 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 USA:

$68,957, 25 March 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$707,481

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,272,524

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Egg Films, Show East

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chan-wook Park wanted a documentary feel during the police station scene by using jump cutting. As a result, most of Min-sik Choi's ad libbed lines were trimmed. The full ad libbed scenes are found on the UK Tartan DVD.

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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: Why'd you lock me up, you
[tries to think of the word]
Dae-su Oh: ... dick-shit?

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Connections

References King Kong (1933)

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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.