’’WHY ?!??’’
A life turned upside down ... darkness all around... the voice in the background echoes the question ... what is more difficult - the actual torture or not knowing the answer to the question ’’Why?’’. ’’Oldboy’’ (yes, that’s one word) begins with a stunning visual - A man suspended from the top of a skyscraper. All that is stopping him from dropping down is his tie, held by a man who seems to be mentally ill. It is a metaphor for a man on an edge.
From this jolting frame, the movie never falters in its pace and rhythm. The genius of this movie is that throughout this movie, there is a voice in our heads asking the same question as Oh-Daesu - ’’WHY ?’’
Oh-Daesu’s descent into hell starts one day, when in a very drunk state, he is kidnapped just after phoning his wife that he would be back home for dinner. When he regains consciousness, he is in a dungeon of some sort. He is treated like an animal, fed and kept alive for a special purpose. He has nobody for company, except for a television set. We hear Oh-Daesu’s resigned voice in the background ’’If I had known that I would be imprisoned for 15 years, would it have made it harder .... or easier ?’’ Outside his ’’prison’’ the world moves on. From the news, he sees that his wife has been murdered the day after he is kidnapped and his family album has been stolen from his house. The family album makes a terrifying comeback towards the end of the movie.
Then, one day, after 15 years, he is suddenly released. His captors are not done with him yet, of course. People who imprison you for 15 years and then, as mysteriously, release you have something special for you in mind. His captors seem one step ahead of him when he tries to track them down. There is definitely something strange about the woman whom he befriends and who becomes his lover ... the transition from friend to lover is too smooth to be true. Oh-Daesu finally faces his captors and is then given 5 days to exact his revenge.
After that, he either kills or gets killed.
Slowly but surely, Oh-Daesu unravels the mystery to exact his vengeance . Along the way, he tortures, maims, kills and outthinks the enemy. But the enemy is far greater in strength than he imagines. The ending is terrible in implication and is not meant for the weak-hearted. Surprisingly, there is very little physical violence in the climax compared to the rest of the movie. The violence is mental and thus, inflicts far greater wounds on its protagonists. The movie shows how deep the sentiment of revenge can run. And, ultimately how empty it can be. Halfway into the climax, Oh-Daesu’s captor sincerely remarks, ’’Now that I have my revenge, what will I live for ?’’ There is not even a hint of sarcasm in the way these words are said.
I can guarantee you that the last twenty minutes or so of this movie will be one of the most gut-wrenching climaxes you will see in any movie.
The imagery
The imagery and acting borders on genius. Whether it is Oh-Daesu (Choi Min-Sik) swallowing a live octopus (he swallowed three - they finally got it right on the fourth take) or the uncut hallway fight scene, the scenes are classics and worthy of a couple of rewinds. The hallway fight scene is just like a fight scene in a comic book ... a kind of scrunched up cinemascope. See the wiki entry in the links section below for more trivia.
Spoiler warning though, the ending is revealed in the Wiki entry.
The violence in the movie drains you with its brutal honesty and is so realistic, it will leave you with a cold feeling in the pit of your stomach. At the risk of lapsing into hyperbole, I would say this movie redefines violence in the cinematic medium. Somewhere along the way, it manages to explore the depths of taboos like incest and graphic sexuality which will make you look away.
Comparison with Zinda
I will leave this one upto you ... I don’t watch movies starring zombie actors who, in real life, buy T-shirts for underworld dons. This is my boycott, my little ’’satyagraha’’. I can bet my last paisa though, that ’’Zinda’’ did not show Sanjay Dutt masturbating in front of a television set. Only cool visuals please, we are Indian rip-offs.
Good links for this movie
(Wish mouthshut allowed html links in user space)
An in-depth review and comparison with Zinda -
https://kaijushakedown.com/2006/01/zinda_review.html
An open letter to rip-off artist, Sanjay Gupta -
https://rediff.com/movies/2006/jan/20raja.htm
Another (funny) cowpie for Mr. Gupta - https://desitrain.com/2006/01/16/zinda-
where-thou-soul/
Interview with Sanjay ’’My-next-movie-will-also-be-a rip-off-so-What-you-gonna-do-about-it’’ Gupta -
https://indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=86724
Wiki entry (pay heed to the spoiler warning please) -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy