CHAN-WOOK PARK
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.
Original title: Oldeuboi
South Korea, 2003. CJ Entertainment, Egg Films, Show East, CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics, Moho Film, Stone Comics Entertainment. Screenplay by Chan-wook Park, Chun-hyeong Lim, Jo-yun Hwang, Joon-hyung Lim, based on the story by Garon Tsuchiya, and the comic by Nobuaki Minegishi. Cinematography by Chung-hoon Chung. Produced by Dong-Joo Kim, Syd Lim. Music by Yeong-wook Jo. Production Design by Seong-hie Ryu. Costume Design by Sang-gyeong Jo. Film Editing by Sang-beom Kim. Cannes Film Festival 2004. Online Film Critics Awards 2005. Toronto International Film Festival 2004.
An average businessman has a crazy night out at the bar, passes out and wakes up in a strange hotel room. He is held captive for fifteen years without explanation, then released and given five days to figure out why he was captured and, possibly, why he was set free. This often unpleasant but intriguing film is the second of three revenge-themed films by Chan-wook Park, following Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and preceding Lady Vengeance. It features stunning cinematography and terrific acting, plus a refreshingly original style of storytelling that never lets you recognize a single thing that’s coming around the corner. Some viewers might be put off by the gory violence, however, and it does run a bit too long by the time it finally wraps up.
