Oldboy
If there was ever a case against remakes, especially Tartan Asia Extreme to English remakes, then the complete movie flop Oldboy by Spike Lee should be first evidence. Released today, the American version of the Manga comic has already been panned and reactions across the ponds don’t seem to be doing it any favours.
And why?
Why is it that Oldboy isn’t doing so well when given English language and famous actors? Well, mainly because the original was just so iconic and brilliantly done. It is hard to swallow a new version that seemingly ignores the true mark of revenge horrors. And certainly is a lesser effort than Park Chan-Wok’s work. So this isn’t a review on the new remake, it is in fact a look at the old masterpiece.
Oldboy is the 2003 South Korean Horror move by Park Chan-Wok (who recently did the exquisite Stoker.) It tells the story of Oh Dae-Su, a drunken man who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years in a cheap motel. When he released on a roof top, he is given an ultimatum by his kidnapper; he has to discover the reason for his imprisonment in five days or the women he loves will die. With the help of sushi waitress, Mi-Do (a younger woman who starts falling for Dae-Su,) he must find the answers; even if that includes a few accidents happening.
This will always be a perfect example of revenge movies because it isn’t just an exercise in blood and gore. The story written by three man team ( ) and it is teaming with an astonishing plot that twists and turns alongside the violence. Rather than the main focus being just how many teeth can be extracted, it hammers the complexities and fragilities of the human spirits. Oldboy is more than squishy entrails, it is intelligent and excavates the depths of humanity when it is bent out of shape and perverted at all cost.
It also helps that Chan-Wok is a visionary genius and that doesn’t mean pressing sepia effects on your camera either. The way Chan-Wok tells stories through the images and set up is fantastic. There is one such scene where a fight ensues between Dae-Su and gang members. The way is filmed is so similar to a video game but it is intensely clever. Chan-Wok is the master of brutality conveyed in beautiful ways. It is where the visuals are used to enhance the story, to captivate the audience and to tell a rather achingly vivid film.
So it’s not for the squeamish and there are moments that will make you look away. Oldboy is bleak and twisted but it is alarmingly intelligent and is a classic horror story. While the remake may not fare so well due to the reliance of torture porn, this original manga adaptation is teaming with a turning narrative that, although leads to an alarming place, it is steeped with this intense madness that is authentically terrifying. Astonishingly brave and almost poetic, avoid the new version and pop this one in.
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