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Oldboy (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:118
Fresh:96
Rotten:22
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: A strange, powerful tale of revenge.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language.
Runtime: 2 hrs 25 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release:Mar 25, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $637,778
Synopsis: It would be a sin to reveal too much about this riveting and bizarre thriller from Korean director Chan Wook Park, except to say that it's about a man named Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik) who is locked in a... It would be a sin to reveal too much about this riveting and bizarre thriller from Korean director Chan Wook Park, except to say that it's about a man named Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik) who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor's motives. When he is finally released, Dae Su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and strangeness. His own quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls for an attractive sushi chef (Gang Hye-Jung), who feeds him live octopus and who may or may not be involved with the bizarre mystery. This is all served up in a striking palette of purples and dark reds; oozing with post-neo-noir style, and stuffed with insanely malicious twists and turns. Choi Min-Sik is terrific in the lead, counterbalancing over-the-top hysterics with deadpan cool to run the gamut of Asian antihero traits. There are intense fight scenes (Dae Su's favorite weapon is a hammer), look-away moments of torture and self-mutilation, sex, and gallons of black humor. Not for the squeamish, but for those seeking something wholly original and daring, this cinematic entree is alive--it's hard to imagine a better slice of psycho-shock sensationalism. [More]
Starring: Choi Min-Sik, Bo-Kyeong Kim, Yoo Ji-tae
Starring: Choi Min-Sik, Bo-Kyeong Kim, Yoo Ji-tae
Director: Chan Wook Park
Director: Chan Wook Park
Screenwriter: Chan Wook Park
Studio: Tartan Films
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Reviews for Oldboy
As played by Choi Min-shik, Dae-su attains tragic stature. He's like a shaggy King Lear undone by his own foolishness.
Definitivamente no para todos los gustos, esta violenta y asombrosa película coreana promete convertirse en una de las verdaderas sorpresas del año.
Park has a strong visual style and a near-surrealistic noir touch, but unraveling the mystery scarcely repays sitting through his relentless rounds of gut-wrenching violence.
Not to everyone's tastes, but if you have a strong stomach, OldBoy is sure to impress.
Its tentacles are still wriggling in my memory, as if I just ate something that should never have been served in the first place.
That Park has talent in the technical department is a given; that he's a good filmmaker is debatable.
It's hard to make an argument for Oldboy based on anything other than pure cinematics, but when the style speaks this loudly, it's an argument worth making.
This is absolutely not a film for all tastes, but it's a masterpiece of pitiless power whose audacious, ambiguous climax strikes a note of insane romanticism as haunting as it is perverse.
Three couples were talking out loud as the film started. But before I could give them the traditional New York 'Shut the #%*& Up,' the movie shut them the #%*& up for me.
The buzz was right: Oldboy confirms Park as one of the best filmmakers working today.
If you can handle what Park Chan-wook dishes, you'll discover a tragedy that isn't easy to shake.
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