Oldboy (2003 film)

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Oldboy

Theatrical release poster

Hangul 올드보이

Revised Romanization Oldeuboi

McCune–Reischauer Oldŭboi

Directed by Park Chan-wook

Produced by Lim Seung-yong

Hwang Jo-yun
Screenplay by
Lim Jun-hyung
Park Chan-wook

Based on Old Boy

by 
 Garon Tsuchiya
Nobuaki Minegishi

Starring Choi Min-sik

Yoo Ji-tae
Kang Hye-jung

Music by Cho Young-wuk

Cinematography Chung Chung-hoon

Edited by Kim Sang-bum

Production Show East

company

Distributed by Show East

Release date 21 November 2003

Running time 120 minutes[1]

Country South Korea

Language Korean

Budget $3 million[2]

Box office $15 million[3]

Oldboy (Korean: 올드보이; RR: Oldeuboi; MR: Oldŭboi) is a 2003 South Korean neo-

noir action thriller film[4][5] co-written and directed by Park Chan-wook. It is based on the
Japanese manga of the same name written by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated
by Nobuaki Minegishi. Oldboy is the second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy,
preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and followed by Lady Vengeance.
The film follows the story of Oh Dae-su, who is imprisoned in a cell which resembles a
hotel room for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor or his captor's motives.
When he is finally released, Dae-su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy
and violence. His own quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls
in love with an attractive young sushi chef, Mi-do.
The film won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and high praise from the
President of the Jury, director Quentin Tarantino. The film has been well received by
critics in the United States, with film critic Roger Ebert stating that Oldboy is a "powerful
film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which
it strips bare".[6] The film also received praise for its action sequences, most notably
the single shot fight sequence.[7] It has been regarded one of the best neo-noir films of
all time and listed among the best films of the 2000s in several publications.
 Contents

 1Plot
 2Cast
 3Production
 4Reception
o 4.1Critical response
o 4.2Oedipus the King inspiration
o 4.3Box office performance
o 4.4Awards and nominations
 5Soundtrack
 6Remakes
o 6.1Controversy over Zinda
o 6.2American film remake
 7See also
 8References
 9External links

Plot[edit]
In 1988, a businessman named Oh Dae-su is arrested for drunkenness, missing his
daughter's fourth birthday. After his friend Joo-hwan picks him up from the police
station, Dae-su is kidnapped and wakes up in a sealed hotel room, where food is
delivered through a trap-door. Watching TV, Dae-su learns that his wife has been
murdered and he is the prime suspect. He passes the time shadowboxing, planning
revenge and attempting to dig a tunnel to escape.
Fifteen years pass since he was imprisoned. It is now 2003, a new century. Just before
digging himself to freedom, Dae-su is sedated and hypnotized. He wakes up on a
rooftop and sees a man on the ledge ready to jump to his death. The man asks him,
"Even though I am no better than a beast, don't I have the right to live?" Dae-su leaves
the man and tests his fighting skills on a group of thugs. Afterward, a mysterious beggar
gives him money and a cell phone. Dae-su enters a sushi restaurant where he meets
Mi-do, a young chef. He receives a taunting phone call from his captor, collapses, and is
taken in by Mi-do. In a frenzy, Dae-su tries to force himself on Mi-Do in the bathroom of
her apartment, however she is armed with a knife and successfully fends him off. Dae-
su attempts to flee the apartment, but a sympathetic and intrigued Mi-do confronts him.
Mi-do explains to Dae-su that she is romantically interested in him, but that they hardly
know each other and she is not ready to be intimate. They reconcile and begin to form a
bond. After he recovers, Dae-su tries to find his daughter and his former prison.
Discovering that she was adopted, he gives up trying to contact her. He locates the
Chinese restaurant that made his food and finds the prison by following a deliveryman.
It is a private prison, where people can pay to have others incarcerated. Dae-su tortures
the warden, Mr. Park, who reveals that Dae-su was imprisoned for "talking too much".
He is then attacked by guards and stabbed but manages to defeat them.
Dae-su's captor is revealed to be a wealthy man named Lee Woo-jin. Woo-jin gives him
an ultimatum: if Dae-su can uncover the motive for his imprisonment within five days,
Woo-jin will kill himself. Otherwise, he will kill Mi-do. Dae-su and Mi-do get close and
have sex. Meanwhile, Joo-hwan tries to contact Dae-su with important information but is
murdered by Woo-jin. Dae-su eventually recalls that he and Woo-jin had gone to the
same high school, and he had witnessed Woo-jin committing incest with his own sister.
He told Joo-hwan what he had seen, which led to his classmates learning about it.
Rumors spread and Woo-jin's sister killed herself, leading a grief-stricken Woo-jin to
seek revenge. In present day, Woo-jin cuts off Mr. Park's hand, causing Mr. Park and
his gang to join forces with Dae-su. Dae-su leaves Mi-do with Mr. Park and sets out to
face Woo-jin.
At Woo-jin's penthouse, Woo-jin reveals that Mi-do is actually Dae-su's daughter. Woo-
jin had orchestrated everything by using hypnosis to guide Dae-su to the restaurant,
arranging for them to meet and fall in love so that Dae-su will experience the same pain
of incest that he did. He reveals that Mr. Park is still working for him and threatens to tell
the truth to Mi-do. Dae-su apologizes for his involvement in the death of Woo-jin's sister
and humiliates himself by imitating a dog and begging. When Woo-jin is unimpressed,
Dae-su cuts out his own tongue as a sign of penance. Woo-jin finally accepts Dae-su's
apology and tells Mr. Park to hide the truth from Mi-do. He then drops the device he
claimed was the remote to his pacemaker and begins walking away. Dae-su activates
the device to kill him, only to find it is actually a remote for loudspeakers, which play an
audio recording of Mi-do and Dae-su having sex. As Dae-su collapses in despair, Woo-
jin enters the elevator, recalls his sister's suicide, and shoots himself in the head.
Some time later, Dae-su finds the hypnotist to erase his knowledge of Mi-do being his
daughter so that they can stay happy together. To persuade her, he repeats the
question he heard from the man on the rooftop, and the hypnotist agrees. Afterward, Mi-
do finds Dae-su lying in snow but there are no signs of the hypnotist, leaving it
ambiguous if Dae-su really met her. Mi-do confesses her love for him and the two
embrace. Dae-su breaks into a wide smile, which is then slowly replaced by a look of
pain.

Cast[edit]
Choi Min-sik played the lead role in Oldboy as Oh Dae-su.

 Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-su; he has been imprisoned for about 15 years. Choi
Min-sik lost and gained weight for his role depending on the filming schedule,
trained for six weeks and did most of his own stunt work.
o Oh Tae-kyung as young Dae-su
 Yoo Ji-tae as Lee Woo-jin: The man behind Oh Dae-su's imprisonment. Park
Chan-wook's ideal choice for Woo-jin had been actor Han Suk-kyu, who previously
played a rival to Choi Min-sik in Shiri and No. 3. Choi then suggested Yoo Ji-tae for
the role, despite Park thinking him too young for the part. [8]
o Yoo Yeon-seok as young Woo-jin
 Kang Hye-jung as Mi-do: Dae-su's love interest
 Ji Dae-han as No Joo-hwan: Dae-su's friend and the owner of an internet café.
o Woo Il-han as young Joo-hwan
 Kim Byeong-ok as Mr. Han: Bodyguard of Woo-jin.
 Yoon Jin-seo as Lee Soo-ah, Woo-jin's sister.
 Oh Dal-su as Park Cheol-woong, the private prison's manager.

Production[edit]
This section needs expansion. You
can help by adding to it. (November
2018)

The corridor fight scene took seventeen takes in three days to perfect and was one
continuous take; there was no editing of any sort except for the knife that was stabbed
in Oh Dae-su's back, which was computer-generated imagery.
The script originally called for full male frontal nudity, but Yoo Ji-tae changed his mind
after the scenes had been shot.
Other computer-generated imagery in the film includes the ant coming out of Dae-su's
arm (according to the making-of on the DVD the whole arm was CGI) and the ants
crawling over him afterwards. The octopus being eaten alive was not computer-
generated; four were used during the making of this scene. Actor Choi Min-sik,
a Buddhist, said a prayer for each one. The eating of squirming octopuses (called san-
nakji (산낙지) in Korean) as a delicacy exists in East Asia, although it is usually killed
and cut, not eaten whole and alive. Usually the nerve activity in the octopus' tentacles
makes the pieces still squirm posthumously on the plate when served. [9][10][11] When asked
in DVD commentary if he felt sorry for Choi, director Park Chan-wook stated he felt
more sorry for the octopus.
The final scene's snowy landscape was filmed in New Zealand.[12] The ending is
deliberately ambiguous, and the audience is left with several questions: specifically,
how much time has passed, if Dae-Su's meeting with the hypnotist really took place,
whether he successfully lost the knowledge of Mi-do's identity, and whether he will
continue his relationship with Mi-do. In an interview with Park (included with the
European release of the film), he says that the ambiguous ending was deliberate and
intended to generate discussion; it is completely up to each individual viewer to interpret
what isn't shown.

Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Oldboy received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation
website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 82% based on 147 reviews with an
average rating of 7.38/10. The site's consensus is "Violent and definitely not for the
squeamish, Park Chan-Wook's visceral Oldboy is a strange, powerful tale of
revenge."[13] Metacritic gives the film an average score of 77 out of 100, based on 32
reviews.[14]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars. Ebert
remarked: "We are so accustomed to 'thrillers' that exist only as machines for creating
diversion that it's a shock to find a movie in which the action, however violent, makes a
statement and has a purpose."[6] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three out
of four stars, saying that it "isn't for everyone, but it offers a breath of fresh air to anyone
gasping on the fumes of too many traditional Hollywood thrillers." [15]
Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com praised the film, calling it "anguished, beautiful, and
desperately alive" and "a dazzling work of pop-culture artistry." [16] Peter Bradshaw gave it
5/5 stars, commenting that this is the first time in which he could actually identify with a
small live octopus. Bradshaw summarizes his review by referring to Oldboy as "cinema
that holds an edge of cold steel to your throat." [17] David Dylan Thomas points out that
rather than simply trying to "gross us out", Oldboy is "much more interested in playing
with the conventions of the revenge fantasy and taking us on a very entertaining ride to
places that, conceptually, we might not want to go." [18] Sean Axmaker of the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer gave Oldboy a score of "B-", calling it "a bloody and brutal revenge
film immersed in madness and directed with operatic intensity," but felt that the
questions raised by the film are "lost in the battering assault of lovingly crafted
brutality."[19]
MovieGazette lists 10 features on its "It's Got" list for Oldboy and summarizes its review
of Oldboy by saying, "Forget ‘The Punisher’ and ‘Man on Fire’ – this mesmerising
revenger’s tragicomedy shows just how far-reaching the tentacles of mad vengeance
can be." MovieGazette also comments that it "needs to be seen to be believed." [20] Jamie
Russell of the BBC movie review calls it a "sadistic masterpiece that confirms Korea's
current status as producer of some of the world's most exciting cinema." [21] Manohla
Dargis of the New York Times gave a lukewarm review, saying that "there is not much
to think about here, outside of the choreographed mayhem." [22] J.R. Jones of
the Chicago Reader was also not impressed, saying that "there's a lot less here than
meets the eye."[23]
In 2008, Oldboy was placed 64th on an Empire list of the top 500 movies of all time.
[24]
 The same year, voters on CNN named it one of the ten best Asian films ever made.
[25]
 It was ranked #18 in the same magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in
2010.[26] In a 2016 BBC poll, critics voted the film the 30th greatest since 2000. [27] In
2020, The Guardian ranked it number 3 among the classics of modern South Korean
Cinema.[28]
Oedipus the King inspiration[edit]
Park Chan-wook stated that he named the main character Oh Dae-su "to remind the
viewer of Oedipus."[29] In one of the film's iconic shots, Yoo Ji-tae, who played Woo-jin,
strikes an extraordinary yoga pose. Park Chan-wook said he designed this pose to
convey "the image of Apollo." [30] It was Apollo's prophecy that revealed Oedipus' fate
in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. The link to Oedipus Rex is only a minor element in
most English-language criticism of the movie, while Koreans have made it a central
theme. Sung Hee Kim wrote "Family seen through Greek tragedy and Korean movie –
Oedipus the King and Old Boy." [31] Kim Kyungae offers a different analysis, with Dae-su
and Woo-jin both representing Oedipus.[32] Besides the theme of unknown incest
revealed, Oedipus gouges his eyes out to avoid seeing a world that despises the truth,
while Oh Dae-su cuts off his tongue to avoid revealing the truth to his world.
More parallels with Greek tragedy include the fact that Lee Woo-jin looks relatively
young as compared to Oh Dae-su when they are supposed to be contemporaries at
school, which makes Lee Woo-jin look like an immortal Greek god whereas Oh Dae-su
is merely an aged mortal. Indeed, throughout the movie Lee Woo-jin is portrayed as an
obscenely rich young man who lives in a lofty tower and is omnipresent due to having
placed ear bugs on Oh Dae-Su and others, which again furthers the parallel between
his character and the secrecy of Greek gods.
One could also mention Mido, who throughout the movie comes across as a strong-
willed, young and innocent girl, which is not too far from Sophocles' Antigone, Oedipus'
daughter, who, though she does not commit incest with her father, remains faithful and
loyal to him which reminds us of the bittersweet ending where Mido reunites with Oh
Dae-Su and takes care of him in the wilderness (cf. Oedipus at Colonus, the second
installment of the Oedipus trilogy). Another interesting character is the hypnotist, who,
apart from being able to hypnotise people, also has the power to make people fall in
love (e.g. Oh and Mido), which is characteristic of the power of Aphrodite, the goddess
of love, whose classic act is to make Paris and Helen fall in love before and during the
Trojan War.[33]
Box office performance[edit]
In South Korea, the film was seen by 3,260,000 filmgoers and ranks fifth for the highest-
grossing film of 2003.[34]
It grossed a total of US$14,980,005 worldwide. [3]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Award Category Nominee(s) Result

Best Director Park Chan-wook Won

Asia Pacific Film Festival
Best Actor Choi Min-sik Won

Best Film Nominated

Austin Film Critics
Association
Best Foreign Film Won

Best Film Nominated

Bangkok International
Film Festival
Best Director (tied with Christophe Park Chan-wook Won
Barratier for Les Choristes)

Belgian Film Critics

Grand Prix Won
Association[35]

Bergen International Film

Audience Award Won
Festival[36]

Blue Dragon Film Best Director Park Chan-wook Won

Awards[37]

Best Actor Choi Min-sik Won

 Best Supporting Actress Kang Hye-jung Won

British Independent Film

Best Foreign Independent Film Won
Awards[38]

Palme d'Or Nominated

Cannes Film Festival[39]
Grand Prix Won

Chicago Film Critics

Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
Association

Critics' Choice Movie

Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
Award

Best Director Park Chan-wook Won

Director's Cut Awards Best Actor Choi Min-sik Won

Best Producer Kim Dong-joo Won

European Film Awards[40] Best Non-European Film Park Chan-wook Nominated

Golden Trailer Awards Best Foreign Action Trailer (tied Won

with District 13)

Grand Bell Awards Best Film Nominated

Best Director Park Chan-wook Won

Best Actor Choi Min-sik Won

 Best New Actress Kang Hye-jung Nominated

Best Adapted Screenplay Park Chan-wook Nominated

Best Cinematography Chung Chung-hoon Nominated

Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Won

Best Art Direction Ryu Seong-hee Nominated

Best Lighting Park Hyun-won Won

Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won

Lee Jeon-hyeong, Shin Jae-

Best Visual Effects Nominated
ho, Jeong Do-an

Hong Kong Film Awards Best Asian Film Won

Korean Film Awards Best Film Won

Best Director Park Chan-wook Won

Best Actor Choi Min-sik Won

Best Actress Kang Hye-jung Nominated

Best Supporting Actress Yoon Jin-seo Nominated

Best Cinematography Chung Chung-hoon Nominated

 Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated

Best Art Direction Ryu Seong-hee Nominated

Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won

Best Sound Nominated

Online Film Critics

Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
Society

Best Action or Adventure Film Nominated

Saturn Awards
Best DVD or Blu-ray Special
Ultimate Collector's Edition Nominated
Edition Release

Sitges Film Festival Best Film Won

José Luis Guarner Critic's Award Won

Stockholm International
Audience Award Won
Film Festival

Soundtrack[edit]
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from Oldboy

Soundtrack album by 

Jo Yeong-wook

Released 9 December 2003
 Recorded 2003 Seoul

Genre Contemporary classical

Length 60:00

Label EMI Music Korea Ltd.

Producer Jo Yeong-wook

Shim Hyeon-jeong

Lee Ji-soo
Choi Seung-hyun

Nearly all the music cues that are composed by Shim Hyeon-jeong, Lee Ji-soo and Choi
Seung-hyun are titled after films, many of them film noirs.
Track listing
No. Title Length
1. "Look Who's Talking" (opening song) 1:41
2. "Somewhere in the Night" 1:29
3. "The Count of Monte Cristo" 2:34
4. "Jailhouse Rock" 1:57
5. "In a Lonely Place" (Oh Dae-su's theme) 3:29
6. "It's Alive" 2:36
7. "The Searchers" 3:29
8. "Look Back in Anger" 2:11
9. ""Vivaldi" – Four Seasons Concerto Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, 3:03
"L'inverno" (Winter)"
10. "Room at the Top" 1:36
11. "Cries and Whispers" (Lee Woo-jin's theme) 3:32
12. "Out of Sight" 1:00
13. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" 2:45
14. "Out of the Past" 1:25
15. "Breathless" (Lee Woo-jin's theme [reprise]) 4:21
16. "The Old Boy" (Oh Dae-su's theme [reprise]) 3:44
17. "Dressed to Kill" 2:00
18. "Frantic" 3:28
19. "Cul-de-Sac" 1:32
20. "Kiss Me Deadly" 3:57
21. "Point Blank" 0:27
22. "Farewell, My Lovely" (Lee Woo-jin's theme [reprise]) 2:47
23. "The Big Sleep" 1:34
24. "The Last Waltz" (Mi-do's theme) 3:23
Total length: 60:00