THREE HEARTS CINEMA

GUIDELINES - OLDBOY

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The 2003 film was directed by Park Chan-wook and produced by Lim-Seung-yong

Was released in november 21, 2003

Cast
● Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-su
● Yoo Ji-tae as Lee Woo-jin
● Kang Hye-jung as Mi-do
● Kim Byeong-ok as Mr. Han
● Ji Dae-han as No Joo-hwan
● Oh Dal-su as Park Cheol-woong
● Lee Seung-shin as Yoo Hyung-ja
● Yoo Yeon-seok as Young Woo-jin

Synopsis

Oldboy is a loose adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name, and it follows
the story of Oh Dae-su , who is imprisoned in a cell that 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 as
he seeks revenge against the people who imprisoned him.
Main Character

Choi Min Sik of whom we take the opportunity to recommend another good movie
called I saw the devil, where he interprets a cab driver and it is a film that came out a
some years after oldboy and their universes have nothing to do but the premise of
revenge as a flag returns, now to play against our actor, who performs the role of the
victimizerr. Old boy, by far his most emblematic character, spent six weeks of intense
training to get into shape. He lost a total of twenty pounds. There´s one continuous take
lasting just under three minutes, he had to undergo four months of physical training and
boxing practice while memorizing sixty moves. Also went through a spiritual tunnel in
the scene where his character eats a live octopus, Choi Min-sik prayed in between each
of the four takes because he is a vegetarian Buddhist.

Director

Park Chan-wook has directed 12 feature films, including Joint Security Area (2000), The
Handmaiden (2016), and Thirst (2009) . His films are known for their cinematography,
framing, black humor, and often brutal subject matter. Park is the creator of a violent
trilogy with the common thread of revenge as an essential theme. Before Oldboy (2003),
he created Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and in 2005 he closes the trilogy with
Chinjeolhan geumjassi or Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. There is no narrative universe
that connects them more than revenge, violence and salvation.

Background

The Old Boy manga is a Japanese manga series written by Garon Tsuchiya and
illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. It is the same plot of our movie
The manga was serialized in the Futabasha magazine Weekly Manga Action from 1996
to 1998, with a total of 79 chapters among eight collected volumes released during that
time.

Themes

The movie can be understood as a parable about knowledge (and more specifically,
self-knowledge).
Is an unflinching look at human nature and moves theoretical logic into the real world,
stemming from a denial of anything foundational.

Revenge is a central theme of the film, with the protagonist and antagonist both seeking
revenge as the single most important goal that fuels all of their actions.

The film also explores themes related to memory, with Dae-su struggling to remember
the events that led to his imprisonment and seeking to uncover the truth about his
captors

Genre-Bending Approach: The movie combines elements of different genres, including

neo-noir, action, and thriller, to create a unique cinematic experience.

Remarkable

Theres one scene that has become one of the most famous moments in the film and
has been parodied and referenced in other media. The hallway fight scene took
seventeen takes in three days to perfect, and was one continuous take. There was no
editing of any sort.

Love

The film's love subplot has been analyzed in various ways, some of us agree it as a
symbol of hope and redemption, however, it does not manage to escape from the dark
and tragic character of the movie. Because of the atmosphere itself and always being
surrounded by a motivation of revenge.

Other films with a similar approach

Apart from the already mentioned: I saw the devil and those belonging to the Park
trilogy.
Dredd (2012) is a film set in a dystopian future with memorable action scenes and also
has vengeance coming out of the skin, something similar to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill
saga. In this piece, the build-up of suspense as it progresses is the main feature.
Then there is Confessions (2010) a mother searches for her daughter's executioners
and intends to take cold revenge. .
One of my favorite of this list is The Raid (2011), A SWAT team that becomes trapped in
a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs. Breathtaking
action scenes and the feeling that time just flew by. And Finally, of course, John Wick
(2014) .
Facts

Oldboy was remade in 2013 by Spike Lee, starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, and
Samuel L. Jackson. The remake received mixed reviews and was not as successful as
the original.

The movie has been praised for its cinematography, music, and performances, and has
become a classic in the neo-noir genre. (Recommendation: go and listen the
soundtrack).

The snow scenes are filmed in New Zealand because it is the closest country to South
Korea with snow at that time.