Oldboy (2003)

User Review

• 

  BarneyNuttall

  8 / 10

  Oldboy is the quintessential piece pf South Korean cinema. Full of shocking scenes, sickening violence, and twisted sexual deviance, one wonders how South Korean cinema find its audiences. What's vital in all examples of South Korean cinema which is on pare with, or at least similar to Oldboy, is the emotional connection. Particularly in Park Chan-wook's filmography, suffering is visceral, matching the events surrounding said emotion. The audience doesn't shy away because we are invested in our character's suffering. Of course, in Oldboy, director Park pushes this to its limits.
  
  With visual flair and strong performances, director Park manages to keep an audience emotionally engaged while snipping every vein in each watcher's body with toenail scissors. It's themes correlate with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance, making the revenge trilogy but Park's filmmaking pushes into new frontiers in Oldboy, setting it apart from the other two.

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