Oldboy

“오대수는요. 말이 너무 많아요.”

“Oh Daesoo talks too much.”

During a good ol’ game of telephone, a simple phrase is whispered through a row of people in hopes of getting a message across. More often than not, the message is completely distorted once it reaches the end of the line.

When words take on a life of their own, they’re impossible to contain. Words can easily spread like wildfire, oftentimes disregarding the original speaker’s intent, taking on a whole new meaning by the time the flames subside. OLD BOY takes this idea to an extreme and shows the tragic consequences that one ordinary man faces for supposedly “talking too much”.

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Thanks to NEON re-releasing this remastered film in theaters for its 20th anniversary, I was able to watch this masterpiece for the first time. Park Chan-wook’s classic has always been on my watch list. I had tried to watch the film many times in the past, but could never get past the live octopus scene and clicked “EXIT” every time. Maybe it was because I was young (or simply younger), but just the exposition by itself was so disturbing that I couldn’t, or didn’t want to, face what Dae-su would discover - the “truth”.

There are two things that truly set a theatrical viewing experience apart. 1) It’s a shared experience - you share that specific viewing of the film with a set of random strangers. And it makes the experience unique. 2) You are not in control - it’s not like being at home where you have the remote in hand and can switch channels or simply turn the movie off. In a theater, you’re under the jurisdiction of the film. Not the other way around.

I watched the film on a Monday; a 12:40pm screening to be exact. There were two other people in the theater. It wasn’t assigned seating but we all naturally sat in our own little sections of the tiny screening room. Right when the end credits started rolling, I distinctly remember all three of us taking a good minute to take in what we had just watched. No checking our phones, no rustling of feet - just dwelling in the moment. For me, it was an unsettling sense of shock, disgust, heartache, and despair. I stayed to watch the extra interview snippet with director Park which was insightful.

자꾸 틀린 질문을 하니까 맞는 대답이 나올 리가 없잖아!

“You can’t find the right answer if you ask the wrong questions.”

There are a few times where I’ve experienced true shock from a reveal in a movie. One I vividly remember is from THE SIXTH SENSE (1999, M. Night Shyamalan). When it came time for the big reveal, I realized I had been so wrong about Dr. Crowe, Cole, and their relationship - everything I had “perceived” from the movie was false. Luckily, within a split second, all the scattered puzzle pieces came together and everything simply made sense. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Pure genius from Shyamalan.

Park’s OLD BOY has now topped this list with Woojin’s final “gift” reveal. Woojin’s ultimate goal was one that went beyond my scope of imagination. The cruelest ending - for every single person involved. Absolutely gutwrenching.

“명심하라 모래알이든 바위덩어리든 물에 가라앉기는 마찬가지다"

Remember this: "Be it a rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink as the same."

Now, would I recommend this film to people? Yes - but with discretion. It’s definitely not for everyone. But I will admit this movie had me captivated from beginning to end - the characters, the mystery, the action, the reveal. Asking many fundamental questions about what it means to be human and flawed.

Perhaps the next question is… would I rewatch it? I doubt it… I’ll do without!