Oldboy is the first film we are viewing within this series. Oldboy is a 2003 South Korean neo-noir action thriller film 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 talks about a man called Oh Dae-su, who is imprisoned in a cell which is similar to a hotel room for 15 years since the day of his daughter’s fourth birthday. Dae-su has no information about the identity of his captor and after he is let out, Dae-su goes on a vengeful rat race to find his captor. On the way, he befriends a young sushi chef named Mi-do and gets romantically involved with her.

Park Chan-wook claims that his films have an ethical point, regardless of the immense violence and questionable actions in his films. As the movie progresses, Oldboy brings about various questions of morality. Old Boy progresses through Dae-su’s hunt with finding out his captor and after finding his captor, he is still unaware of the reason behind his imprisonment. Dae-su tracks down his past and is welcomed by the information that the captor Lee Woo-jin, had attended the same high school as Dae-su. Dae-su had witnessed Woo-jin and his older sister Soo-ah having an incestuous relationship. Which resulted in Dae-su accidentally spreading a rumor within his high school about Woo-jin and Soo-ah. To which Soo-ah eventually killed herself. With Dae-su being the root cause of his sister’s death, Woo-jin plans out his revenge in a manner where he pits Dae-su along with Mi-do, while Mi-do is Dae-su’s daughter Woo-jin has been raising on his own when Dae-su was held captive. Therefore, Dae-su ends up committing to the same incestuous fate with Mi-do. The film justifies this incest and therefore we as the audience are brought to question the morality of the character’s fate. Dae-su was unaware of his connection with Mi-do before he slept with her, yet he chooses to keep the information away from her and stay with her towards the end of the film. The film goes about to understand whether incest as a concept is morally heinous or when in terms of Dae-su is a fate he is unable to escape due to his past actions. While with Woo-jin, Soo-ah’s death determines the immorality of incest in that context. The characters are all morally grey and it is interesting to see how they take forth their choices (What is MORALITY? On Oldboy).

As a story thriving with violence, revenge, sorrow, and regrets, Oldboy brings about nuances of a Greek tragedy. In tragedy, the plot should focus on cause and effect, that is, one event causes the next, and so on. This is called ‘a unity of action’. As opposed to an episodic plot where one thing happens after another. According to the Ancient Greeks, a person was to embrace their fate as it comes, there was no way out. As we see through the film Oh Dae-su has his fate coming for him, regardless of how he seems to understand his surroundings. Park Chan-wook uses a one of a kind cinematic editing to display more than what could be displayed on stage. Oldboy also has undertones of the Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Framing Dae-su in the position of Oedipus himself, as he finds out his inevitable truth. As a result, Dae-su ends up cutting his tongue as a result of his actions, much similar to Oedipus who gouges his eyes out after discovering his truth. By doing this Dae-su will not speak his truth again and yet he is to live with his truth. At the end of the film, Dae-su gets a hypnotist to help him forget his truth, yet as the final shot comes through we see a distraught Dae-su in the arms of Mi-do who knows nothing at all. Yet, it ambiguous whether Dae-su still remembers or not. Dae-su will be forced to live with his fate (Morrow, 2016).

Oldboy received various critically acclaimed awards and recognition both nationally and internationally. An English remake of Oldboy was made in 2013 by Spike Lee.

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References

What is MORALITY? On Oldboy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 08, 2021, from https://offscreen.com/view/morality_oldboy

Morrow, J. (2016, May 01). ‘Oldboy’, the greek Tragedy: Adaptation & the Tragic Form. Retrieved April 08, 2021, from https://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/oldboy-greek-tragedy-adaptation-tragic-form

Austin.Takahashi. (2011, December 11). Oldboy (2003). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from http://movie-hound.com/oldboy-movie-review/

Rogerebert.com, R., Stone, P., Manohla Dargis: The New York Times, Post, V., Variety, D., Post, S., & Reader, J. (1970, January 01). Oldboy (2003). Retrieved April 09, 2021, from https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film262430.html