Oldboy (
Hangul: 올드보이, the phonetic
transliteration of "old boy") is a
2003 South Korean film directed by
Park Chan-wook. It is loosely based on the
Japanese
manga of the same name written by
Nobuaki Minegishi and
Garon Tsuchiya.
Oldboy is the second installment of
The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and followed by
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. The film follows the story of one
Oh Dae-Su, who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing 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 for an attractive sushi chef.
The film won the
Grand Prix at the
2004 Cannes Film Festival and high praise from the President of the Jury, director
Quentin Tarantino. Critically, the movie has been well received in the United States, with an 81% "Certified Fresh" rating at
Rottentomatoes.com.
Film critic
Roger Ebert has claimed
Oldboy to be a "...powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare".
In 2008, voters on
CNN named it one of the ten best
Asian films ever made.
[showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20081112-171695/CNN-Himala-best-Asian-film-in-history]
Plot
The film opens with a man holding another man over a building ledge by his tie. The man holding the other man is asked his name after he says that he wants to tell a story. The man is
Oh Dae-su - a Korean businessman, husband and father.