Oldboy/올드보이 (Oldeuboi)(2003) or, Nuts in South Korea

9/18/2022

Oldboy/올드보이 (Oldeuboi)(2003) or, Nuts in South Korea

♥♥

+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Two souls walk in a landscape of neon lights on this poster for Park Chan-wook's Oldboy

A man is caged in in an apartment for 15 years due a an incestuous relation. When he is released, he takes a mad revenge on the surrounding cityscape.

Oldboy is written by Joon-hyung Lim (Ashfall/Baekdusan (2019)), Jo-yun Hwang (Yasuwa minyeo (2005)) and co-writer/director Park Chan-wook (Daleun... haega kkuneun kkum (1992)). It is a loose adaptation of the 1996-98 manga Oldboy/オールド・ボーイ (Ōrudo Bōi) by Marley Caribu (Astral Project/月の光 (Tsuki No Hikari) (2005-07)) and Nobuaki Minegishi (Aburemon).

Oldboy is essentially a revenge fantasy that's dramatized in a way that evokes Greek myths. The drama is therefore intentionally over-acted, as the plot evolves as a showcase of hysterical emotions that run amuck. - You're likely to be repulsed by the violence, the language and possibly the impregnable strangeness of the Asian culture at display. The images are by many hailed as cinema art, but to me they were sad, distracted brushstrokes of pretense.

The music of Oldboy, (by Yeong-wook Jo (The Handmaiden/Ah-ga-ssi (2016))), is, however, magnificent.

Park Chan-wook: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Stoker (2013) - Chan-wook Park's over-styled American debut revolts and bores in turns

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Listen to a 4-minute track from the film's score here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 15.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 5.1 times its cost)

[Oldboy was released 21 November (South Korea) and runs 120 minutes. Four live octopodes were ingested by star Choi Min-sik (New World/Sinsegye (2013)) for the most talked-about scene in the film. Shooting took place from May - October 2003 in New Zealand and South Korea, including in Seoul. The film opened #48 to a 68k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #40 and in 28 theaters (different weeks), grossing 707k $ (4.6 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were South Korea with 1.8 mil. $ (11.8 %), Japan with 1 mil. $ (6.5 %) and France with 758k $ (5 %). It won the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival under jury president Quentin Tarantino. It was also nominated for a European Film award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. IMDb's users have currently rated the film in at #71 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Joker (2019). The film got an unauthorized Bollywood remake in 2006 and an American one by Spike Lee by the same name in 2013. Chan-wook returned with Three... Extremes/Sam gang 2 (2004, segment) and by himself with Lady Vengeance/Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005). Min-sik returned in Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War/Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004). Oldboy is certified fresh at 81 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Oldboy?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

9/18/2022