oldboy (2003)

// second viewing //

I remember being nineteen years old and watching this movie for the first time and being captivated by the unraveling mystery, the protag's pain and all-consuming drive for vengeance, and the extravagant presence of violence and profanity throughout. Now, five years later, I found my second viewing sorely disappointing. Without the shock factor of the plot, the dullness of the characters became more apparent - the female love interest is reduced to an object of sex and violence and also conveniently a plot point, and the antagonist is reduced to just an inexplicably shitty person, though he had a backstory that could have made him much more compelling if only his psychological had been explored a little more deeply.

On the whole I find the general scheme of vengeance stories to be a giant yawn. Character A shits on character B, who gets mad and spends the whole movie plotting to shit back on character A. It's like 2 Girls 1 Cup but the shit is all figurative. Character B has questionably consensual sex with a woman thirty years younger than he is. (I wonder if the movie was trying to make a point about this?) Sprinkle on some violent obstacles, finish the plot off with a twist, and you get a movie that film bros can really jerk off to enjoy.

meet-cute at the sushi bar

Is that all I have to say? I think that's all I have to say without spoiling anything since spoiling this movie would defeat the purpose of anyone watching it IMO. The acting was good! The camerawork and composition were good. The pacing of the first part of the movie where he's imprisoned in a room was great. And the octopus scene!!! I've been craving live octopus since I watched this movie five years ago and that desire has not changed one bit!

I hope I didn't hurt your feelings, Park Chan Wook. :( I still think The Handmaiden is a masterpiece and it's still one of my favorite movies, but that's probably because you had a female co-writer and her lesbian friend as a consult who probably did the heavy lifting in humanizing your characters. I hope you learned something and I look forward to your next movie! Hwaiting!!!