It’s time to experience extreme vengeance as Park Chan-wook’s sensationally violent masterpiece Oldboy, releases again on the big screen with a newly mastered 4K restoration, on the , courtesy of Arrow Films.
Cast
Choi Min-sik (I saw the Devil, Lucy)
Kang Hye-jung (Lady Vengeance)
Yu Ji-tae (The House That Jack Built)
Director
Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Lady Vengeance)
Synopsis
Based on the Japanese manga of the same name, the film tells the horrific tale of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a businessman who is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned in a grim hotel room-like cell for 15 years, without knowing his captor or the reason for his incarceration.
Eventually released, he learns of his wife’s murder and embarks on a quest for revenge whilst also striking up a romance with a young, attractive sushi chef, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung). He eventually finds his tormentor, but their final encounter will yield yet more unimaginable horrors…
We like it because
Often cited as one of the best films of the 2000s and possibly the definitive example of extreme Asian cinema, Oldboy is a brutal, lyrical modern classic of the revenge genre. Directed with immense flair by Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden) as the second instalment of his Vengeance Trilogy, Oldboy blazed a trail at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival where it was lauded by the President of the Jury, director Quentin Tarantino.
The film went on to become a huge international smash, blowing audiences minds with its concoction of filmmaking virtuosity, ingenious plotting, violence and pathos. Packed with shocking twists and eye-popping set pieces – including the much-imitated hammer attack sequence, and a sushi meal you might not want to sample – and anchored by an astonishing lead performance by Choi Min-sik, Oldboy really is a stunning and unmissable (and endlessly rewatchable) cinematic masterpiece.