Old Boy

OLDBOY
TARTAN
RELEASED 15 October 2004
Every now and then a film comes along that just blows you away. It’s quite unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It has a unique voice. It doesn’t resemble anything else. Prepare yourselves for the experience that is ‘Old Boy’.
One day in 1988, an ordinary man named Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), who lives with his wife and baby daughter, is kidnapped after being released from the local police station, drunk and disorderly. He wakes to find himself imprisoned in a small flat with just a bed, a television and a bathroom. Dae-su becomes obsessed with the TV, being his only contact with the outside world. Fed by unseen captors, he tattoos the passing years upon his hand, occasionally gassed for reasons unbeknown to him. The gas is always preceeded by a childish tune. Dae-Su writes down all the things he has ever done which might have upset someone enough to do this to him. He swears revenge on his captor, training his body to fight when he will need to, and also to endure pain. That day finally comes, and Dae-Su begins his search for ‘who’ and ‘why’.
I’ll give nothing else away because this really is a film that should be enjoyed knowing as little as possible. I should tell you that it’s a horror, it’s a psychological thriller, it’s a mystery, it’s funny, it’s an action movie and it’s a dark and sad movie.
‘Old Boy’ hit me with the same power and originality as ‘Memento’ did in 2000. It’s an instant classic, and I implore you to see ‘Old Boy’.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE