Why Oldboy is the Perfect Action Movie
Oldboy (2003) This Sunday I will be attending a screening of my favorite director's newest film, The Handmaiden . Bearing that in mind, I decided to revisit one of his earlier works. Oldboy is one of the three films in a trilogy which Park Chan-wook has referred to as the 'vengeance trilogy'; three unrelated tales of revenge which may be viewed in any order. It is the second in the series, bookended by Sympathy for Mr. Vengance and Lady Vengeance , but because it is the first Park Chan-wook film I watched and also the strongest example of his stylized directing, I feel the need to review this as a sort of introduction to his unique style of filmmaking. The plot of Oldboy is simple; Oh Dae-Su is a man who was imprisoned for fifteen years without explanation, then suddenly set free. Now, he's angry and looking for the men who imprisoned him, hoping for answers and to avenge the wife and daughter he lost while he was locked away. With a very western sounding so...