OldboyOldboy - Tartan Films - 2003

Version Reviewed:
Korean Ultimate Edition 3 DVD & OST CD in a sexy copper box with Oldboy giftwrap. Region 3 NTSC.

This has just received a Region 2 release by Tartan Films so I thought I would drag out the definitive edition, because this is the version of the film you need to see.

It has reaped a lot of praise at Cannes by Quentin Tarantino so as you can imagine the hype as gone through the roof. But whilst I love the film I cannot honestly say it lives up to the hype.

It centres around a man Dae-su Oh ( the excellently cast Min-sik Choi) who for no apparent reason is imprisoned in a room with nothing but a TV set to keep him company for fifteen years. Here he has watched world events unfurl on TV as life passes him by. He also searches his soul to figure out why he has been incarcerated, which in due time he gives up on and sets about training himself for his eventual release in order to give himself hope and keep himself sane. There would be major spoilers here which I will not divulge as it would ruin the film, because the film's focus is, by whom and why was he incarcerated. Upon his release he sets about finding this out, with some fun along the way. And you would never guess the reason why.

The film runs along at a nice steady pace and flows well between deep rooted psychosis and bone crunching violence. Sounds great and it basically is but the film didn't really live up to it's reputation as a violent shocker. When it is violent it is ultra violent but it is few and far between.

The BBFC have passed this uncut but I would imagine that's more to do with the version submitted as Oldboy contains some pretty graphic stuff, for example the infamous scene with Dae-su Oh eating a live octopus which is quite shocking and there's also some scenes shown on his TV set (when he's in his hotel room/prison) that have helped shaped the world as we know it, namely the World Trade Centre Attacks & the Princess Diana crash which are destined for the editing room floor for the western release. The best version to watch is the Korean Region 3 as you are guaranteed to see the longest cut available.

Contributed by: Jas on the 01/03/05