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Oldboy

7.9

64,125

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Oldboy

Original title: Oldboy
Year: 2003
Running time: 120 min.
Country: South Korea
Director: Park Chan-wook
Screenwriter: Park Chan-wook, Hwang Jo-yoon (Manga: Nobuaki Minegishi)
Music: Jo Yeong-wook
Cinematography: Chung Chung-hoon
Cast: Choi Min-Sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung, Ji Dae-han, Oh Dal-su, Kim Byung-ok, Lee Seung-shin, Yoon Jin-seo, Oh Tae-kyung, Yoo Yeon-seok, Lee Mi-mi
Producer: Show East Co. Ltd
Genre: Thriller. Mystery | Abduction / Disappearance. Revenge. Manga. Cult Movie. Live-Action
Movie Groups: Vengeance Trilogy
New
Synopsis / Plot: 'Oldboy' features Choi Min-sik as a Korean businessman who is suddenly kidnapped and confined in a cell with only a television set. He makes various efforts to escape and even attempts to commit suicide, but all end up in failure. Dae-soo one day watches a news about his wife being murdered and he being wanted by the police. Feeling shocked and deeply grieved, Dae-soo begins to dig a hole in the room with a spoon to get his way out to revenge the lost of his wife on the real culprit.

Awards: 2004: Cannes Film Festival: Jury Prize

2004: Sitges Fantastic Film Festival: Best Movie

2004: British Independent Film Awards (BIFA): Best International Independent Film

2005: Nominated for Critics' Choice Awards: Best Foreign Language Film

2005: Chicago Film Critics Association: Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film

Critics' reviews

"'Oldboy' is a powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"As always with Park Chanwook, you just hold on and let him rip (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"Entertaining to watch (...) which is a good thing, because there is not much to think about here, outside of the choreographed mayhem"

Manohla Dargis: The New York Times
"Park's direction is flawless and Jung Jung-hoon's cinematography is stunning"

V.A. Musetto: New York Post
"Though all the pieces of the complex plot do fall into place (...) the movie relies increasingly on sheer directorial smarts rather than an emotionally engrossing storyline."

Derek Elley: Variety
"Its primary virtue is its intensity (...) Its magnificence is that it takes itself dead serious. It's not entertainment, but it's sure a piece of toughness."

Stephen Hunter: The Washington Post
"Stylish (...) There's a lot less here than meets the eye (...) [It] devolves into the sort of hypercruel Asian pulp popularized by Takashi Miike"

J.R. Jones: Chicago Reader
Show 6 more reviews

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Ranking Lists Position

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7 My Top 10 Movies from 2003 (424)
7 Little Gems: Little Known Movies I've Discovered (130)
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22 My Top 20 Movies from the 2000s (235)
22 Movies I Want to Own (144)
26 My Favorite Cult Classics (200)
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29 The Most Unpleasant Movies I Have Ever Watched (33)
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48 Movies I Liked More the Second Time I Watched Them (24)
51 Absolute Musts (22)
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66 Movies with Skillful Editing (17)
80 My 10 favorite Film Directors and my favorite movie of each one of them (54)
80 Movies with the Best Beginnings (not including opening credits) (19)
82 Best Directed Movies (22)
95 Movies with an Incredible Soundtrack (OST) (123)
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