The Best Korean Movie Of All Time Is Coming To Theaters
This is wonderful news for film buffs.
Director Park Chan-wook’s dark masterpiece Oldboy, widely considered to be the best Korean movie ever made, is coming back to theaters to celebrate its 20th anniversary. According to Variety, film distributor Neon won the rights to rerelease the film in American theaters, and while an exact date is not yet known, it is expected to be sometime next year. It will mark the first time the film has played in theaters since its original November 2003 release. Although not a box office success during its original American release, the film has earned quite a fan following, and a new release in U.S. theaters would likely be well received.
The film is a tale of revenge by a man named Oh Dae-Su (played by Choi Min-sik), an obnoxious, hard-drinking businessman who is kidnapped by unknown abductors and held prisoner for 15 years. His prison cell is made up to look like a dingy hotel room, with no direct contact with his captors, and his food is given to him through a small opening in his door. He is gassed into unconsciousness every time he tries to kill himself or needs medical attention, and his only contact with the outside world is a television. He is eventually released without notice, and given an ultimatum to find the person responsible for his imprisonment within five days, leading him on a bloody, dark path of revenge. The film was well received by South Korean moviegoers, many of whom still consider it the best Korean movie ever made, although fans of Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) may tend to disagree.
The film is based on the Japanese manga of the same name, written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya. The film version was written by Park with Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung, and is actually the second of three films of Park’s “The Vengeance Trilogy,” along with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and preceded by Lady Vengeance (released in 2005), which are connected only by the theme of vengeance. Oldboy is considered the best movie of the trilogy, according to many Korean movie fans. Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung also star in the film.
Oldboy would go on to win five Grand Bell Awards, the Korean equivalent of America’s Academy Awards, in 2004. Choi Min-sik won the award for Best Actor, and Park Chan-wook won the award for Best Director, as the film also earned awards for Best Lighting, Best Film Editing, and Best Music. Even though it was nominated for Best Korean Movie, however, it lost to Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, a drama about a Buddhist monastery that was about as different from Oldboy in tone as you could get. The film was a hit at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix Award and was praised by jury president Quentin Tarantino. It received a limited release in America, and despite strong reviews from critics, earned just $707,000 at the box office.
Among film fans, one scene in Oldboy stands out from the rest, and is considered the best scene in the film – a nearly four minute fight scene with no cuts. According to Park, it took three days and 17 takes to get the scene right in a single take. Although violent in content, the scene isn’t nearly as stomach-churning as another scene in the film, in which four live octopi are eaten. It was a normal thing for a Korean movie, but the scene caused outrage among international audiences.
In 2013, Hollywood took its own shot at remaking Oldboy, and as you might expect, it doesn’t quite stand toe-to-toe with the original. The remake boasts an all-star cast, including Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sharlito Copley, as well as Spike Lee in the director’s chair. Yet, the film feels like a shallow copy that follows in the footsteps of the original but never rises above it. It only managed a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics ripping it as a poor copy of the best Korean movie to ever be made. The new version, however, will likely spike enough interest in the original to stir curious moviegoers to give it a look. With American theaters still recovering from the pandemic, rereleases of classic films have been a godsend of sorts in boosting attendance, drawing audiences of all types to experience the films again on the big screen. Considering the popularity of Korean films, seeing Oldboy in theaters may be a successful move.
