KinoCult presents: “Oldboy” | Oldboy (2003) by Park Chan-wook

November 30 | 19:00 | Lumiere Cinema

“Oldboy” was released in South Korea on November 21, 2003, and six months later participated in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. The jury chairman at that time was Quentin Tarantino, and the film became Park Chan-wook's international breakthrough and one of the defining works of the new Korean cinema.

Without knowing why or by whom, Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and imprisoned in a private facility. His only connection to the outside world is a television, from which he learns that his wife has been murdered, and he himself is suspected of the crime.

Fifteen years later, he is released just as inexplicably - with money and a mobile phone. Soon he is given five days to discover who his captor is and why his life has been turned into a carefully orchestrated nightmare.

The story is a loose adaptation of the Japanese manga Old Boy by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, which producer Sid Lim discovered in a comic book store. Park liked the initial idea but did not find the motive for revenge convincing enough. While discussing the adaptation with the producer, he takes a brief pause and returns with a new solution - one that will subsequently become one of the most recognizable and disturbing endings in contemporary cinema.

Sight and Sound describes “Oldboy” as a film about “the metaphysics of revenge,” in which philosophy and physical confrontation carry equal weight.

director: Park Chan-wook
screenplay: Park Chan-wook, Hwang Jo-yoon, Im Jung-hyun (based on the manga Old Boy by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi)
starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
cinematography: Jeong Jong-hun
editing: Kim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum
production design: Ryu Seong-hee
music: Jo Yeon-wook
duration: 120 min.
language: Korean
subtitles: Bulgarian