Old Servant boy
Old Boy is a South Korean film carried out by Park Chan-wook, left in 2003.
Synopsis
“Laugh, everyone will laugh with you. Cry, you will be the only one to cry”Whereas it was on the point of celebrating the birthday of his daughter, Dae-known Oh is stopped by the police force for intoxication on the public highway. Arrived later, his/her friend of Joo-hwan childhood persuades the police officers to let it set out again. But on the way of Dae-known the Oh return is removed. He is then sequestered, without knowing by which or why, with for only bond with outside a television. Slackened 15 years later, always without explanation, Dae-known Oh is contacted by the silent partner of his removal. This one then proposes to him to discover the reasons of its imprisonment, leaving him for only evidence this proverb: “the stone and the rock run in water in the same way. ” Abandoned with itself, it has 5 days to discover the truth.
Comments
One needs the knowledge, it is a hard film, which does not hesitate in front of certain scenes concerned with sadism and where perversion is shown presents as much to the level of the scenario as on a visual level. In spite of this very heavy climate, violence is omnipresent, certainly but never free, streetwalker or hyper esthétisante.Skilfully, Park Chan-wook cuts right before the visions more traumatisantes (" people tremble because they imagine. Do not imagine and you will be full with courage " known as a " vilain" with Dae-known whereas this one is found in a critical situation).
But to bring back Old Boy to these some scenes would be very restrictive. The film rests indeed above all on a really interesting scenario, concerning with some taboos and that a setting in largely inventive and spectacular scene without being conclusive famous extremely well, multiplying the various camera angles, alternating closes-up and depth of field when it is not by associating them or by some judicious encrust. The extreme feeling of absurdity which haunts starts it film, symbolized inter alia by this vision misleads the eye of a window giving on a decorated country landscape of a mill will allow thereafter, even in minor mode, to maintain a suspense true leading to some bounces enough surprising. The film is entirely seen from the point of view of Dae-known, the spectator progresses with him, which also means that it remains in the fog in the search of explanations during most of film. Like him, he wonders for example about the true personality of the Mido young person, left nowhere and decided to become his allied.
Old Boy is the second shutter of a trilogy devoted to the topic of revenge. But here revenge doubles of an investigation, the " Why? " remainder indissolubly related to the avenger step of Dae-known. Double search thus. The shutter " seek compréhension" seem always ready with sometimes slowing down, sometimes accelerating that of pure revenge.
To these two topics are added those of loneliness and the monstrosity generated by the desire of revenge and violence that this one generates inevitably, locking up that which is the slave in a vice of which it cannot be extracted (" To seek to avenge to me became part of me-même" entrusts Dae-known to Mido). Without forgetting other important points such as selfishness, the rumor and its consequences, sexual instincts. The scenario thus proves rich and subtle, preserving without problem the final revelations.
If the three principal characters appear to miss a little of psychological depth, the discovery of their last actions and the exposure of their behaviors present make it possible to the spectator to build itself the mental portrait of the protagonists. The many remote regions which remain cause more to reinforce the impact of film by the questions than they raise, than the opposite. Park did not choose to hold the hand of the spectator throughout his film and one will be indebted for him.
The setting in scene for spectacular that it is sometimes, does not exist right for itself but remains with the service of the history. If all the scenes in the room/cell are very successful, the quality of the realization does not weaken thereafter and the film contains at least a sequence shot that some already did not hesitate to present like anthology: a highly improbable combat certainly with 1 compared with 20 in narrow and long greenish corridor, filmed out of very effective side dolly and where, once again, humor exists, in particular in its conclusion. This humor, it often arrives where it is not awaited and the spectator will remember this question put twice by Dae-known to itself, in two very different contexts: " Is 15 years an imaginary drive effective? " The answers are not inevitably the same ones each time and the laughter of the public emerges of scenes which one would have seen elsewhere esthetized thoroughly and during three times longer.
The film profits from very beautiful musical partitions of OJ Yeong-wook, often of traditional inspiration but which can alternate with more modern rates/rhythms, always in perfect harmony with the slow ones and elegant movements of camera, in particular of crane (many plans filmed in diving) or, on the contrary, accompanying an action whose rate/rhythm packs. The music does not make that to follow the matter, it sometimes comes to be placed in perfect counterpoint, underlining for example the nonsense of a situation.
Data sheet
- Title: Old Servant boy
- original Title: Oldboy (올드보이)
- Realization: Park Chan-wook
- Scenario: Park Chan-wook, Hwang OJ-yun and Lim Chun-hyeong, according to the Manga éponyme of Minegishi Nobuaki and Tsuchiya Garon
- Production: Lim Seung-yong and Kim Dong-ju
- Music: OJ Yeong-wook and Antonio Vivaldi ( Winter )
- Photography: Jeong Jeong-hun
- Assembly: Kim Blood-beom
- Decorations: Ryu Seong-tamper
- Costumes: Cho Sankyung
- Country of origin: South Korea
- Format: Colors - 2,35:1 - Dolby DIGITAL - 35 mm
- Kind: Thriller
- Lasted: 120 minutes
- Comings out date: November 21st 2003 (South Korea), September 29th 2004 (France), October 13rd 2004 (Belgium)
- Film prohibited with less than 16 years at the time of its exit in France
Distribution
- Choi Min-sik : Oh Dae-soo
- Yoo Ji-tae : Lee Woo-jin
- Kang Hye-jeong : Semi-C
- Kim Byeong-ok: Mr. Han
- Ji Dae-han: No Joo-hwan
- Oh Dal-known: Park Cheol-woong
- Lee Seung-shin : Yoo Hyung-ja
- Yun Jin-seo : Lee Soo-ah
- Oh Kwang-rok : the man who commits suicide
Around film
- Oldboy is at the beginning a Manga of Minegishi Nobuaki and Tsuchiya Garon in eight volumes, left in 1997. The producer Kim Dong-joo repurchased of them the rights of adaptation for less than 11.000 euros.
- Oldboy is the second opus of a Triptyque on the topic of the Vengeance, initiated in 2002 with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and enclosed in 2005 with Lady Revenge .
- Four Poulpe S alive was eaten by Choi Min-sik for the scene of the bar with Sushi, a scene which caused a certain polemic abroad. To eat alive octopus is banal in Korea, but it usually is nevertheless initially cut out in sections. When the film gained the Grand Prix in Cannes, the scenario writer made a point of thanking octopuses in addition to the team.
- the last scene, which is held in a covered with snow place, was turned in New Zealand.
- the man with the dog which commits suicide with the whole beginning of film is interpreted by Oh Kwang-rok, which played already a character of Anarchiste all at the end of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance . He forms also part of one of the families of the victims in Lady Revenge .
- a American Remake was to be carried out by Justin Lin in 2006, but the project was in the final analysis cancelled.
- an Indian remake called Zinda left in 2005, carried out by Sanjay Gupta, but it is not a question of an official remake and nor Park Chan-wook or Tsuchiya Garon is not credited.
- Before the Shooting of the University Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-Hui sent to the NBC a photograph of him holding in its hands a hammer, as Oh-Daesu on the poster of film; a bringing together made by the press.
Distinctions
- Price of best foreign film at the time of the British Independent Film Awards in 2004.
- official Selection and Grand Prix at the time of the Cannes festival 2004.
- Award Audience at the time of the Festival of film of Stockholm in 2004.
- Price of best film, at the time of the International festival of film of Catalonia in 2004.
- Price of the best actor (Choi Min-sik), better realizer, better assembly (Kim Blood-beom), better lighting and better music, at the time of the Large Beautiful Awards in 2004.
- Price of best Asian film at the time of the HongKong Film Awards in 2005.
External bonds
- Old Boy on Internet Movie Database
- Critique Sancho does Asia
- Critiques Cinemasie
- Critiques HK Handled