Old Boy

This is one fucked up movie. So stylish and visually compelling that it has to be watched but a plot so cruel it shouldn’t be watched. And it gets cruel! No westerner would ever make this film and that’s one of the things that makes it so compelling. Asian sensibilities and story-rules are so different that films like this feel new and not regurgitated to a dopey American like me. The opening and closing rain/snow shots from above remind me of the great visuals Gore Verbinski creates but this film is so much better than most everything he has done. All of his films so far have been B or C movies. It’s as if his evil (and more talented) twin brother made this one. Sorry Gore, but it’s true! Way to go Chan-wook Park – you rock you evil bastard.
Favorite moment: The fight scene in the hallway of the prison where the cut-away of the hall becomes the film’s frame.
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