Oldboy (2003)

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Garon Tsuchiya (story)
Nobuaki Minegishi (comic) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance

Plot:

After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

Plot Keywords:

Imprisonment | Revenge | Police Station | Cell | Exposed Breast

Awards:

17 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Min-sik Choi	...	Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu	...	Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Mi-do
Dae-han Ji	...	No Joo-hwan
Dal-su Oh	...	Park Cheol-woong
Byeong-ok Kim	...	Mr. Han
Seung-Shin Lee	...	Yoo Hyung-ja
Jin-seo Yun	...	Lee Soo-ah
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Beggar
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Suicidal Man
Tae-kyung Oh	...	Young Dae-su
Yeon-suk Ahn	...	Young Woo-jin
Il-han Oo	...	Young Joo-hwan
Su-hyeon Kim
Seung-jin Lee

Also Known As:

Old Boy (International: English title) (DVD title)
Oldeuboi (South Korea)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Taiwan:R-18 | Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (tv rating) | Brazil:18 | Italy:T | Norway:18 (unrated) | Norway:15 (DVD) | Belgium:16 | Israel:18 | Chile:18 | Belgium:KNT | Argentina:16 (DVD rating) | Mexico:C | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Poland:15 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Company:

Egg Films

Trivia:

Dae-su Oh bangs his head right after stopping Mi-do from reading his diary. This "head banging" was not a scripted action. However Hye-jeong Kang (Mi-do) kept her cool and continued on with her lines. The director, in an interview, said that he kept and used this supposedly NG scene for its comical and emotional value.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Woo-jin Lee is searching through the Internet for the word "Evergreen", you can see that the high school website already has been visited on that computer because the link is highlighted in purple colors.

Quotes:

Dae-su Oh: [Dae Su is on his knees. Begging] Please. Don't tell Mido. What has she done wrong? You know it was all my fault... I have committed an unforgivable sin, against your sister. And I also... Did you wrong. Please leave Mido alone... If by any chance Mido finds out the truth, you son of a bitch, I'll tear you limb from limb. And your remains will never be found. Why? Because I'm going to swallow every last bit.
[Crawls over to Woo-Jin and starts to grovel to Woo-Jin]
Dae-su Oh: Woo-Jin! Please, sir, I made a mistake. Please forget what I said. Sir, Woo-Jin!
[Raises up on his knees to face Woo-Jin]
Dae-su Oh: We're Evergreen Oldboys, remember?
[singing]
Dae-su Oh: With the energy of a green pine tree/The Great Sangnok High...
[Grabbing hold of Woo-Jin's leg. Begging, and weeping]
Dae-su Oh: I'll do whatever you want. I'll do anything, I beg you. Woo-Jin, if you want me to be your dog. I will. From this moment on, I am Woo-Jin's dog. I'm your bitch.
[Starts barking maniacally like a dog]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le cinéma passe à table (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Waltz

Freaked me out

I haven't written a comment on IMDb for about 3 years but was inspired to with this film. It is not very often that I come across a film by accident (World Movies on cable) and the spend the next day scouring the internet to find out information about it and can't get it out of my head! Anyway, yep there are plot holes, but Old boy borrows a lot from surrealism and you are meant to suspend your disbelief! I don't buy comments when people say "it is so unrealistic because he should've done this ..." because it is a surrealist film and meant to be unrealistic! For me the sign of a good film is if it sticks on your head! THis one surely does (althought I did have to look away a few times ... ) Loved it!!!! Work of cruel genius!!! (HOLLYWOOD - Please don't ruin it by remaking it!!!)