“Oldboy” brings to life beautiful yet cruel revenge and violence in 4K

"Oldboy" synopsis

Oh Dae-su, who was living an ordinary life, was suddenly abducted by someone one day and found himself in a small prison room. The windowless room has only a bed and one TV, and communication with the outside world is completely cut off. Where is this? Who is this and why? One day, 15 years have passed without any reason being revealed, and Death is suddenly released. Mido, a young woman, offers to help Death, who vows revenge. And then a mysterious man appeared in front of me. The man asks her to uncover the reason for her confinement in five days, and offers her a ``death The Game'' in which her life is at stake. However, a surprising development awaited them.

The shocking revenge tale has returned to the big screen after 19 years, even more beautiful. The 4K remastered version of director Park Chan-wook's masterpiece "Oldboy" (2003), which won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, will be released in theaters on May 6, 2022.

Quentin Tarantino, who chaired the jury at the Cannes Film Festival at the time, praised the film highly and even commented, ``Actually, I wanted to give it the Palme d'Or (rather than the Grand Prix).'' This year's Palme d'Or was won by Michael Moore's " Fahrenheit 911 " (2004), and the Best Actor award went to Yuya Yagira for " Nobody Knows " (2004)... There are many people who say that their memories of the past come back vividly.

The 19 years since the movie was released in theaters is the number of years that children born in that year would soon reach adulthood. It's clear that ``Oldboy'' has now become a classic suspense movie. Nowadays, there are many young movie fans who didn't have the opportunity to see this movie in theaters, so they shouldn't miss out on the chance to watch it with clearer images and more powerful sound than back then. Even if you already know the story, it's still a great Being There to experience its powerful production and overwhelming beauty.

"Oldboy" preview

Index

• A beautiful and cruel revenge drama that can be enjoyed in 4K.
• From Korea to Hollywood, the work of cinematographer Jeong Jeong-hoon
• Violent exchanges become more realistic

A beautiful and cruel revenge drama that can be enjoyed in 4K.

On a rainy night in 1988, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), an ordinary office worker, is kidnapped. Dae-su wakes up in a small room with a TV and a bed and learns that he has been imprisoned. In the windowless room, the only connections between Death and the outside world are the delivered Chinese food served through the small window in the door and the TV screen. After learning that his wife was murdered and that he was the suspect, Des tries to commit suicide, but someone keeps him alive.

While increasing his desire for revenge against the criminal, Death trains his body and prepares to escape. But one day, he was suddenly released. In 2003, 15 years have already passed since the abduction, Des decides to exact revenge. However, Dae-su is rescued by Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeong), a woman he happens to meet, and is approached by a mysterious man, Lee Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-tae), to play The Game with him. The idea is to uncover the reason for his confinement in just five days. If he can't clear it, he will kill Death and Mido. On the other hand, if Dae-su solves the mystery, Woo-jin himself will die.

Who on earth imprisoned Death and why? A horrifying The Truth approaches Death as he takes on The Game of risking his life.

It is a well-known fact that there is no need to explain how vividly constructed and precisely crafted this mystery/suspense film is. At the time of its release, a ``spoiler ban'' was issued stating that ``the ending should never be revealed,'' so even though 19 years have passed The Day After, I will not write about any further developments in this article. Park Chan-wook's storytelling, energetic development, and dense production have never gotten old, so if you haven't seen it yet, I hope you'll be surprised by it.

"Oldboy 4K" © 2003 EGG FILMS Co., Ltd. all rights reserved.

What stands out in the 4K remaster is that Oldboy is a truly beautiful film. By using telephoto lenses and wide-angle lenses for each cut, the compositions capture the state of cities, buildings, and people, sometimes dynamically, sometimes delicately, and sometimes with a strange sense of discomfort. The color design is such that red and purple sparkle in a greenish tone, and deep black creates darkness. The power of the majestic images and the impact of the colors make the outline of the human drama woven by the characters even clearer.

For example, the color green that runs throughout the film was chosen by Chan-wook to give the piece a ``corrosion-like'' feel. Red is the color of blood, and represents Death's passion, Mido's femininity, and the love that develops between the two. Also, purple is Woojin's theme color, and it appears everywhere as he tries to control Death and Mido. Chan-wook's visual aim was achieved at a higher level as each color left a lasting impression on the audience's eyes and hearts.

In 2003, Chan-wook said of this work, ``I wanted to create a work that would affect (the audience's) body, not their psychology, and give them a feeling of fatigue,'' and the 4K version will truly touch the audience's whole body through audio and visuals. A work that attempts to penetrate the world of art. From the famous opening scene in which a man attempts to jump from the roof of a building to the snowy final scene shot on location in New Zealand, this is what makes this film such a great visual highlight. They are beautiful, cool, and cruel and painful.