Oldboy

I have to get this one out of the way first. Yesterday, in my last film screening for one of my classes, I had to watch a Korean film called Oldboy, a story about a man named Oh Dae-Su who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years...after he is released, he tries to find his captor and seek revenge. Trailer below:



Would I recommend this movie? Honestly, no. Not because of the graphic violence or images or language, but because of what is revealed at the end, which I found to be too disturbing. Long story short, the best way to hint what I'm talking about is that there are similar themes between Oldboy and the play Oedipus Tyrannus.

But the concept of revenge is an interesting one in this film. Essentially, the two main characters are both living their lives for the one goal of avenging themselves, and one of them, who attains it at last, says "Now what will I live for?" And so this describes the main universal theme of this movie: the self-destruction that ensues from the seeking of revenge.

But don't watch it, unless you want to be really disturbed.