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As usual, & befitting my seemingly off-beat taste in cinema, I bring you a personal recommendation likely few will see & even fewer will come to share my enthusiasm of.
I have been on a bit of a binge of late.
Satisfying a deep emotional hunger stemming from what is likely suppressed adolescent social adjustment syndrome combined with a mild case of psychopathy, (JK) a recent subscription to Netflixs streaming has put at my fingertips a plethora of ultra-violent Asian films. I just love this stuff. (To me, "Django Unchained" is lighthearted viewing) Everything from heartless hit-men killing the ones they learn to love by trying to go good, to good men gone insane as they fall to the insanity around them. From head lopping samurai extravaganzas to epic Chinese empire-consolidating battles filmed in such grand manner as to recall works from the likes of Cecil B. DeMille. All of them impeccably choreographed as the blood pours as furious & constant as wine from bottle to The Wife’s glass. Most of this genre can make video games like Grand Theft Auto seem as tame as the original Pac Man.
The sub-titled film made in 2003 is director Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” ("Oldeuboi" original title).
Be aware that I am not talking about Spike Lee's 2013 re-make of Oldboy, (casting standard Hollywood box office draws like Josh Brolin & Samuel L. Jackson) which according to most reviews is not a total flop like most re-makes, but loses most all of the dark, bruising, ambivalent, morally wrenching flavor of Park Chan-Wook's 2003 Korean classic.
Spike Lee probably correctly assumes American audiences can only handle so much moral and emotional ambiguity.
Park's version goes far beyond the Hollywood-typical ‘mission of revenge’ theme as his story is warped & intertwined with a horrifyingly emotional & moral conundrum as it eschews Western-style melodrama while deftly depicting with gut-churning subtly standing face to face with one’s own demon within.
The plot, described in one line, is of a man kidnapped & imprisoned for 15 years without explanation, who is then released with wads of money only to find his kidnapper has only just begun his true torture.
“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a pansy Nancy Drew bedtime story for babies compared to what transpires in this movie.
So be warned, “Oldboy” is not for everybody.
It is like Hitchcock on steroids & meth bathed in Peckinpah on acid.
But for those tired of typical Hollywood drivel overflowing with hollow plots, week minded dialogue & lacking the balls to address what horror actually looks like when put on the big screen, then you might what to give this a try.
If you do, you will be provoked to question basic moral assumptions as you struggle to pass judgment on just exactly who the true villains & victims in this movie actually are.
I have been on a bit of a binge of late.
Satisfying a deep emotional hunger stemming from what is likely suppressed adolescent social adjustment syndrome combined with a mild case of psychopathy, (JK) a recent subscription to Netflixs streaming has put at my fingertips a plethora of ultra-violent Asian films. I just love this stuff. (To me, "Django Unchained" is lighthearted viewing) Everything from heartless hit-men killing the ones they learn to love by trying to go good, to good men gone insane as they fall to the insanity around them. From head lopping samurai extravaganzas to epic Chinese empire-consolidating battles filmed in such grand manner as to recall works from the likes of Cecil B. DeMille. All of them impeccably choreographed as the blood pours as furious & constant as wine from bottle to The Wife’s glass. Most of this genre can make video games like Grand Theft Auto seem as tame as the original Pac Man.
The sub-titled film made in 2003 is director Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” ("Oldeuboi" original title).
Be aware that I am not talking about Spike Lee's 2013 re-make of Oldboy, (casting standard Hollywood box office draws like Josh Brolin & Samuel L. Jackson) which according to most reviews is not a total flop like most re-makes, but loses most all of the dark, bruising, ambivalent, morally wrenching flavor of Park Chan-Wook's 2003 Korean classic.
Spike Lee probably correctly assumes American audiences can only handle so much moral and emotional ambiguity.
Park's version goes far beyond the Hollywood-typical ‘mission of revenge’ theme as his story is warped & intertwined with a horrifyingly emotional & moral conundrum as it eschews Western-style melodrama while deftly depicting with gut-churning subtly standing face to face with one’s own demon within.
The plot, described in one line, is of a man kidnapped & imprisoned for 15 years without explanation, who is then released with wads of money only to find his kidnapper has only just begun his true torture.
“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a pansy Nancy Drew bedtime story for babies compared to what transpires in this movie.
So be warned, “Oldboy” is not for everybody.
It is like Hitchcock on steroids & meth bathed in Peckinpah on acid.
But for those tired of typical Hollywood drivel overflowing with hollow plots, week minded dialogue & lacking the balls to address what horror actually looks like when put on the big screen, then you might what to give this a try.
If you do, you will be provoked to question basic moral assumptions as you struggle to pass judgment on just exactly who the true villains & victims in this movie actually are.
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