“Oldboy” is the finest example of a cult film we have in the 21st Century. “Pulp Fiction,” “Fight Club,” “American History X,” “Memento”: all these movies have attained ubiquity to some extent, the Internet uniting all these factions to raise these movies from the underground and into the mainstream. All it means to be a cult film today is to have a ravenous fan base or for a passionate fan base to emerge when the mainstream wasn’t there to swoop it into the stratosphere.
“Oldboy” on the other hand has the same kinetic style, the same cryptically impossible story and the same rebellious themes of the classic cult favorites, and because it comes from Korea, it somewhat has the capability of flying beneath the radar, able to be made into an American studio film by Spike Lee without ruffling too many feathers.
In a way, “Oldboy” is a standard revenge drama. Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) is a flawed, but good man driven to pitifulness by alcohol, and he is abducted without explanation and forced to right a wrong done to his family. Later when he is freed, he will meet a beautiful girl to help him on his journey, he’ll get a mysterious phone call from a suave sounding villain, and he’ll become a Charles Bronson-esque vigilante skilled in combat. The cryptic nature of the mystery will culminate into an epic twist and climax, and many will be killed along the way. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Oldboy”