Did anyone else notice the parallel scenes at the opening of the film and near the end where 1) Oh Dae-su is holding the man (and dog) up on the roof, trying to prevent him from suicide and 2) Lee Woo-jin is holding up his sister, trying to prevent her from suicide?
deepfocuslens is better than any critics I have seen, this woman's review was so brilliant, and could only come from a psychologist. this woman is smart and understands the human mind. and she also understands as to what plots must have by any movies. she must be hired by the national TV.
When this movie ended, i just stood there "reading" the korean credits...I could not believe. It shook me in a good way. Hey nice Hichcock reference ;)
Superb review, DFL. Park chan-Wook is such a brilliant director - "Old Boy" is a great film (it's one I keep going back to). I absolutely love his "Stoker" (only English speaking film), "Thirst" (who could resist a vampire catholic priest), and the beautiful "Lady Vengeance" - those four, though, each different, are my favorite of his films, but all his movies are beautifully put together. Speaking of the actor Min-sik choi, he also stars in another brilliant South Korean film, Jee-woon Kim's "I Saw the Devil" - another compelling performance in a film that I won't soon forget.
@3:20 that theme about knowing something in advance versus not knowing is repeated in the scene where the protagonist is about to lose his teeth. The bad guy says something along the lines of" Stop imagining the moment you lose your teeth " to Dae Su .
The Spike Lee remake made zero sense until I've found out it was actually a remake then it made sense. The caricature didn't translate well. Other Korean movies you want to check out are, - The Man from Nowhere. (2010) - The Commitment. (2013) One is an award winner in the Korean Oscars in 2010. Both are tear jerkers.
I've only liked one Spike Lee film, Malcolm X. Besides that I think he's overrated. What he did with Old Boy shows he had no idea how to translate over any of the themes of the film. The main villian in his film was a complete lampoonish caricature istead of a disturbed yet strangely sympathetic person. The use of color was missing. The epic fight scene was just Superman vs enemies instead of a fight that wears the protagonist down..yet he drives on. Because of what he did to this movie and the fact that I've only like one other film by him, I just refuse to watch any more of his movies since this one.
Oh the handmaiden is a fucking masterpiece...he's always been cinematic in his style, even JSA is really beautifully shot and all, but everything from lady vengeance on by him is just straight up, Coppola or Kubrick level full on "art". He directed a series too I need to finish with the lady from Midsommar in it called The Little Drummer Girl...the first couple episodes were promising as hell and I need to finish it up
Thanks for another thoughtful review, Maggie! I agree with you that Park's filmmaking style is particularly great because he controls all of his cinematic tools in a highly purposeful manner. With that said, I can't help but echo other people's recommendation of watching "The Handmaiden" because I felt that it was the most "cinematic" film of 2016 and likely the director's best since "Oldboy". Think there are some good themes to dig into, such as feminism, subjectivity, sexuality and the male gaze. The blu-ray was recently announced to come out by the end of the month so it's good timing, too. Anyway, thanks again and keep up the good work!
What else is in it? I'm looking for some more movies to watch and this was absolutely great. I have seen many films though, especially American made movies. My favorite directors, who I've seen most if not all movies of, would probably be Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, John Carpenter, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin McDonagh and Edgar Wright. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
@@JigglePhysics3000 Since you already watch a lot of American films, I will give you some Korean movies to watch. Nameless Gangster (2011), Silmido (2003), New World (2012), The Man from Nowhere (2010), Inside Men (2015), The King (2016), Public Enemy 1, 2, 3. After naming these films I realized I like movies that have gangsters, detectives/cops, and/or corruption lol
@@kalee6 Thanks, I will be adding these to my watchlist. Since you seem to like more recent films and enjoy the crime genre, I would recommend any films by director Martin McDonagh, and especially the film In Bruges.
Awesome review! I liked your comparison to Oedipus Rex. I made the same point in the review we just did for Oldboy. Park Chan Wook is one of the best directors working today and, in my opinion, no one dramatizes the human struggle he can.
About the last scene you both mention the personal perspective of the unfolding and the Oedipus like roots and I believe both are critical for the final reaction. Oh Dae-su is locked in an impossible paradox just like his nemesis. He must forget the horrible secret but without the secret their is no meaning to Lee Woo-jin's actions. Without that his years plotting escape of without purpose, and the secret the prison everything are bound to his original identity he cannot know anything, be anything, because his life has become a sin a grain of stand that still sinks, even his sense of identity has been cheapened by the hypnotist so much like the society that Lee Woo-jin was the tool of his torture. In short Oh Dae-su has become Lee Woo-jin with he himself as the loathsome Oh Dae-su.
Too slightly extrapolate on the hypnotism/society comparison Woo-Jin never really blames the others just Dae-su. In the final reveal he talks about the difference in time lines and how Dae-su forgot even though it was his tongue that got his (Woo-jin's) sister pregnant. The facts of the matter are irreverent no one remembered except the individual trapped by them, for Woo-jin Oh Dae-su was the linchpin sealing his fate of none the less free himself, so using the hypnotist Oh Dae-Su was sealed and Wu-Jin freed himself. Which is to say the hypnotist is just the abstract used to carry the law of causality.
I honestly didn't feel that sympathetic towards Lee Woo-jin and I'm suprised you did ,you are the first person that I heard that from. But I have to say Choi Min-silk who played Oh Dae-su gave one of the best if not the best performance I have ever seen on screen I have never felt so connected to a fictional character. He's performance is so raw and almost to painfull to watch.
This movie & Memento had me glued to the screen trying to figure out what's happening through all the vague narrative foreshadowing then the last 10 minutes rolls around and you're like *OH FUCK. WHAT ? NOO !*
i find the end so incredible, i think what happened is the hipnoses dismiss and he no longer love his daughter as a lover, but he smiled when he see that she is well, but he no longer can live whit her knowing the demon he become
I'm glad to find this review, because I hated the film. All the plot elements you found powerful seemed contrived to me. By the time Dae-Su had his big breakdown near the end, I couldn't take any of it seriously. But of course there's a very good chance I'm missing something important here, so I'll keep thinking about it.
Great take! I didn’t think of the exaggerated-ness element Could you do a review on The Wailing? I watched it only last week and it’s deep themes and meaning is incredible. Slightly long but well worth the reward.
Hey! I always wondered, since I never saw you mentioning him or any of his works, have you watched any Tarkovsky's movies? I'd be really glad to hear your opinions on some of them
exelente Review morra ya habia visto varios de tus reviews pero no me keria subscribir pero con este ya tuve que hacerlo, estaria bueno escuchar tu opinio de The Wailing o de Memories of Murder
Hey this movie is all about the build up to the end. Best going into it with no idea what your about to see. It’s really sad how this ends up. You’d think he would have wanted to reach out to more people of his past before he goes on a revenge murder spree. That’s the only flaw that for me I would have reached out to the family after being gone for 15 years. Right? I don’t know if I missed something but after that pretty wild and fucked up.
He did. He reached out Joo-hwan (guy in the internet cafe, later gets killed by Woo-jin), probably his only friend who would help on a revenge quest. Dae-su was known for his bad-behavior outside, so it is normal that he doesn't have many friends.
MeshaL M If i remember correctly, Woo-jin and his sister was in love with each other. Dae-su found out about it then spread the ''rumor'' among his peers. Woo-jin's sister could not take the embarrassment and harassment from her peers, so she decided to take her life.
In your Akira review, it sounded like you are or were into Japanese entertainment. Have you happened to see the anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion? Do you have any thoughts on it?
Yeah, I watched it in college. I definitely admired certain things about it, but I remember thinking it was quite flawed in ways that were hard to overlook. But honestly, it's been so many years. I'd have to go back and re-watch the show to give a better take on it.
i haven't watched this review because i haven't watched the film but still i wanna comment whether you've seen the handmaiden? it's by the same director and im interested in what you think about it
the reason Oh Daesoo was imprisoned for 15 yrs is because in Korea the statute of limitation for murder is 15 yrs(him being the prime suspect for murder of his wife). therefore when he is released he cannot be charged for the murder of his wife. pretty fucked up, huh?
@@GenetMJF well Korea is not a big country with population of 50 million. if you are wanted for murder, chances of you escaping the authorities is very slim. you WILL get caught. you can probably county the number cold cases for murder with one hand in modern history. if you flee the country, the statute of limitation is halted. the philosophy is that if you commit a crime and somehow evade authorities for 15 years, you no longer pose a threat to society.
Have you ever seen any of Don hertzfeldt's work? Specifically "It's such a beautiful day" or "World of Tomorrow"? Do you have any thoughts on those as well? I bring it up because you're the one of the only movie reviewers that takes time on strange films like these.
+deepfocuslens You are literally the female version of Chris Stuckmann. So analytical and spot-on with your review assessment of film. You should check him out.
Michael Challinoir She is extremely vell-versed and a pro at this, but until she has written her own critic book or written a 1,000 page movie screenplay like stuckmann, I can hardly fathom her being 'leagues' ahead over any professional...
Nice dress. Even nicer everything else...................The cinema has no business dragging revenge's good name through the mud. Impressionable young people are in the seats. What would life be without revenge? Not empty, but less to truly savor. As far as the unpredictable and often unintended consequences and splatter of vengeance, hey, what would life be minus the unpredictable and devoid of splatter? We must come to an accommodation with the splatter, without judgment.............without judgment. Forgiving nothing.................................................................I saw a snail slithering along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare.
I just found your channel and I liked your review an I subscribed. Until this review i loved OldBoy it's one of the most original movie I seen. But your reviews are....... don't know, fake?? I literally felt scammed. Once you said the bomb under table that was it for me I unsubscribe right away. Keep up your work But it just isn't it for me I'll just go straight to the source
I am probably the only person on earth who absolutely hates this film. I haven't liked any of Park's films. I think he's so artificial that he has nothing to say about real life at all. There's a lot of unmotivated stuff that feels thrown in just for aesthetics. Sorry, I know 99.9% of planet Earth loves this thing, but I think it's pretentious junk.
Did anyone else notice the parallel scenes at the opening of the film and near the end where 1) Oh Dae-su is holding the man (and dog) up on the roof, trying to prevent him from suicide and 2) Lee Woo-jin is holding up his sister, trying to prevent her from suicide?
Let me tell you my story
@@deniserichards9337 *walks away
deepfocuslens is better than any critics I have seen, this woman's review was so brilliant, and could only come from a psychologist. this woman is smart and understands the human mind. and she also understands as to what plots must have by any movies. she must be hired by the national TV.
When this movie ended, i just stood there "reading" the korean credits...I could not believe. It shook me in a good way. Hey nice Hichcock reference ;)
The soundtrack for this movie is so damn on point 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
I fell in love with that movie so deeply when it first came out! Such a masterful film and that ending just stays with you days after you see it.
Superb review, DFL. Park chan-Wook is such a brilliant director - "Old Boy" is a great film (it's one I keep going back to). I absolutely love his "Stoker" (only English speaking film), "Thirst" (who could resist a vampire catholic priest), and the beautiful "Lady Vengeance" - those four, though, each different, are my favorite of his films, but all his movies are beautifully put together. Speaking of the actor Min-sik choi, he also stars in another brilliant South Korean film, Jee-woon Kim's "I Saw the Devil" - another compelling performance in a film that I won't soon forget.
Yоu ссааааn't find this mоviе with beеttеr quаlitуу thаn hееrеее => twitter.com/bab64f69ae40a1e7d/status/850529396989362177
@3:20 that theme about knowing something in advance versus not knowing is repeated in the scene where the protagonist is about to lose his teeth. The bad guy says something along the lines of" Stop imagining the moment you lose your teeth " to Dae Su .
The Spike Lee remake made zero sense until I've found out it was actually a remake then it made sense. The caricature didn't translate well. Other Korean movies you want to check out are,
- The Man from Nowhere. (2010)
- The Commitment. (2013)
One is an award winner in the Korean Oscars in 2010. Both are tear jerkers.
I've only liked one Spike Lee film, Malcolm X. Besides that I think he's overrated. What he did with Old Boy shows he had no idea how to translate over any of the themes of the film. The main villian in his film was a complete lampoonish caricature istead of a disturbed yet strangely sympathetic person. The use of color was missing. The epic fight scene was just Superman vs enemies instead of a fight that wears the protagonist down..yet he drives on. Because of what he did to this movie and the fact that I've only like one other film by him, I just refuse to watch any more of his movies since this one.
@@djsosonut You didn't like Do the Right Thing? Also, I heard his documentaries are some of his best work.
@@R0CKDRIG0 No. I never liked Do the Right Thing. Again I found it overrated. And I don't use that word often.
The ending theme always got me. Well, the two times I've seen the film throughout.
You can never get the right answers if you ask the wrong questions so freaking deep
Have you seen The Handmaiden yet?? Sooooo good.
Oh the handmaiden is a fucking masterpiece...he's always been cinematic in his style, even JSA is really beautifully shot and all, but everything from lady vengeance on by him is just straight up, Coppola or Kubrick level full on "art". He directed a series too I need to finish with the lady from Midsommar in it called The Little Drummer Girl...the first couple episodes were promising as hell and I need to finish it up
This film was absolutely Incredible! Min Sik Choi is Oscar Worthy in this film!
Thanks for another thoughtful review, Maggie!
I agree with you that Park's filmmaking style is particularly great because he controls all of his cinematic tools in a highly purposeful manner. With that said, I can't help but echo other people's recommendation of watching "The Handmaiden" because I felt that it was the most "cinematic" film of 2016 and likely the director's best since "Oldboy". Think there are some good themes to dig into, such as feminism, subjectivity, sexuality and the male gaze. The blu-ray was recently announced to come out by the end of the month so it's good timing, too.
Anyway, thanks again and keep up the good work!
This film has been in my Top 40 films of all time since 2003 👍🏼
What else is in it? I'm looking for some more movies to watch and this was absolutely great. I have seen many films though, especially American made movies. My favorite directors, who I've seen most if not all movies of, would probably be Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, John Carpenter, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin McDonagh and Edgar Wright. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
@@JigglePhysics3000 Since you already watch a lot of American films, I will give you some Korean movies to watch. Nameless Gangster (2011), Silmido (2003), New World (2012), The Man from Nowhere (2010), Inside Men (2015), The King (2016), Public Enemy 1, 2, 3. After naming these films I realized I like movies that have gangsters, detectives/cops, and/or corruption lol
@@kalee6 Thanks, I will be adding these to my watchlist. Since you seem to like more recent films and enjoy the crime genre, I would recommend any films by director Martin McDonagh, and especially the film In Bruges.
@@JigglePhysics3000 Definitely would check him out. Just googled him and haven't seen any of his movies :)
@@JigglePhysics3000 I liked the Handmaiden. It has the same director as oldboy if i remember right
one of the best directed and choreographed movie out there
This is the best review of Old Boy.
Awesome review! I liked your comparison to Oedipus Rex. I made the same point in the review we just did for Oldboy. Park Chan Wook is one of the best directors working today and, in my opinion, no one dramatizes the human struggle he can.
LAUGH and the world LAUGHS with you.. WEEP and you WEEP alone...
The best qoute from the movie...
This is probably my favourite movie, despite the nastiness.
Wow, you completely captured why this movie is one of the best. This puts so many of the reasons I love this movie into concise words.
About the last scene you both mention the personal perspective of the unfolding and the Oedipus like roots and I believe both are critical for the final reaction. Oh Dae-su is locked in an impossible paradox just like his nemesis. He must forget the horrible secret but without the secret their is no meaning to Lee Woo-jin's actions. Without that his years plotting escape of without purpose, and the secret the prison everything are bound to his original identity he cannot know anything, be anything, because his life has become a sin a grain of stand that still sinks, even his sense of identity has been cheapened by the hypnotist so much like the society that Lee Woo-jin was the tool of his torture. In short Oh Dae-su has become Lee Woo-jin with he himself as the loathsome Oh Dae-su.
Too slightly extrapolate on the hypnotism/society comparison Woo-Jin never really blames the others just Dae-su. In the final reveal he talks about the difference in time lines and how Dae-su forgot even though it was his tongue that got his (Woo-jin's) sister pregnant. The facts of the matter are irreverent no one remembered except the individual trapped by them, for Woo-jin Oh Dae-su was the linchpin sealing his fate of none the less free himself, so using the hypnotist Oh Dae-Su was sealed and Wu-Jin freed himself. Which is to say the hypnotist is just the abstract used to carry the law of causality.
I like your content. You speak a bit clearer than most of the reviews I see on youtube
good review!!! you should definitely watch Wong kar wai's in the mood for love and chungking Express...I am sure you'd love it
Great review!! I just watched this for the first time today I'm glad you reviewed it!
I honestly didn't feel that sympathetic towards Lee Woo-jin and I'm suprised you did ,you are the first person that I heard that from. But I have to say Choi Min-silk who played Oh Dae-su gave one of the best if not the best performance I have ever seen on screen I have never felt so connected to a fictional character. He's performance is so raw and almost to painfull to watch.
one of my all time favourite films. The Handmaiden is fucking incredible too, please watch that one if you haven't
This movie & Memento had me glued to the screen trying to figure out what's happening through all the vague narrative foreshadowing then the last 10 minutes rolls around and you're like *OH FUCK. WHAT ? NOO !*
i find the end so incredible, i think what happened is the hipnoses dismiss and he no longer love his daughter as a lover, but he smiled when he see that she is well, but he no longer can live whit her knowing the demon he become
I think that the hypnosis did work and he had no recollection but the lingering emotional trauma is still there as he embraces his daughter.
Have you seen The Handmaiden?
I at first knows that she is his daughter but all i didn't knows, i dont know how but i knows that
I'm glad to find this review, because I hated the film. All the plot elements you found powerful seemed contrived to me. By the time Dae-Su had his big breakdown near the end, I couldn't take any of it seriously.
But of course there's a very good chance I'm missing something important here, so I'll keep thinking about it.
You should watch his most recent film The Handmaiden. I think it's his best since Old Boy.
Great analysis! Makes me want to go re-watch again for the eleventeenth time.
Great take! I didn’t think of the exaggerated-ness element
Could you do a review on The Wailing? I watched it only last week and it’s deep themes and meaning is incredible. Slightly long but well worth the reward.
My poor date said he liked dramas and without really thinking I showed him this movie.... Yeahhhh he hasn't called me back.
He's missing out. You have great taste.
Excellent review! I subscribed. :-)
Wonderful review! Wish your reviews had more views, so that more people could discuss and compare their views and opinions about films.
great review as always! maybe i should give it a rewatch... didn't appreciate it as much the first viewing personally
Hey! I always wondered, since I never saw you mentioning him or any of his works, have you watched any Tarkovsky's movies? I'd be really glad to hear your opinions on some of them
exelente Review morra ya habia visto varios de tus reviews pero no me keria subscribir pero con este ya tuve que hacerlo, estaria bueno escuchar tu opinio de The Wailing o de Memories of Murder
Hey this movie is all about the build up to the end. Best going into it with no idea what your about to see. It’s really sad how this ends up. You’d think he would have wanted to reach out to more people of his past before he goes on a revenge murder spree. That’s the only flaw that for me I would have reached out to the family after being gone for 15 years. Right? I don’t know if I missed something but after that pretty wild and fucked up.
He did. He reached out Joo-hwan (guy in the internet cafe, later gets killed by Woo-jin), probably his only friend who would help on a revenge quest. Dae-su was known for his bad-behavior outside, so it is normal that he doesn't have many friends.
But they imprisoned other people as well right? If yes why?
Great review! I would love to hear your thoughts on ‘I Saw The Devil’
Please make a video of your all time favourite movies!
so did Woo-jin Lee actually sleep with his sister or was it a lie from Dae-su Oh ?
thanks
MeshaL M
If i remember correctly, Woo-jin and his sister was in love with each other. Dae-su found out about it then spread the ''rumor'' among his peers. Woo-jin's sister could not take the embarrassment and harassment from her peers, so she decided to take her life.
Watching Oldboy felt like reading Chainsaw-Man/Fire Punch all over again (not that many would understand that)
Wow. That was a good review that didn't insult the audience's intelligence.
In your Akira review, it sounded like you are or were into Japanese entertainment. Have you happened to see the anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion? Do you have any thoughts on it?
Yeah, I watched it in college. I definitely admired certain things about it, but I remember thinking it was quite flawed in ways that were hard to overlook. But honestly, it's been so many years. I'd have to go back and re-watch the show to give a better take on it.
roger. It's probably my all time favorite series. Not that you asked. Just sayin.
Great review, going to see Oldboy today!
Wonderful review. One of my all time favourite films.
The reveal at the end freaked me out.
curious for your take on" pan's labyrinth"
It's been a while since I've seen that one.
Have you seen Lady Vengeance? I love that one
I guess I was the only one who thought Mido was too young for him...
Do you take requests, or do you just review whatever you feel like at the moment? Just curious. If you can't tell, I really dig your reviews.
Thanks! I review whatever I feel like. Sometimes I take requests, but it's rare.
7:36 hey you quoted Hitchcock there, that's nice and all but you could have said that idea is from him.
i haven't watched this review because i haven't watched the film but still i wanna comment whether you've seen the handmaiden? it's by the same director and im interested in what you think about it
I haven't, but I want to.
very good review I thought it wouldn't be this deep haha good stuff.
I've been waiting for some korean movie reviews. They are just soo awesome :)
Try watching some movies by Sion Sono, to experience the absolute mad filmaking.
Yeah this is the best movie I've seen in a while
such intelligence and sensitivity.... great review. Impresses and well said
the reason Oh Daesoo was imprisoned for 15 yrs is because in Korea the statute of limitation for murder is 15 yrs(him being the prime suspect for murder of his wife).
therefore when he is released he cannot be charged for the murder of his wife.
pretty fucked up, huh?
Damn I never knew that. Wow the limitation is just 15 years??
@@GenetMJF well Korea is not a big country with population of 50 million. if you are wanted for murder, chances of you escaping the authorities is very slim. you WILL get caught. you can probably county the number cold cases for murder with one hand in modern history. if you flee the country, the statute of limitation is halted. the philosophy is that if you commit a crime and somehow evade authorities for 15 years, you no longer pose a threat to society.
When his wife was killed, he was already in prison for a year.
I refuse to watch the remake. Not for normal for me, but I hold this work higher.
Douglas Briel
You didn't miss anything. The remake was crap.
Have you ever seen any of Don hertzfeldt's work? Specifically "It's such a beautiful day" or "World of Tomorrow"? Do you have any thoughts on those as well?
I bring it up because you're the one of the only movie reviewers that takes time on strange films like these.
Great insightful review.
Will you review Spike Lee's version of Oldboy?
hopefully not..
God no
blinkzone1
I can review it for you. It was crap.
great review~~~^^
+deepfocuslens You are literally the female version of Chris Stuckmann. So analytical and spot-on with your review assessment of film. You should check him out.
Michael Challinoir She is extremely vell-versed and a pro at this, but until she has written her own critic book or written a 1,000 page movie screenplay like stuckmann, I can hardly fathom her being 'leagues' ahead over any professional...
OMG this movie messed me up
No words for this movie 🤐
have you seen nocturnal animals?
nope
watch your mouth.. that's the message
great work. the best oldboy review by a non korean.
watch The Raid 2 from Gareth Evans!
Nice dress. Even nicer everything else...................The cinema has no business dragging revenge's good name through the mud. Impressionable young people are in the seats. What would life be without revenge? Not empty, but less to truly savor. As far as the unpredictable and often unintended consequences and splatter of vengeance, hey, what would life be minus the unpredictable and devoid of splatter? We must come to an accommodation with the splatter, without judgment.............without judgment. Forgiving nothing.................................................................I saw a snail slithering along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare.
I just found your channel and I liked your review an I subscribed. Until this review i loved OldBoy it's one of the most original movie I seen. But your reviews are....... don't know, fake?? I literally felt scammed. Once you said the bomb under table that was it for me I unsubscribe right away. Keep up your work But it just isn't it for me I'll just go straight to the source
What. Lol
What?
idi i smorti come and see.
I am probably the only person on earth who absolutely hates this film. I haven't liked any of Park's films. I think he's so artificial that he has nothing to say about real life at all. There's a lot of unmotivated stuff that feels thrown in just for aesthetics. Sorry, I know 99.9% of planet Earth loves this thing, but I think it's pretentious junk.