Oldboy (2003)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Garon Tsuchiya (story)
Nobuaki Minegishi (comic) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 November 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance

Plot:

After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

Plot Keywords:

Imprisonment | Revenge | Police Station | Cell | Exposed Breast

Awards:

17 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Min-sik Choi	...	Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu	...	Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Mi-do
Dae-han Ji	...	No Joo-hwan
Dal-su Oh	...	Park Cheol-woong
Byeong-ok Kim	...	Mr. Han
Seung-Shin Lee	...	Yoo Hyung-ja
Jin-seo Yun	...	Lee Soo-ah
Dae-yeon Lee	...	Beggar
Kwang-rok Oh	...	Suicidal Man
Tae-kyung Oh	...	Young Dae-su
Yeon-suk Ahn	...	Young Woo-jin
Il-han Oo	...	Young Joo-hwan
Su-hyeon Kim
Seung-jin Lee
Su-kyeong Yun
Myeong-shin Park
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dae-han Chi
Yi Yong	...	Delivery Boy

Directed by
Chan-wook Park

Writing credits
Garon Tsuchiya		(story)
Nobuaki Minegishi		(comic)
Jo-yun Hwang		screenplay
Chun-hyeong Lim		screenplay
Joon-hyung Lim		writer
Chan-wook Park		screenplay

Produced by
Dong-ju Kim	....	executive producer
Seung-yong Lim	....	producer

Original Music by
Hyun-jung Shim

Cinematography by
Chung-hoon Chung

Film Editing by
Sang-Beom Kim

Production Design by
Seong-hie Ryu

Costume Design by
Sankyung Cho

Sound Department
Seung-cheol Lee	....	sound

Visual Effects by
C. Jin Im	....	main titles supervisor
Jeon-hyeong Lee	....	visual effects

Music Department
Seung-hyun Choi	....	composer: theme music
Yeong-wook Jo	....	director of music
Ji-soo Lee	....	composer: theme music

Production Companies

• Egg Films
• Show East

Distributors

• 3L Filmverleih (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• 3L Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Bazuca Films (2006) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Lucky Red (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Show East (2003) (Korea) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Toshiba Entertainment (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Europa Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Fundamental Films (2009) (China) (TV)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2003) (USA) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Rialto Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• HFR  dailies

Also Known As:

Old Boy (International: English title) (DVD title)
Oldeuboi (South Korea)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Taiwan:R-18 | Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (tv rating) | Brazil:18 | Italy:T | Norway:18 (unrated) | Norway:15 (DVD) | Belgium:16 | Israel:18 | Chile:18 | Belgium:KNT | Argentina:16 (DVD rating) | Mexico:C | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Poland:15 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Company:

Egg Films

Trivia:

The code for the elevator to the penthouse is 0604. When entered in the official website, it leads to the official guest book.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Main character states that lack of sunlight has left him depleted of Vitamins A and E. These are obtained through diet. Sunlight is only responsible for the production of Vitamin D. Thus, the character should only be depleted of Vitamin D.

Quotes:

Dae-su Oh: Can the imaginary training of fifteen years be put to use?
Dae-su Oh: [Dae-su beats up his assailants] Yes. It can.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zinda (2006)

Soundtrack:

Winter

Great film!

I feel compelled to defend this film from some quite frankly unwarranted criticism. Although it isn't without its flaws, and all films have a few,it certainly isn't a one star film.What this film has is the ability to be sublime, shocking, ridiculous, mildly amusing and visually stunning which is some feat for any film.The sheer scale of the comments here suggests that here is a film that gets to you in one way or another. This film is as far away from Maborosi as you can get yet both films are up there as great pieces of cinema. I wont divulge the plot or end this comment with a Latin quote to reinforce my self importance i'll just say go and watch it, preferably if you're not too squeamish and don't mind subtitles.This film left me thinking about it the following day which is normally a good thing (atleast it shows my memory is working!)