You need the end credits of this film. It doesn't matter if it's in Korean, you just need it for the background; a lovely, quiet mountain range. It's a relaxing image, just the antidote for what you've just witnessed. Because Oldboy is DEVASTATING...

After a distressing opener where our main character is entrapped in a hotel room for fifteen years, his psychology is splattered all over the screen for the remainder of the film. Erratic behaviour is Oh Dae-Su's trademark; he eats live octupi, steals women's sunglasses and starts brawls with local neerdowells just to test out his supposed fighting skills.

And as for the villain (a semi-suicidal, simpering, giggling yuppie) he's harder to watch. Guarding a shameful past, you…

Whenever possible, I like to watch a movie with absolutely no idea what it is about. Ideally, I don't even want to know what genre it is and that's just how I came to Old Boy. What a way to experience it.

It was recommended by a fellow letterboxer and since Prime was showing it for free streaming, I put it on. There's virtually nothing about this movie I would think of changing. Stylistically, it's beautiful to watch with those sharp cuts and beautiful film lines so characteristic of my favorite asian films. This one really sprawls out. The plot moves quickly without rushing. Every scene matters. Nothing essential is left out and nothing unessential is put in for filler.…

'Oldboy,' the story of Oh Daesu and his constant struggle towards unraveling the truth regarding his 15 year, drug-addled, apartment imprisonment is a tragedy in every sense of the word.

When most people speak of how layered a film is, they will oft be talking of how much emotional depth a character has or all the metaphors sitting to be drawn out of dark corners and cigars. 'Oldboy' is layered to an astounding extent. As in: THIS FILM IS BEYOND FUCKED UP. And just when you think that your hand couldn't tense any more, it gets more fucked up. There are endless layers of masochism, hate, violence, and general disturbances of the soul within these two hours.

I laughed a…

I had never heard of this before joining Letterboxd, and ever since I joined I've seen people praising this. Finally I decided to give this a go and see what all the hype was about.

Given the amount of praise this gets, I guess you'd have to say that I was disappointed. I was expecting something alot better than this. The acting was shaky, the so-called revenge badassery was minimal, the story was majorly lacking, and the dialogue was bizarre. I get that this is based off a Japanese manga but you could've spruced it up when making the motion picture. There were plots holes, areas that just seemed to be skipped, and too many leaps of faith were required.…