Oldboy (2003) – "The truth will set you free." That is the driving force behind Chan-wook Park's masterpiece, Oldboy. Oldboy is a Korean film about revenge, and the consequences of full disclosure. Is it always better to know the truth? Oh Dae-Su, the films protagonist, is the man seeking revenge. He was abducted off the street, and imprisoned in an apartment-like cell for more than a decade. He doesn't know who kidnapped him, or why; but for fifteen years Oh Dae-Su conditioned his body to be a weapon, and enacted a plan to escape by chipping away pieces of the wall. During that time he had no human contact, and he learned that his wife was murdered and he was framed for it. Oh Dae-Su passed the time watching television, and obsessing over his condition, while slowly losing his grasp on reality. Then one day, he woke up outside, totally free. Again, there seemed to be no reason why. What follows is one of the single greatest 'mindfuck' movies ever made. It follows Oh Dae-Su on his violent and bloody five day journey to put the story together, piece by piece, and to figure out the who and why of his captivity. By the end of the film, Oh Dae-Su comes to realize that the truth doesn't always set you free, and has to make a choice between knowledge and ignorance. Definitely watch this if you haven't seen it, and check out the other two films in director Chan-wook Park's loose 'Vengeance Trilogy,' Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), and Lady Vengeance (2005).
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