Up until a year or two ago, I haven't been really into foreign movies and that despite being a big moviefan. Well, this has changed with my discovery of Asian cinema. I have seen some Chinese/Korean/Japanese movies lately, but non of them struck the cord as well as Oldboy and both Infernal Affairs films did. Both are being remade at the moment. Infernal Affairs under the title The Departed, directed by Martin Scorcese and starring Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. Oldboy under its original title and it's rumored to star Nicholas Cage.



Well, I'll start off with Oldboy, as it is the first out of the two that I saw. If you look on the surface, the movie is a plain revenge thriller with a simple plot. But it is much more complicated than that. The plot deals with a middle-aged guy named Dae-su (masterfully played by Min-Sik Choi) who is knocked down by a stranger one night, kidnapped and held captive in an apartment for 15 years. This all happens without any explanation. During that time, he learns on the news that his wife was killed (there is a TV in his apartment) and he is the main suspect. After 15 years, all of sudden he is released equipped with money, good clothes and a cell phone. But the game is not over yet. The kidnapper has further plans for him. Dae-Su has five days to find out why he was held captive for 15 years and who is responsible for the kidnapping, otherwise, he'll never get to know. Dae-Su's first and foremost goal is to take revenge on anyone responsible for his imprisonment. A young waitress named Mi-do as well as his old friend help him to find out the truth. The deeper he gets into it, though, the more confusing do things get... Dae-Su takes ruthless revenge on the ones who were involved in his kidnapping, but still can't find out who the "big man" behind it was and why until the grand finale...


To make it clear right away, even though I think the movie is definitely a treat, I find it slightly overrated. Which doesn't take away anything from me thinking it's good, it's just not THAT good as some make it out to be. The movie is already at #107 of the Best Films of all time at IMDB. Personally, I don't think the movie is groundbreaking, but I still would say that it is very well-made and I'd recommend it to anyone on here unless your stomach can't handle some pretty gruesome scenes as Oldboy has quite a couple of them. It's the first film ever that actually made me cringe in my seat and wanting to close my eyes at a certain scene (HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER: Dae-Su cutting off his tongue in the end). But unlike The Passion of the Christ for instance, the film doesn't simply try to shock you with violence. There is plenty of violence in the movie, but there is also a good storyline with an amazing performance by the lead Min-Sik Choi which I think was oscar-worthy. The screenplay of the movie is well written and there is a great twist-ending which I saw a bit earlier coming than I probably was supposed to, but which still had a pretty big impact on me. Make sure no one spoils the ending for you!

I have some rather minor problems with this film. First of all, I thought it had slight editing problems, as the movie started to drag a bit in the middle (it picked up later on, though). Also, I had certain problems with the character of the kidnapper and the actor who played him as well as with the ending, but I can't get into it without spoiling the movie to an extent. The film leaves an emotional impact on you, mostly thansk to Choi's phenomenal performance and the last 30 minutes of the film which bring up a topic that you certainly will ponder about after having seen the film. Tchincally, it was a well-made film as well, with great cinematography. It's the movie's ending, though that makes the movie as good as it is. I'd rate it B+, boderline A-. It would have been better, if it wasn't for the aforementioned editing issues. It will be coming out in the USA later this month, I think, and I suggest anyone who has a chance to catch it. I know that makeshift and joseba will agree with me on that one


As for Infernal Affairs, I liked that movie even more, but I will get into it a bit later as I don't want this first post to be too long either. As for now, I'll just say that I thought that Infernal Affairs was the best police thriller/drama since L.A. Confidential and the first sequel, Infernal Affairs II, isn't much worse than the original actually. More on the both films later in this thread.

I want to see Oldboy. I liked Infernal Affairs but I honestly didn't love it, I'd give it a B/B-.

In recent years, most Hong Kong movies makes Uwe Boll look like Wolfgang Petersen. Infernal Affairs is one of the few Hong Kong that are watchable.

However, Infernal Affairs 2 and 3 are terrible movies....

I like Infernal Affair's energy.

I'm not too keen on it being remade though.

Scorsese going to use the mob? Mob is a lot less threatening than the triad.

If you really want to cringe get Audition.

Infernal Affairs is one of the most memorable movies I've seen in recent years. The premise is great, and the execution is almost perfect.

Infernal Affairs could of used an extra hour to develop characterization. There are moments when they cue some moody music where I dont care too much that the police commissioner gets killed in the same vain as when that Elf guy dies in Fellowship of the Ring becaues of the lack of screentime to make us care for the characters. Overall, Infernal Affairs has an interesting concept where theres a mole on each side of the fence. I enjoyed it quite well.

I missed the showing of Oldboy at the Santa Barbara Film Festival because I got there late and Dave Berry's Complete Guide to Guys was playing there so I opted for that one instead of OldBoy

l think Oldboy sounds stupid. l quite want to see it, however. As for Infernal Affairs, it's good, and pretty well made, but it seemed kinda...hmm...messy, l guess. l found myself with many unanswered questions, and even a bit confused. l've since had most of my questions answered, and am obviously no longer confused, but l'm still not 100% keen on it. l'll watch it again sometime in the near (or maybe distant) future, and see what l think. l loved the style, btw, and it's really generally my type of movie, so l could definitely see me diggin it next time.

I know, Oldboy's plot doesn't sound as anything special or extraordinaly intriguing, but it is far more complex than it seems at first sight, it is a deep movie, trust me.

Infernal Affairs till now is one of my top 5 favorite films of all time. i really loved it, i couldn't count how many times i've seen it. it's really inspired me.

I thought OLD BOY was wonderful, even though there were things in it that really disturbed me. I wasn't really shocked by one of the "reveals" at the end. I expected something that twisted. An A- for me.

Oldboy is coming out in the States this wek and will expand throughout April. I suggest everyone who can to check it out.

It is getting pretty decent reviews at RT right now:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oldboy/

Oldboy is awesome. A-/B+ Very intense movie. Shocking ending.

BOM didn't show its number, but BOG reported that Oldboy grossed an estimated $75,000 in 5 theaters this weekend.

http://www.boxofficeguru.com/weekend.htm

That's a great start. With that opening, an expansion and at least $1,000,000 should be guaranteed. I am still upset over how badly the distributor treated Infernal Affairs.

$92,584 final gross
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=infernalaffairs.htm


BTW, i think that Chinese films are much more "hard sell" than Korean films in US. (except Kung Fu movies)
You can see [ Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring VS Shaolin Soccer]
http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/ ... =14&p=.htm

PS: I know that "THE BEST OF YOUTH" is showing in German. Have you seen it?
:wink:

I can't find a single theatre anywhere close to me that's showing it. I don't even know it's German title

BTW, the title is DIE BESTEN JAHRE
http://www.diebestenjahre.net/

Thank you!

Here's the showing schedule:

http://www.diebestenjahre.net/page/imkino.htm

At no pint will it show anywhere near me. The closest will be over three hours driving distance away from me, in Duesseldorf

I am very surprised they are not showing it in Cologne, Germany's 4th biggest city with lots of art-house theatres.

I finally saw Old Boy and am very dissappointed in it. The whole movie felt very sick especially the twist towards the end and what the character does with a pair of scissors. I had high hopes for the movie when I saw the critics giving it very high marks but would the movie of worked if it didnt have that twist towards the end. I just felt very repulsed by the movie

D

That scene with the scissors must have been the most shocking scene I have ever seen in a movie.

Very disturbing but what was the most disturbing is the incest imaginary in my mind now. Thats why Im giving it a low grade now because its just sickening. Maybe I would change my mind about the grading after some time

I liked that angle of the story because of the way how shocking and unexpected it was. It's a brutal movie, emotionally as well as physically.

I loved the first half, but despised the second. It almost felt like the second half was just trying to undo every cool thing that had happened prior. Was it really necessary for the twist to be that ridiculous? I have no problem with the scissors scene on grounds of taste, but the motivation seemed a little off. I can imagine being a bit sickened by the incest revelation, but would it really move me to cut off my own tongue without any provocation? [-( It just felt like gore for the sake of gore by that point.

Here's my review if anyone's interested...

http://www.worldofkj.com/Clough-OldBoy.php

Yeah, Snrub, I read it. I love your last line, about it being a case study in overreaction, right down to Tarantino overreacting when singing its praise at Cannes.

Oldboy never really called my name, I might still get myself to watch Infernal Affairs because of Leung, and the fact that I've heard very positive things about it from Lecter, Xia, and a couple other people.

Thanks dolce. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it took me flippin' ages to finish.