It is a twisted mind that conceived "Oldboy," and while I am frightened to know that imaginations this macabre exist in the
world, I am delighted that they have been set toward making movies, as opposed to, say, running for public office. "Oldboy" is about a man named Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi) who is kidnapped and imprisoned by anonymous captors for 15 years, kept in a large-ish room with a bed, bathroom facilities and a television. On TV, he sees that his wife has been killed and that he -- believed by everyone to have simply disappeared or run away -- has been framed for the murder. He's not tortured or mistreated in any way; he's simply held prisoner, food delivered on a tray through a slot in the door, so that he has no direct contact with the outside world. Dae-su is released just as suddenly as he was taken, dropped back into the world as a fugitive, a ghost and a nobody. He is given clothes, money and a cellphone, the latter item used by his captor to call and taunt him. Like all good unseen tormentors, he speaks in riddles, hinting at his identity and about his reasons for imprisoning Dae-su.
To read the rest of this review, click on the relevant link below.