MovieChat Forums > Oldeuboi (2003) Discussion > Did you think this movie was realistic?

Did you think this movie was realistic?

posted 3 years ago by TheMan18 (12502)
4 replies | jump to latest

Hi, as amazing and great or otherwise perhaps solid a movie as you may have found it to be, or not for that matter, did you think this "Oldboy" movie was in any way realistic?

I mean what with him being kidnapped like that for 15 years and having him survive, with him taking on tens of violent opponents and succeeding, with how that guy killed that man in a computer center with a CD-ROM and no-one noticed etc etc etc.

In real life, would all or even any of the events in this movie happen like that the way they were portrayed?

Or are we meant to take it on a metaphorical and adult-entertainment sort of level of cinematic surrealism, where in South Korea Quentin Tarantino meets Takashi Miike meets David Lynch and go along for the ride etc?

Thanks.

P.S. Yeah, I certainly DID question its "realism" at times but in any case I still found to be an amazing and perfect 10/10 movie masterpiece, which is my favourite film from its director Chan-wook Park, and in my opinion, the best film of 2003 and one of the 10 best films of the decade.

[–] Ghaleon (606) 3 years ago

It's in my top 5 movies of all time, but I recognize that it's highly stylized.

[–] TheMan18 (12502) 3 years ago

For instance, I kind of wondered, if the guy was kidnapped like that and held by some gang for as long as 15 years, would he really be able to be kept there for that long without having anybody including the police find him like that, and would they really manage it all so well and intricately for such a long time, wouldn't some of them give up, maybe that guy would kill himself out of depression, maybe that gas would somehow damage his health etc?

Or would he really be able to fight tens of opponents like that and win, without having anyone seriously injure or kill him as a result?

As traumatized as that guy may have been due to the loss of his sister, would he really be able to hold on to this for over a decade and plan and succeed in his revenge like that and have also a lot of people involved in the scheme without objecting etc?

And would Oh Dae-su really cut off his tongue like that at the end, no matter how dangerous and painful it would be, especially after being incredibly scared and put off when one of the thugs tried to pull out one of his teeth etc? Or eat a live octopus like that?

[–] szschem (9) 8 months ago

I think this was definitely in the Tarantino or John Wick highly stylized violence genre. It’s a tall tale told with vivid imagery. (I wouldn’t dive too deeply into the logical inconsistencies.)

[–] phony (214) 7 months ago

The most unrealistic part for me was the whole hypnosis thing. And him not bleeding to death after cutting his own tongue.

Movie is still a masterpiece anyway :p