Oldboy -2003 Film- [exclusive] [EXCLUSIVE]

In the original manga (on which the film is loosely based), the ending is hopeful. In Park Chan-wook’s film, it is a tragedy of the soul. He smiles, but we, the audience, know the snow hides a charnel house of memories.

In the history of the , the most terrifying monster is not the hammer-wielding avenger or the rich schemer. It is time. Time is the real warden. Fifteen years is a long time to hate. Fifteen years is a long time to rot. Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece suggests that the only thing worse than being locked in a room for fifteen years is walking out of that room and discovering you locked the door yourself. Oldboy -2003 Film-