PASCUAL, MA. BERNADETTE S.

PROJECT IN LIT 323 LM

BA LEGAL MANAGEMENT-3A MOVIE REVIEW

SUMMARY:

Oldboy is a movie about a man named Oh Dae-Su who

has been mysteriously abducted and put into a private
prison for almost 15 years. With that, he was forcefully
separated from his family and during those years he
was in prison, he tries to figure out who was the one
behind that incident. He writes down in his journal
every person who he thinks has a motive in doing this
to him.

After 15 years, he was mysteriously being released and

he is determined to get revenge to the person who did
this to him. Eventually, he meets a young girl named
Mido. They later fell inlove with each other and had a
relationship. As Dae-Su and Mido become intimate,
they have sex. The protagonist Oh Dae-Su doesn't have
any idea that all of these are Lee Woo-Jin's plans, the antagonist in this movie and the one who
abducted and imprisoned him in a private prison.

It was shown in the movie that Lee Woo-Jin called Oh Dae-Su and tells him that if he discovers
the motive for his imprisonment within 5 days, Woo-Jin will kill himself or else, he will kill Mido.
Woo-Jin told Dae-Su that he was punished/imprisoned for "talking too much." It was later
revealed that Dae-Su and Woo-Jin had gone to the same highschool. There, Dae-Su had
witnessed Woo-Jin committing incest with his own sister. And because of a single comment he
made to a friend, rumors about this incident spread which lead to Woo-Jin's sister's suicide.
With that, it was obvious that Woo-Jin blames Dae-Su on his sister's death.

It was also revealed that Mido is Dae-Su's daughter whom he had fall inlove and had sex with.
Dae-Su was shattered by all of these revelations and is shocked that he committed incest with
his own daughter. It seems that Woo-Jin had planned all of these. All that happened in the past
15 years seemed to be part of Woo-Jin's revenge plans. Oh Dae-Su tends to cut his tongue and
promised that he will never talk again. He also begged Woo-Jin to not reveal the truth to Mido.
After that, Lee Woo-Jin kills himself, as if he has lived all these years only to take revenge, and
now that he already accomplished it, he can now follow his sister.
In the end of the movie, Dae-Su finds the hypnotist to erase his knowledge of Mido being his
daughter, so they can stay together and have a happy relationship. After that, we can see that
Mido embraces Dae-Su. Dae-Su breaks into a wide smile, which is then slowly replaced by a look
of pain, bringing into question whether the hypnosis worked. The ending is ambiguous. Does Oh
Dae-Su still remember that Mido is his daughter or have he forgotten all that happened?

ANALYSIS:

Oldboy, unlike Oedipus, revolves around the eagerness of the characters to get revenge — the
protagonist wants to get revenge to the person who imprisoned him for 15 years while the
antagonist wants the protagonist to suffer and pay for his past mistakes. The similarity of the
two stories is the presence of incest relationship between the characters — Oedipus with his
mother, and Oh Dae-Su with his daughter. Also, how the revelations was revealed in both stories
makes the piece of work/art (plot) a very intriguing and exciting to read/watch.

COMPARISON:

Oedipus the King Oldboy

1. Oedipus the King or Oedipus Rex is a 1. It is a South Korean movie based on a

Theban play / Athenian tragedy written by japanese manga written by Garon Tsuchiya.
Sophocles.

2. Oedipus was hobbled and left to die when 2. Oh Dae-Su is punished for something he is
he was a baby. unaware of and is imprisoned for 15 years for
an unknown reason.

3. All the happenings in the story is because of 3. All of what happened is because of Oh Dae-
a prophecy that Oedipus will become the king Su's accidental sharing of information which
after he kills his father. caused to the sorrow and the urge to get
revenge of the antagonist.

4. Oedipus, unaware, begins a relationship 4. Oh Dae-Su, also unaware, begins a

with his mother. When he found out the truth, relationship with his daughter and when the
he decided to blind himself as a punishment truth was revealed, he decided to cut out his
for himself and to cover up for his mistakes. tongue to prove to his captor that he will never
talk again.

5. In the end, Oedipus goes to Colonus with his 5. Oh Dae-Su reconnects with his daughter,
daughter. although the ending is ambiguous. (Does he
still remember that she is his daughter or have
he forgotten all that happened?)

6. Oedipus is a victim of his own destiny. It was 6. Oh Dae-Su is a victim of another man's
his fate to kill his own father and to mate with cruelty. All that happened to the protagonist
his own mother. seemed to be part of the antagonist's revenge
plan.

7. All that happened in the story was pre- 7. All that happened is because of the revenge
destined, meaning to say that all of these are plan of the antagonist in which he was able to
Oedipus' fate / destiny. manipulate, control, and shatter the
protagonist's (Oh Dae-Su's) life.