Twice I tried to watch the original Oldboy and neither time did I ever make it to the end. I'm not queasy about violence or detached, normally, from the world of the bizarre, but when you combine both elements with Korean, it all becomes a bit much. The Chan-wook Park Oldboy a level of bravery to watch much like that required to volunteer for surgery without anesthetic or painkillers.
But I was curious about Spike Lee's version and following him on Twitter, I told him (or whoever tweets for him) that I hoped it would be a bit less "hardcore." And it is.
(A funny anecdote. I entered the theater early and discovered 3 older, grandmotherly white women--probably in their 60s--all sitting together in the row in front of me. Amused, I walked over to them & said "excuse me, but you all don't look like the typical Oldboy fans to me." They all looked up at me with one face, "what are typical Oldboy fans?" One woman on the end was kinda smirking. I replied, "the original is somewhat brutal and bizarre--I tried to watch it twice and failed in both attempts." Then they started looking at each other and two pointed to the smirking woman. "She suggested it! We don't know anything about it!" Those women sat fully absorbed throughout the film.)
Which leads me to my next point. The Korean Oldboy was very much a spectacle that in many places was just really painful to sit through (if you're not the type to play gory video games on a regular basis). Lee's Oldboy does serve up some of that brutality, but there is a story attached to it that helps override the few (and less) gory parts. Is it better. On its own merits, it's okay. In fact, I probably will watch it again when it's released on DVD. It's not as spectacular and imaginative as Park's but it is engaging.
In some ways, it reminds me of the Pedro Almodavar film "The Skin I Live In," an equally bizarre story with an unexpected twist at the end and a film I truly admired. Don't let the low scores keep you away. It really is more worth your money than nearly all the other junk at the movies today.
But I was curious about Spike Lee's version and following him on Twitter, I told him (or whoever tweets for him) that I hoped it would be a bit less "hardcore." And it is.
(A funny anecdote. I entered the theater early and discovered 3 older, grandmotherly white women--probably in their 60s--all sitting together in the row in front of me. Amused, I walked over to them & said "excuse me, but you all don't look like the typical Oldboy fans to me." They all looked up at me with one face, "what are typical Oldboy fans?" One woman on the end was kinda smirking. I replied, "the original is somewhat brutal and bizarre--I tried to watch it twice and failed in both attempts." Then they started looking at each other and two pointed to the smirking woman. "She suggested it! We don't know anything about it!" Those women sat fully absorbed throughout the film.)
Which leads me to my next point. The Korean Oldboy was very much a spectacle that in many places was just really painful to sit through (if you're not the type to play gory video games on a regular basis). Lee's Oldboy does serve up some of that brutality, but there is a story attached to it that helps override the few (and less) gory parts. Is it better. On its own merits, it's okay. In fact, I probably will watch it again when it's released on DVD. It's not as spectacular and imaginative as Park's but it is engaging.
In some ways, it reminds me of the Pedro Almodavar film "The Skin I Live In," an equally bizarre story with an unexpected twist at the end and a film I truly admired. Don't let the low scores keep you away. It really is more worth your money than nearly all the other junk at the movies today.