Park Chan-wook's 'Oldboy' at the Watching Hour

Park Chan-wook's masterpiece, "Oldboy," convinced me Asian filmmakers, South Korean in particular, have inherited more Shakespearean DNA than all of Europe. As Mile High Cinema Editor-in-Chief-McHargue said, "("Oldboy") possessed the right amount of drama, action, and eating of live octopus to make a lasting impression -- it has since become one of my favorite films -- without a doubt, one of the best movies of the past decade."

I whole heartedly agree and serendipitously placed "Oldboy" in my collaborative article, "10 Essential Films of the Decade" in 2010. Obviously this is one of those films that -- you really should see. Yet, can you handle it? Can you handle the brilliant actor Choi Min-sik as he runs you through a gamut of emotional terror, visceral hypnosis and physical absurdity?

The Watching Hour audience this past Friday, July 8 certainly handled it, especially the lady who won the live octopus eating contest. Ok, so Watching Hour's Programming guru Keith Garcia didn't actually have a live octopus eating contest, but he should've. Nonetheless, when Garcia asked the audience who hadn't seen "Oldboy," a wave of hands flew up.

Everyone in the audience who had seen it seemed to react with the same giddy, almost sinister enthusiasm. "Oldboy" is as Garcia said, "that staple of South Korean Cinema that put the country on the map here in America." A few people I talked with at the screening had seen it theatrically years ago, but most experienced it on the limits of DVD and were there to relish the big screen.

Thankfully, it is one of the few Asian horror films nearly impossible to remake in America, no matter what rumors surface (ie. Spielberg directed, starring Will Smith). As Film Writer Timothy Sexton said, "its ultimate revelations touch on topics still considered far too taboo by most Hollywood players to touch."

Certainly the sexual taboos, whilst disturbing, are handled in Asia and Europe, but our MPAA mommies just ain't having it. Furthermore, U.S. censorship seems to handle violence way better than sex, but "Oldboy" is so uniquely graphic it would explode the head of former Senator/current MPAA CEO, Christopher Dodd.

Violence is a cinematic art form that South Korean directors take to new levels, but not just in extremity. It is more about the thematic threads that when interwoven to the characters and story, become inseparable. In other words you have to deal with the violence to embrace the story, as it is not just visually gratuitous, but loaded in the film's imagination.

As Garcia reminded, "it is an entire month of anger and revenge for the Watching Hour." With the first installment of Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" it was about revenge's consequences. Garcia described this film as the soup or appetizer to the trilogy, warming your taste buds and teasing the appetite. With "Oldboy" we delve head first into the entr©e cooking in the pits of vengeance.

If you sadly missed "Oldboy," you should make use of that now-overpriced Netflix account and get a copy that is not dubbed. It is much too late to see it before your chance to see the third film of the Vengeance Trilogy, which is this Friday's Watching Hour. Like my Granny always says, "life's short '" eat desert first" and that's exactly what Garcia calls the third and last film, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance." Originally published on www.milehighcinema.com.