Choi Min-sik is at his creepy best in the second part of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance trilogy
OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Friday, March 1, free with museum admission, 7:00
Series runs February 28 – March 3
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us
The second in director Park Chan-wook’s revenge trilogy (in between Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and the 2005 New York Film Festival selection Sympathy for Lady Vengeance), Oldboy is a twisted, perverse psychological thriller that won the Grand Prix de Jury at Cannes, among many other international awards. Choi Min-sik (Chihwaseon) stars as Oh Dae-su, a man who has been imprisoned for fifteen years — but he doesn’t know why, or by whom. When he is finally released, his search for the truth becomes part of a conspiracy game, as he can seemingly trust no one. As he gets closer to finding everything out, the gore and terror continues to increase. Choi is outstanding as the wild-haired Dae-su in Park’s awesome rampage of a film, which is not for the faint of heart. Oldboy is screening on March 1 as part of a Museum of the Moving Image/Korea Society tribute to Park in conjunction with the release of his first English-language film, Stoker, which opens March 1 but will get a sneak preview at the museum on February 28, with Park on hand to participate in a postscreening discussion; the series continues through March 3 with Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, and a trio of shorts (Night Fishing, N.E.P.A.L. Never Ending Peace and Love, and Cut).