Scene Stealing #1 Old Boy

After completing my Sabbatical into 3D. Taking a little time to use my 2D art skills before they fall into complete entropy, or was that atrophy, is a must. I need to brush up on the vocabulary as well. Back to my favorite past time, which includes watching visually engaging films with a pencil in one hand and a bowl of cereal in the other. Last night it was the Korean film Old Boy. It sells itself and if you haven't seen it I'm not going to put any effort into selling it. Several images stand out for me but none other than the hallway fight. For times sake, whatever I discuss here will mostly be on the visual side, story and all that will have to pass on this one.

People tend to make big deals out of singular takes these and I'm not even sure they know why. Mostly(but not always) it's backlash from they over edited sequences of popular film making. I find often times, that people treat singular takes as more than they are simply because of that fact. I, however don't really care how many cuts a sequence has as long as it's interesting. In some way's keeping fluid continuity during a sequence is at least twice as difficult when it's cut and stitched together. That being said, the cinematography(and editing) was pretty sweet in this. Also, tracking shots are always a good idea. A camera that moves with or along the action just makes everything all the more sweeter. CW-Park's direction has a very distinct marker for me. He cut's to a somewhat surreal image that looks frozen, and then there's movement. On top of the crazy context of this film, that style really pushed the imagery over the top for me. This was adapted from a manga comic and I appreciate that Par made the characters and scenery look as such.

As for the scene itself, it's just an interesting watch. Hard for anyone to turn away, it's so interesting. Very important; all the timing feels real. People aren't simply waiting their turns, and if they are it's cause they have to. Weather it be the lack of space or the fear they feel, it really works. To see some of the worst turn taking in the history of cinema, look no further than Dark Knight Rises, yikes. I also appreciate the respect of hthe characters fists, few films really convey what good strong boxing can do.When the knife goes in his back it just takes over the movie for me. Sorry, can't explain it.

I almost look forward to the Spike Lee remake if only to see him demonstrate where he actually stands next to a director like Park. David Fincher needed this film, Wolverine needed this direction...

-King