Oldboy: Tragedy of a character

"Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone"

There are some people fated to have a tragic end; fate is believed to be inescapable by the Greeks, whether we take the story of Medusa, who was cursed into a snake headed monster after being raped by Poseidon, or Icarus, who met his downfall after he flew too close to the sun, or we could take the tragic end of the lovers Orpheus and Eurydice in which Orpheus lost his wife twice or maybe we can take the tragic story of Oedipus who unknowingly killed his father and married his own mother and no matter how much they all tried to escape from their destiny they were unable to because fate is always decided for everyone.

Today I will be delving into Park Chan Wook's Oldboy, released in 2003, Oldboy is an all-time classic revenge film. The film follows the story of Oh Dae-su who seeks for revenge after being imprisoned unfairly for fifteen years therefore he goes on a journey to find out the reason for his sufferings.
There is no other movie that does tragedy better than Oldboy and it is much likely owing to the fact that it was inspired by Greek Tragedies specifically the tragedy of Oedipus, Oh Dae-su's character is fated to have a tragic end even after he went through so much of suffering. Woojin the antagonist of the movie utterly destroys Dae-su.

Oh Dae-su, in his journey of seeking revenge falls in love with a woman named Mido, unknowing to the fact that she is his own daughter, sounds similar to Oedipus, right? 
Eitherways, Oh Dae-Su is actually manipulated by Woojin into falling in love with own daughter, once Dae-su learns the terrible truth about the grave sin that he has committed, he asks a hypnotist to make him forget about his old self completely.

Oh Dae-su's Journey is one that will make you feel sorry for him, there is no coming back for him even at the very end because he has been destroyed completely. His entire situation right from the start till the very end is tragic therefore he decides to delude himself in order to forget his past completely. 

Horrifying? 
Yes, but Intriguing? also Yes

This movie is nothing less than a masterpiece so I would highly recommend this movie if you like dark comedic thriller films. Filled with Symbolisms and imageries the storytelling in Oldboy is sure to make you feel chills down your spine so do give it a watch.






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