Oldeuboi (2003)

So, I was at the neurologist, and the nurse calls me in for a test.  She places all these electric diodes and wires all over my feet and legs.  Next to her was a machine to measure this electricity or something.  Then, she would activate each diode to send the electric shock to my nerves to see the reaction.  Now, most of them I couldn't feel.  But then some of them I could feel! And they shocked the crap out of me!

Another thing that shocked the crap out of me was Oldeuboi! I was glued to my seat the entire time, wondering what was going to happen to him.  The main character is Oh Dae-Su.  One day, out of the blue, he is kidnapped and kept in a room for 15 years.  Just as randomly, he is set free with money and clothes; told he has to find his captor and discover the reason his captor kept him so long, but he only has five days to do so.  Can he figure out the mystery?  Did he deserve to be captured for so long?

This is a mystery that was exciting from start to finish.  But I knew there was something up with that girl he liked.  I knew something had to be very wrong.  But the captor tricks them into being together on purpose to punish Oh Dae-Su because he feels he needs revenge.  This is a revenge tale that stretches all the way back to when the captor and Oh Dae-Su were in high school together.

There are some fight scenes and they are glorious.  These fight scenes, especially that one with the hammer, are expertly choreographed.

Then the captor finally gets his revenge, and Oh Dae-Su begs for forgiveness.  Also, Oh Dae-Su cuts off his own tongue with a pair of scissors.  The captor responds by shooting himself in the head.  I don't understand.  He got what he wanted.  Killing himself seems like a waste at this point.

Oh Dae-Su opts to be hypnotized so he'll forget his entire ordeal, and live his life peacefully (although without his tongue).  He seems happy to have forgotten, but has he truly forgotten?  We may never know.  This is one of the most exciting and disturbing thrillers I have seen, and I will give it an 8/10.