Oldboy New Again?
Posted on | November 21, 2008 | No Comments
I just got news that one of my favorite movies — let alone one of my favorite foreign movies — called Oldboy is going to be remade by Will Smith and Steven Spielberg. And I’m not sure how to take it.
Bloggers and online movie “journalists” around the world are screaming bloody murder and demanding that 1. any adaptation be halted and 2. any adaptation not be handled by these two (the world’s biggest box office draw and the world’s most famous director).
Why?
To watch the original movie is to know their reasoning (which I don’t necessarily agree with).
Oldboy is a 2003 thriller from South Korea about a man who’s kidnapped for 15 years and then suddenly let go, released by unknown forces so he can find out who destroyed his life.
Aside from the great premise, this Chan-wook Park opus is perhaps one of the most stylistic, gritty and thought-provoking movies I’ve seen in recent years. It’s a thinking man’s revenge thriller, with intelligence mixed in with the brutal violence. It has a 2-minute-long uncut fight scene that, while not technically proficient, is viserally real and unique. But then there’s plenty of emotion and drama, plus a strange romance, that defies the movie’s genre. And, it has a devastating surprise ending that wrenches your insides and makes The Sixth Sense twist seem like child’s play.
So do I think Smith and Spielberg can do Oldboy justice?
That’s kinda like asking if the L.A. Lakers of the 1980s could beat the Boston Celtics of the 1950s. Nobody knows, but I hope Smith and Spielberg can pull it off, for all of our sakes. I like them both and though I think their movies are flawed, they are pretty skilled and talented when they aren’t making Wild Wild West or AI. The reason why people are protesting is because Oldboy is not a glossy popcorn entertainment, which is what Smith and Spielberg are known for.
I’m reserving my judgment until I see something concrete.
Until then, check out a clip of the original and decide for yourself if you think Will and Steven could do a similarly ground-breaking job.
Tags: Movies > Oldboy > Screenwriting > Steven Spielberg > Will Smith