Revenge, Hypnotism, and

Oedipus in Oldboy (2003)

by Julian Darius | in Articles | Thu, 28 November 2013

The brilliant 2003 South Korean film Oldboy, directed by directed by Park Chan-wook, is a
revenge story. As such, it has to negotiate this genres long history, which it manages to do
rather successfully by simultaneously subverting and one-upping the genre.
This isnt true, by the way, of the manga on which the film was based.
But first, fair warning: the 2013 American film, scheduled for release this week, is a remake
of the South Korean one, not a new cinematic adaptation of the manga. So if you want to
avoidspoilers of it, the 2003 film, or the manga dont read any further.

Oh Dae-sus Character and Differences with the Manga

Written by Garon Tsuchiya, illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi, and serialized from 1996 to
1998, the manga stars Shinichi Got, whos been kept in a private prison on a secret floor
of a skyscraper for some ten years. Not only does he not know who put him there or why,
but he also suffers from amnesia. After being abruptly released in the mangas first (of 79)
chapters, he doesnt focus on revenge or even learning the truth behind whats been done
to him; instead, he meets a young and virginal girl named Eri and tries to start a normal
life, despite surveillance from the man responsible for his imprisonment: his high-school
classmate, Takaaki Kakinuma. True, Kakinuma is motivated by revenge, having been
traumatized by the protagonist in a classroom incident. But the villains schemes, while
they create an atmosphere of paranoia, dont succeed in breaking Shinichi Got. In fact,
this protagonist remains rather stoic throughout the whole story, even in flashbacks to his
time in prison. When he pursues those who incarcerated him, he seems to do so more out
of curiosity than revenge, all while retaining the same stoic demeanor.
In contrast, the protagonist of the 2003 film which transfers the action to South Korea
and renames characters appropriately is depicted as drunk and disrespecting cops
while under arrest on the day of his abduction. While in his prison only a few days, we see
Oh Dae-su curse at his guard and say, I saw your face, asshole. Youre dead if I get out.
This suggests hes more than a little unhinged. He raves, hurts himself, and clearly battles
madness during his incarceration which is 15 years long, as opposed to the 10 years in
the manga.

Like Shinichi Got, Oh Dae-su trains himself physically while imprisoned, but Oh Dae-su
explicitly does so to someday get revenge. While in prison, he keeps a journal, in which he
tries to figure out who could have done this to him by writing down everyone hes hurt or
who could have had a gripe against him. Its voluminous, suggesting he wasnt a very nice
guy.
When hes released (he memorably wake up in a large trunk), Oh Dae-su, like his
Japanese equivalent, meets a young girl; the South Korean version is named Mido. In fact,
shes a sushi chef, and he orders something living another sign that hes perhaps a bit
unhinged. Hes delivered a live octopus, and Mido begins to suggest that she cut it (as is
traditional) before he begins devouring it whole. This isnt computer-generated, by the way;
four were eaten alive to make this scene, and you can see their tentacles attaching to his
hand, one sucker at a time, as his teeth tear through their still-living bodies. Its one of
many images in the film thats hard to forget.
Just as he was in prison, the released Oh Dae-su quickly focuses on discovering who
imprisoned him and why and on getting revenge. Accordingly, the movies a lot more
violent than the manga. (Its has a little less sex too, for what its worth.)
Both the manga and the movie feature early scenes in which their released protagonists
test the physique they acquired in prison. In the manga, this comes off as a martial arts
scene, in which the muscle-bound, glamorous protagonist lures some punks into attacking
him in order to justify taking their money, since he has none. In the movies version, the
older, shorter, and far less glamorous Oh Dae-su comes off as a bit unhinged, uncertain
whether his self-training will apply in real life. Theres a suicidal edge to his actions that the
manga lacks.
This early fight scene also differs from the comic in that Oh Dae-su doesnt take his
attackers money. It would have been easy for the film to copy this, but instead a stranger
shows up and hand Oh Dae-su a wallet filled with money. (He also hands Oh Dae-su a
cellular phone, which someone does in the manga too; but the movie combines this
money, rather than adding that to the fight scene.) This choice, along with the surveillance
we see in both versions, underlines how much the villain continues to manipulate things,
even after the protagonist has been released. Its an important point, to which well return
later.
In fact, this and other fight scenes feel very much like a much more realistic version of the
Batman story, in which a character makes himself, through training and sheer willpower,
into a force to be reckoned. Both are also motivated by trauma and (depending on which
version of Batman you read) more than a little bit unhinged. Arguably, Batman is a revenge
story too. Of course, what motivates these two characters training is rather different
ones in prison, after all. But both protagonists lose their families: in prison, Oh Dae-su isnt

only cut off from his wife and young daughter, but he learns that his wife has been killed, a
murder for which hes blamed. The two characters and thus their stories are also
different in terms of class: Bruce Waynes wealth might allow the character lots of gadgets,
but the fact that a wealthy man would see beating up criminals as the best way to fight
crime (rather than, say, philanthropy) has long created tensions for the character. In the
case of Oh Dae-su, its the villain whos rich.
But the biggest difference is in the fight scenes. Even Christopher Nolan, whose Batman
films have been praised for their realism, Batman never seems to tire during the most
challenging of fights, which are filmed like the glitzy martial arts sequences they are. In
one of the Oldboys most famous scenes, Oh Dae-su returns to the secret floor of the
skyscraper in which he was held for 15 years. After extracting several teeth from a mans
head, he fights a whole crowd of younger men who work there in one of the facilitys
corridors. The scene is filmed as one long, continuous take. (Nolans fight scenes involve
so much quick-cutting that viewers sometimes cant always tell where the characters are,
or how theyre moving.) This single scene reportedly took seventeen days to perfect. Oh
Dae-su parries and punches, but hes knocked down and beaten more than once. At one
point, hes stabbed in the back; the knife was the only thing in the scene that was
computer-generated. Most remarkably, Oh Dae-su holds his knee and braces against the
wall several times. He gets winded. His form isnt perfect. Near the end, he scrambles
back along the floor, as one defeated man, writhing in pain, still manage feebly toss a
stick. Even though the fights choreographed, it preserves the sense of chaos thats so
much a part of actual, real-world fights. Its a chaos that prohibits perfect form, or the
possibility that anyone could be so skilled that their victory is guaranteed over a large
number of opponents. And Oh Dae-su comes off as an even more impressive
fighter because of this realism, becausehes not superhuman. Its the perfect antidote to
silly Hollywood blockbusters, in which so-called heroes without magical powers routinely
perform ridiculous martial arts feats, many of which no human could do, all while looking
glamorous throughout except, of course, for the obligatory dust and scratches, which
hint at a real struggle we never actually see.

Trumping the Revenge Plot

Impressive as this is, such violence exists as a function of the revenge plot, without which
its meaningless. Fortunately, its here where the movie most excels, improving on the
manga and trumping other revenge plots in various media.
For one thing, this is a movie conscious that its a revenge plot, which exists in a
continuum of other such plots. You dont have to be a postmodern revenge movie for the
characters to be occasionally meditative on whether revenge will ultimately bring them

satisfaction. Or what will replace revenge, to give their lives meaning, when that revenge is
over.
One way the movie enhances its revenge plot, however, is by retaining an attribute from
the manga, which isnt really a revenge story. In the manga, the villains motivated by a
classroom slight certainly nothing that would seem to justify the tremendous expense
(not to mention the maliciousness) of imprisoning someone for a decade. In the movie, the
villains motivated by a similar slight. True, Lee Woo-jin blames his sisters suicide on Oh
Dae-su, which is admittedly a big deal. But the wrong committed by Oh Dae-su is a single
comment he made to a friend, while also asking that this friend not pass the information
on. The friend apparently didnt listen, leading to rumors about the sisters promiscuity,
which culminated in her suicide.
Oh Dae-su was transferring to a different school at the time he made this comment, so he
didnt hear about the girls suicide. His comment to his friend was so inconsequential that
Oh Dae-su has forgotten about it. He seems to have filled whole notebooks with his
offenses against various people, yet he never thought of this. Amusingly, he blames Lee
Woo-jin for erasing this memory through the hypnosis practiced upon him in the prison.
This makes sense within the film, but it may also be read as metatextual, since the
protagonist of the manga suffered from amnesia. Cleverly, Lee Woo-jin says
he didnt erase this memory; Oh Dae-su (understandably, given that he was changing
schools) didnt care enough to remember.
This comment raises an important point. Usually, the worse a transgression, the more a
character is motivated as a result. But whats key isnt only the depth of the transgression;
its how much someone cares about it. And Lee Woo-jin cares very much. Not only
because he has to blame someone for his sisters death. But also because Lee Woo-jin
had an incestuous relationship with his sister.
This is utterly new to the movie, and it along with his sisters suicide helps
explain the depths of his need for revenge on Oh Dae-su. Its clear that Lee Woo-jin still
loves his sister, and the actor Yoo Ji-tae does an excellent job of portraying this pain.
Without him saying anything, you feel like he had the other half of his soul taken from him,
from which hes never recovered.
Its a radical way to undercut the usual revenge plot, in which the more horrible the inciting
incident, the more justified the entire narrative becomes. The prototype of revenge story is
still Aeschyluss Oresteia, the only surviving Ancient Greek trilogy. In it, the inciting incident
for Clytemnestras revenge against her husband, Agamemnon, is the latter having ordered
the slaughter of their daughter, Iphigenia, in order to satisfy the gods. Thats a pretty big
deal. In Quentin Tarantinos two-part Kill Bill (2003-2004), the Brides entire wedding party

is slaughtered on her wedding day, and shes shot too, putting her in a coma (during which
shes raped) and causing her to believe her unborn child has been killed too. Again, pretty
big deal. Oh Dae-su himself has been imprisoned illegally for 15 years. But Lee Woo-jins
revenge is motivated by a single offhand comment, which started a rumor.
But of course, that actual inciting incident for revenge could be anything; its horror is
multiplied by how much the offended person cares about it. And when thats perceived as
the cause of a sisters death, with whom the offended person had an incestuous
relationship, that person cares quite a good deal.
Making the inciting incident so apparently minor undercuts the typical revenge scenario.
But suggesting that the offense is only relevant for the very personal response it
spurs deconstructsthe genre.
Theres something evocative about this feud going back to high school, to youth. But
theres also something evocative about the power of rumor thats evoked here.
Oh Dae-su is known to be promiscuous, which seems to go back to his high school days.
At the very least, hes known as a flirt in high school. But a simply rumor that she was
promiscuous was enough to spur Lee Woo-jins sister to commit suicide.
This seems to be a recognition of the sexism of the society being depicted. In a flashback,
we see Lee Woo-jins sister reading Sylvia Plath, which seems like a rather obvious
reference to the poets famous suicide. But Plaths writing also addressed the plight and
emotional life of women, which reminds us that the way a rumor of promiscuity can destroy
a girls life is, of course, gendered. Although this sexism isnt ever directly addressed by
the film, depicting how rumor can destroy a girl, in a way that it cant a boy, helps to at
least slightly redeem some of the sexist overtones of the overall film. For example, at one
point, Oh Dae-su ties Mido up, thinking he cant trust her, and then proceeds to take notes
on her body during a phone call. Shortly thereafter, villains find her tied up and bare her
breasts, with the implied threat of rape. So while the inciting incident for Lee Woo-jins
revenge is minor, its also gendered and helps to redeem at least a bit some of the
sexist tensions within the film.
Of course, it would be easy to say that incest has been included as shock value, in a
movie thats also got brutal violence and a live octopus being eaten. In fact, this incest
ends up being key to the entire plot, which is so much better because of incest.
(Yes, I did just type that sentence. I know it looks weird. Just trust me.)
Remember when I said that there are hints throughout about the extent to which Lee Woojin has been manipulating Oh Dae-su? In the climax, Oh Dae-su confronts the villain about
the villains incestuous relationship with his sister. Lee Woo-jin, saddened by these

memories, brilliantly turns the tables. He tells Oh Dae-su that the real question wasnt who
incarcerated him, nor why, but why he was released. Naturally, that too has been part of
Lee Woo-jins revenge plan.
The pieces come together like Lee Woo-jins dressing area, which is split into four sections
that open and close on a motion detector. During his climactic speech, Lee Woo-jin is busy
dressing, putting himself together for what is, essentially, the culmination of his life, the
point where all his plans come together, where the perspective lines converge.
In both the movie and the manga, the villain uses surveillance to monitor the protagonist.
In the manga, this involves an implant in the protagonists back, which isnt in the movie.
Both versions villains also use hypnotism; while the extent of this isnt revealed, in either
case, until the conclusion, in the movie this is actually shown during the early prison
sequence, so that this element is present virtually all along. We see a female hypnotist
attending to Oh Dae-su just before hes released, and when Oh Dae-su is first given the
chance to talk (on a cellular phone) with the man who had him incarnerated, he mentions
hypnotism, as if hes concerned about how far this might have gone. So when we learn the
extent of the villains manipulations, its better woven into the plot.
In both versions, we discover that the villain has used hypnotism to bring the protagonist
together with his much younger love interest. In the manga, Takaaki Kakinuma has the
young virgin Eri hypnotized merely to help monitor protagonist Shinichi Goto, as well as to
add to his burdens. Going to such lengths to give someone you loathe a young and
attractive lover isnt a very convincing motivation, when you think about it. On this point,
the movie improves upon the framework provided by the manga.
Lee Woo-jin has also had Mido hypnotized. We briefly flash back to when Oh Dae-su and
Mido met, when Oh Dae-su answered a call on the cellular phone hed just been given.
We learn that the phrases exchanges were actually triggers, activating hypnotic
suggestions. Mido and Oh Dae-sus love was part of Lee Woo-jins plan.
Its in the full version of the scene in which the couple meets (but not in the flashback) that
Oh Dae-su mentions hypnosis on the phone, demanding to know what was done to him. It
was all right there. Oh Dae-su even collapses strangely, which we might initially take as a
sign of his exhaustion or as comic relief, but which we now understand was so sudden
because it was a hypnotically programmed response.
We soon learn why Lee Woo-jin would arrange a lover for his enemy. Oh Dae-su opens a
box, and inside finds a photo album that he flips through. It begins with photos of his
daughter, who was about three when Oh Dae-su disappeared. We watch her age, photo
after photo, until we cant ignore the inevitable: she is Mido. Lee Woo-jin has not only
made Oh Dae-su commit incest but fall in love with his own daughter.

Revenge plots often compete with one another is in the extent of the revenge, and one of
the rarest and most amazing ways of taking revenge is for the person taking revenge
totransfer a character trait onto his target. Public scorn would be an obvious example:
someone who falls from grace might seek to make the person he blames suffer in the
same way. While not a revenge story, the great coup of Se7en is that the serial killer gets
the policeman to kill, not only fulfilling the serial killers schemes but also bringing out in the
policeman the urge to kill, which is supposed to be what separates the two characters.
Here, the trait being transferred isnt only the physical act of incest, but the love the
accompanies it in Lee Woo-jin. Its not enough to make someone commit incest; one has
to make that person want to continue committing it.
In all these stories, in which a villain seeks to transfer his suffering onto his target, theres a
sense of the villain seeking empathy. The hero cannot identify with the villain and judges
the villains deeds as monstrous. For the sensitive and subtle villain, theres no victory
greater than getting the hero to see and even to feel from your perspective.
Its as if incest is a meme, and Lee Woo-jin is intent upon transferring it, even at great cost
to his person. Its a delicate operation.
At the beginning of the movie, Oh Dae-su asserts that his name means getting through
one day at a time. This refers to his directionless, troubled nature. But it also refers to how
he cant see the big picture. If Oh Dae-su acts one day at a time, Lee Woo-jin acts over
decades.
In most thrillers, the love interest is little more than a B-plot, which only connects to the
main drama when the love interest becomes either a colleague or a damsel in distress.
Here, the love interest is the vehicle of revenge. Its been part of the A-plot all along.
There is no B-plot.
Its a classic case of misdirection. But its also a structural coup, in which what seem like
disparate elements of the films narration converge horrifically, like shattered glass coming
into focus.
Yes, its a twist. But like the best twist, it makes more sense of whats come before.
Last time, we began examining the 2003 South Korean movie Oldboy, directed by Park
Chan-wook and adapted from the 1996-1998 manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki
Minegishi. We just got to the movies big twist ending. So be warned: spoilers follow, not
only for the 2003 film but presumably also for this weeks American remake.

The Plot in Retrospect

Oh Dae-sus abduction occurred on his daughters birthday. The first time we see the film,
were likely to think that this is an easy way to help establish that he has a daughter. But
upon more careful analysis, its also a hint at Lee Woo-jins plans. In fact, later in the film,
Lee Woo-jin uses 5 July which we find out is the anniversary of his sisters death as
a deadline for Oh Dae-su, and the films climax occurs on this day. Isnt it likely that a man
predisposed to use anniversaries in this manner would have chosen a special day for the
abduction, one that somehow fit into his master plan?
When they meet, Oh Dae-su and Mido both think the other looks familiar. This is dismissed
when Oh Dae-su recalls that, in her capacity as a sushi chef, she was once featured on a
low-rated TV show. The matters dropped, but its not hard to notice that this wouldnt
explain whyshe would think he looks familiar too.
After they have sex, Oh Dae-su narrates that hes grateful for all those years spent in that
prison. Its a shocking moment, but weve already seen that Oh Dae-su has changed, that
hes not the same man he was 15 years before. Its a self-conscious moment of which
most other revenge-story protagonists arent capable. (Presumably, their writers and
directors believe such a moment would lessen their characters anger and thus the
revenge plot.) But Oh Dae-su continues: If I was the old Oh Dae-su, would Mido still have
liked me? Of course, he means liked romantically. Upon first viewing, the answer to Oh
Dae-sus question is no, because he was a different man back then. After we know the
truth, the answer is still no, but now because hes her father.
Shortly after, Lee Woo-jin has the couples room flooded with gas (presumably the same
gas used in the prison). He enters, wearing a gasmask, and caresses Midos side and
torso with a single finger while they sleep. The first time through, its just a very creepy
scene, although its somewhat justified from a narrative perspective because Lee Woo-jin
is also there to leave a box for the couple, which contains the hand of the man who runs
the prison at which Oh Dae-su was incarcerated. Oh Dae-su threatened to take it, and its
presumably a gift from Lee Woo-jin. After we know the truth, however, we understand that
Lee Woo-jin sees the naked couple lying together and understands what they dont: that
this is incest and that he has already won. Its a victory caress he gives Mido, perhaps
while recalling his own departed sister, who was about the same age when she died.
Perhaps thats why Lee Woo-jin leaves Oh Dae-su this gift as a reward for committing
incest.
In prison, Oh Dae-su memorably hallucinates ants crawling on him and inside him,
emerging through his skin. Mido talks with him about it and, having read his diary, asks if

he still hallucinates ants. She says its what lonely people hallucinate, since ants are such
social animals. Its an odd moment. She adds that she doesnt see ants, but we
immediately see that shes lying: a shot shows us another memorable scene, one of a
crying Mido hallucinating a human-sized ant on a subway. Upon first viewing, this just
seems strange, given how unlikely it is. But its possible that father and son share the
same inherited psychological ailment. And its telling the he hallucinates normal-sized ants,
while she hallucinates a human-sized one like a kid might, if she misses her father. His
ants swarm him, but her ant sits on the other end of the train, keeping his distance the way
her father has.
Its not the only trait father and daughter have in common. Lee Woo-jin explains that his
plan was facilitated by the couples susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion. Presumably, this
is inherited, along with a predisposition for hallucinating ants.
Then there are the weird coincidences. While incarcerated, Oh Dae-su hears a TV report
of a bridge collapse, echoing how Lee Woo-jin committed suicide. When he emerges from
the trunk, Oh Dae-su is on a roof where a man is planning to jump to his death. Oh Dae-su
saves him, holding onto the mans tie. In fact, this is the very first shot of the movie, and it
closely echoes how Lee Woo-jins sister committed suicide, holding onto his hand which
we see at the end of the movies climax. Its possible Lee Woo-jin had this man hypnotized
to be there at this time, but theres no textual support for this in the actual film. It remains
an odd coincidence, part of the fabric of the movies universe, which seems to subtly echo
with certain themes, images, or ideas.
Then theres the fact that Mido says that shes not ready to have sex with Oh Dae-su and
will sing a song, mentioned in his journals, when shes ready. She says that when she
does, he should take her even if she protests. Its not the only uncomfortable gender
moment. But it also oddly recalls the idea of hypnotic suggestion: she wont tell him she
wants sex, but will instead give a physic trigger, taken from his past, to prompt an action.
Has her own hypnotic programming caused her to act this way, perhaps because shes
unconsciously accustomed to psychic triggers? Was the song part of his psychic
programming in prison? Or is there something deeper at work here, like a suggestion that
all romance tends to work by way of songs, touches, and other psychic triggers?
By the way, we later learn that song is titled The Face I Want to See. It includes these
lines: As I shed my sad tears / Youre the face that I miss. Of course, the songs probably
about a lover, but in Midos case, it could also be about a father figure. While she sings
this, weeping from recently being held prisoner, we see Lee Woo-jins penthouse for the
first time, as he and his closest staff listen to live audio from the car. They seem focused,
though we cant figure out why. Of course, its because this is the point of their
machinations: to get this couple to fall in love.

Revenge, hypnotism, and incest: these are the ingredients of Oldboys plot.
The Jokers elaborate schemes in The Dark Knight have nothing on what we see in
2003sOldboy, where the revenge scheme is played out over perhaps 25 years and
involves hypnotism, incarcerating someone for 15 years against his will, and concocting a
plan to force him to commit incest.

Truth and Oedipus

After Oh Dae-su finds out the truth, he attacks impulsively, out of anger, and Lee Woo-jins
henchman (the white-haired Mr. Han) slams Oh Dae-su brutally through one piece of glass
after another. Besides being beautiful, the shattering glass is, of course, symbolic of Oh
Dae-sus life and psyche. The final piece of glass is an outer window of Lee Woo-jins
penthouse, which Lee Woo-jins goon throws Oh Dae-su into, in a brutal shot (thats more
brutal for its muted sound). The window cracks, then collapses, drowning Oh Dae-su in
shards.
Soon, Oh Dae-su turns to begging. He admits hes in the wrong. He sings his and Lee
Woo-jins old high-school anthem a brilliant choice that underlines the resonance of how
this story all goes back to school-day traumas. As Lee Woo-jin stands still and laughs, Oh
Dae-su barks like a dog, pretends to wag his tail, and even licks Lee Woo-jins shoe. He
does anything he can to humiliate himself. Hes frantic and flailing. Here, he is a father, for
the first time in the film. He is begging not for his daughters life but to preserve her
innocence, to keep Lee Woo-jin from revealing to Mido what hes already revealed to her
father.
Earlier, as Oh Dae-su left for this final confrontation, Mido said shell pray that Lee Woo-jin
supplicates himself before Oh Dae-su and begs forgiveness. Her prayer isnt answered. In
fact, its the exact opposite. The villain has won.
Oh Dae-sus desperate attempts to find something anything that will keep Lee Woojin from revealing the truth to Mido culminate in Oh Dae-su spontaneously cutting out his
own tongue.
Of course, Oh Dae-su is trying to appease Lee Woo-jin with this act. Lee Woo-jin thinks Oh
Dae-su is guilty of talking out of turn, so this might seem like a dramatic way to give Lee
Woo-jin what he wants. And thats certainly true, at least to some degree. However, Oh
Dae-sus demeanor is manic, like that of an insane man. He certainly doesnt seem like
hes contemplating the best strategy. Hes an impulsive man, and this is the culmination of
a wild, spontaneous display of masochism.

There is something here of Oedipus, gouging out his own eyes (in Sophocless Oedipus
Rex) upon learning that his wife is his own mother. Its as if Oh Dae-su has snapped,
shattered like all that glass, and this energy must be vented against the offending body
parts: the eyes of Oedipus, representing his seeing (or having failed to see) the truth, and
the tongue of Oh Dae-su, which indirectly killed Lee Woo-jins sister.
Its a Dante-esque punishment for someone whose crime is starting a rumor.
In fact, theres good reason to believe that this dramatic gesture isnt simply to appease
Lee Woo-jin. It would seem that, depending on the moment, Oh Dae-su actually means it
when he says that he was in the wrong. Or at least, the film doesnt find him as innocent
as we might, given our tendency to identify with protagonists and forgive their flaws.
When he returns to the prison, Oh Dae-su gets a cassette tape, on which the man who
arranged to have him sent there will only explain that Oh Dae-su talks too much. Not long
after its first played, this audio clip is replayed, and Oh Dae-su soon asks his friend if
it was true. Oh Dae-su looks sad when he does this, clearly giving the impression that the
Oh Dae-su who went into prison is a different man than the one who came out. His friend
changes the subject, which seems to confirm that Oh Dae-su did talk too much. And
when we see the young Oh Dae-su in flashback, hes a punk, writing a farewell insult on
his classroom chalkboard and spying on an incestuous scene. In fact, one of the first
things we see Oh Dae-su do is mouth off to cops. Even when hes begging in the climax to
keep Mido ignorant, Oh Dae-su cant keep from interspersing threats. So he cuts out his
own tongue.
Here, pragmatics intersect with self-condemnation. Oh Dae-su cant control his tongue,
even now, and so removing it might be an attempt to influence Lee Woo-jin, but its also an
admission that Lee Woo-jin was right: Oh Dae-su cant control his tongue.
Perhaps Oh Dae-su was punished for the slightest of infractions, for a single statement to
a friend. But perhaps that little offense suggests something greater: that a certain type of
personality is likely to commit this particular kind of minor infraction. Of course, not
everyone who inadvertently (or even deliberately) starts a rumor is a cavalier punk. But
perhaps, people who do such things disproportionately are, and thats true in Oh Dae-sus
case. His crime is minor, but its the tip of a vast iceberg.
Not only is the villain victorious, but the movie suggests he was right perhaps not in his
revenge, but certainly in his assessment of the storys main character.
Lee Woo-jin orders that Mido be spared the truth. He doesnt need to destroy her. Hes
already won more severely than he could have imagined.
Then, in a brilliant moment, Lee Woo-jin asks, Now, what will I live for? He embraces Oh

Dae-su and levels his gun at Oh Dae-sus head, where the bullet will kill them both
together, almost as if they are lovers, or as if their revenge were as strong a bond. In a
beautiful shot, the camera rotates around 180 degrees (considered a no-no in cinema
circles), and we see that Oh Dae-su not only knows the gun is there but welcomes death.
Lee Woo-jin doesnt fire. Instead, he gets up and walks away. As he does, he drops the
remote control that he earlier said would turn off his pacemaker, killing him. At the time,
that seemed like a rather unbelievable plot device. Now, the movie redeems that earlier
moment: when Oh Dae-su gets the remote control, it turns out to be a fancy remote for
Lee Woo-jins tape player. It was all a bluff. Instead of killing Lee Woo-jin, Oh Dae-su has
turned on a recording of himself and Mido having sex, which only torments Oh Dae-su
further. Everything Oh Dae-su does double backs upon him.
In a brilliant sequence, Lee Woo-jin kills himself as he remembers his sisters death. The
villain in the manga kills himself too. But in the film, one suicide is intertwined with the
other as if Lee Woo-jin has lived all these years only to take revenge, and now that this
has been accomplished, he can follow his sister. Here too, the movie retains an aspect of
the manga but improves upon it.
In the movies brilliant conclusion, Oh Dae-su has tracked down the hypnotist Lee Woo-jin
used, who we briefly saw during the prison sequence, and whom Woo-jin has
subsequently mentioned by name when explaining how he hypnotized Oh Dae-su and
Mido. He wants to forget that Mido is his daughter. Hes kept the truth from her, but he
cant keep it from himself. She cant guarantee success but hypnotizes him anyway.
He wakes up alone, soon joined by Mido. Lest we think the hypnotist wasnt there at all,
Mido points out another set of footprints in the snow. The two embrace, and Oh Dae-su
seems to smile.
Is it a pained smile? Does it shift at the end? Does he still remember that Mido is his
daughter, or does this truth return to him? The ending is deliberately ambiguous, although
what we see a loving embrace and a smile, albeit with ambiguitiescertainly suggests hes forgotten.
Its a rather brilliant ending. But whats most remarkable about it is that someone
would wish to return to a relationship one knew to be incestuous.
Theres a lot of talk in the film about how Oh Dae-su has changed. On the surface, this is a
reference to the effect of 15 years as a prisoner. But by the end, its also about the effect of
hypnosis and his experiences during the film. Hes fallen in love, and whether its the
product of hypnosis or not, its real. Its felt. This is the new Oh Dae-su, whos finally

sacrificed for someone else.

Still, the choice to forget the truth is a shocking one. Its emotionally right, but its a total
repudiation of the characters aims throughout the film.
The movie starts as a revenge film. But it ends up being Lee Woo-jin who gets revenge.
We actually learn that Oh Dae-su isnt primarily after revenge about halfway through the
film. He seems to have Lee Woo-jin at his mercy, and its here that Woo-jin reveals a large
scar for what must be a rather old-fashioned pacemaker. Woo-jin then reveals the remote
control he says can stop his heart. If Oh Dae-su strikes, hell never learn the truth. Lee
Woo-jin treats the dilemma as if its little more than an interesting experiment: is revenge or
the truth more important to Oh Dae-su? Oh Dae-su decides on the truth.
Of course, the remote control was only a bluff, and the truth Oh Dae-su seeks destroys
him.
This recalls Oedipus, who so relentlessly pursues the truth in Oedipus Rex, only to be
broken when he learns it.
By the end of the movie, once the villain has gotten his revenge instead of the hero, Oh
Dae-su having already shifted from revenge to the truth shifts again. Now, hell go to
great means to escape the truth.
Thats the only way that he can be with the woman hes been made to love. Love beats the
truth.
Although Oh Dae-su probably doesnt think of it, its also the only way to eek out a victory
of sorts over Lee Woo-jin. The villain succeeded in transmitting his incest meme: Oh Daesu now knows what its like to be in love with a female relative and to fear for her, and this
leads him to cut out his own tongue. Hes suffered, as Lee Woo-jin has, and theres no
escape to this condition. Nothing will make Mido someone elses daughter. Nothing will
make Oh Dae-su not love her.
But Lee Woo-jin has given his opponent the means to forget shes not someone elses
daughter.
People often compare Christopher Nolans films to chess matches. But for all of Oldboys
violence, its at least as complex. And as beautiful.