STORY BY JOHN CARTER
Oldboy is a phenomenal film. This film is excellent for those looking to become intrigued with the taboo, the mysterious, and the psychological. At first, this film seemed a bit excessive in its melodrama and vagueness, but it turns out it was all intentional. The film’s rousing storyline is intriguing in that the steps in the story’s sequence seem to be off until we are hit with the big late-game catalyst in Dae-Su finding the yearbooks at his old high school. At the point of meeting Lee Woo-jin (for me at least), the viewer becomes attached and almost sympathizes with him and when this catalyst is hit and we reach the climax of the film, We (the viewers) feel inclined to feel sorrow for the (at this point) formerly mysterious antagonist. This film deserves a high rating in my book and needs to be viewed by more. Let’s go into detail on some of the strong concepts that are prevalent in this film.
Firstly let’s talk hypnosis. The psychological concept of Hypnotic Suggestion is talked of and used in various moments in this film. It is arguably the biggest reason the events of this film were able to happen and it is important that viewers understand how hypnosis works in order to make sense of the aforementioned events.
The book Psychology by David G. Myers: ninth edition states that “Hypnosis a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.” In the film, Lee Woo-jin describes Dae-Su and Mi-do as highly susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. The hypnosis used to get Dae-Su to make the steps to fall in love with Mi-do, this is done on Mi-do also.
Hypnosis can’t be used to make someone do something that someone wouldn’t normally do. So the step of removing Dae-Su from his family for fifteen years was required to get him to fall in love with his daughter. The interesting thing about the end of the movie is that we don’t entirely know if the last hypnotic session had an entire effect on Dae-Su, as he seems to have residual pain when hugging Mi-do. While the film describes what is done to Mi-do and Dae-Su as Hypnosis, it could be said that what happened to them was more along the lines or at least having the negative connotation of brainwashing.
Secondly, let’s talk about Oedipus and Electra complexes. While watching the film I thought of a plethora of different psychological concepts. One concept in particular that made for a major part in the film was the dated Freudian Oedipus complex. The Oedipus Complex in a concept again in psychology that describes a child who will have a sexual attraction or a desire for their parent of the opposite sex and the child will have a want to exclude the other parent from that relationship. This desire was theorized to be in the unconscious and that would make sense given it is a psychoanalytic theory. While Oedipus complex can be used to describe any sex’s attraction with their opposite-sex parent the phrase Oedipus complex is usually used to describe a man’s attraction to his mother while an Electra complex is used to describe a female’s attraction to her father.
While the relationship between Dae-Su and Mi-do isn’t exactly a case of Oedipus complex it could be said that this film takes the concept a uses it to push for a bigger theme.
The film Oldboy has a strong trait in displaying its relationships, it that it is conflicting and morally wrong to be in such a relationship. Still we the viewers can’t help but sympathize with the characters and the situations they have consumed them. The types of relationships conveyed are immoral and psychologically wrong for the implications it has on the partners and offspring, yet the viewer can’t help it but feel horrible for what happened to Lee Woo-jin and Dae-Su. This sense of sympathy is pushed to an extreme measure in this piece, so much so that it allows for a sense of cognitive dissonance to develop in the viewer.
Finally, an overwhelming feeling of sadness and loneliness looms in the film. The characters express a lost sense without those who formerly surrounded them. In the case of Dae-Su being stripped from the outside world and his family, he becomes a more hardened individual but has a desire to be forgiven for his sins. He will go on to torture, aggressively interrogate, and fight people just to get what he describes as just vengeance. While on the other hand, Lee Woo-jin takes a more shady approach to when it comes to getting his vengeance. When I saw Lee Woo-jin crying mid-exercise, I felt touched and I didn’t know why at that point.
The film Oldboy is not about Oedipus complexes or hypnosis or even the grotesque nature of the relationships. The film is about what people are willing to do to protect and honor those whom they loved. This specific taboo was chosen to put the characters in a position where they had to choose between their love and the wrongness of their love. In the case of Dae-Su, he still wants to be with Mi-do and in order to solve his cognitive dissonance of being with his own daughter, he gets his memory wiped a bit. While in the case of Lee Woo-jin, he and his sister are forced into the position of ending their love and there lives. Love triumphs in that Lee Soo-ah sacrifice her life for her brother (lover) to have one of his own. It has been said that this is the ultimate expression of love (self-sacrifice), but it is too much for the antagonist.
Oldboy earns a 9/10 for its complex themes and well-executed twists.