Oldboy

=** Oldboy (2003) **=

__ 1. What is the plot (what does the character want)? __ O-dae-su, the main character, has been confined in a narrow, dark room for 15 years without knowing the reason. When he is finally released, he starts finding out the person who directed all of his mysterious abduction and incarceration, and the reason why the person did those to him.

__ 2. What is the theme (what does the character need)? __ Besides a theme that oblivion may be better than another vengeance, the movie reveals that one's thoughtless tongue can bring catastrophic consequences for both the person who is mentioned, and the person who speaks. When O-dae-su is in high school, he witnesses an incestuous relationship of Woojin with her sister, Suah. Before O-dae-su moves to the other place, he briefly talks to his friend about what he witnessed yesterday. Although O-dae-su urges his friend not to tell that to the other people, his friend blabbers that to the whole school, and the rumors give rise to another rumors. As the result, Suah eventually feels a false pregnancy, and commits suicide. Woojin plans to take a bloody vengeance on O-dae-su by making O-dae-su have an incestuous relationship with her daughter, Mido. When O-dae-su knows the full account of Woojin's vengeance, he begs Woojin earnestly not to tell Mido about the truth of their relationship, cutting his own tongue with scissors. By cutting the tongue, O-dae-su craves the forgiveness of his sin. This one scene at the end explains one line that Woojin says to O-dae-su at the beginning of the movie: " a grain of sand and a mass of rock are eventually the same thing as they both sink to the bottom of the water" means that whether it is a malicious rumor or a word without much thought, it certainly harms the other people who are aimed at, even leading to their death.

__ 3.Choose a scene that best exemplifies the theme. Identify and explain how 5 elements within the scene (mise-en-scene, editing, sound, cinematography, lighting) create meaning in reference to that theme. __ This is a scene, which O-dae-su kneels and cuts his tongue with scissors to expiate his wrong. The director's use of mise-en-scene in this scene enhances conveyance of the theme. O-dae-su takes out scissors and wraps them with a purple handkerchief, which complex geometric patterns are drawn. The purple geometric patterns are often drawn on several props O-dae-su uses, such as an umbrella, box, and the wallpaper. This use of unusual geometric pattern design on the props generates an idea that O-dae-su is a very different in kind compared to the other people in the society. O-dae-su's disparity with the rest of the people in the society here would refer to his inevitable involvement in the cycle of vengeance, which includes his responsibility for the rumors around the school, and manipulated incestuous relationship with his daughter as the result of Woojin's vengeance. Another mise-en-scene through prop is using scissors. Cutting O-dae-su's tongue with scissors represents his deep regret about his "wrong use of tongue," extreme determination not to make the same mistake, and desperate desire for forgiveness and clemency.

Editing also contributes to communication of the theme by helping the audience understand the development of the plot. Through continuity editing, especially match on action/match cut, the director smooths transition of time and establishes a logical coherence between shots. In this scene, by carefully matching O-dae-su's actions of putting his tongue between the scissors blades and chopping it across the two shots, the director makes it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted. This smooth connection of the shots establishes tension to only necessary degree, and quickly shifts to the other scenes, so that the plot develops coherently and clearly without making the audience bored or unclear. In this way, this clear development of the plot enables the audience to feel both empathy and sympathy for O-dae-su explicitly; the audience can put themselves in O-dae-su's shoes, and experience not only his agony on the tongue, but also his internal conflicts, such as sudden realization of his guilt and a moral that he shouldn't have said those unnecessary words to his friend.

Use of diegetic sounds develops the theme too. When O-dae-su takes the scissors close to his mouth, the background music, "the Last Waltz" is played. As O-dae-su puts his tongue between the blades and starts scissoring, his screaming and chopping sound are maximized and the volume of the background music is gradually turned down. A slow, plaintive sound of string instruments reconciles with O-dae-su's miserable situation that he must implore Woojin not to tell his daughter the truth. O-dae-su's screaming and scissoring sound remind a message that the consequence of speaking about the others thoughtlessly is unimaginably disastrous.

Cinematography including camera shot and angle addresses a specific part of the theme that whether one says something about the others with certain purpose or not, one that is mentioned will later be on the tongues of many people and suffer from the inflated rumors. Through close up shots of O-dae-su's eyes and hands, the director catches his momentary hesitation and enmity towards Woojin. His shaking hand and glaring eyes made O-dae-su seem as if he is saying that he spoke what he witnessed without any bad intention, and that he could never predict such catastrophe. However, in the following shot, the back of O-dae-su's kneeling and suffering is taken at high camera angle / slight bird eye view. This camera angle creates a sense that Woojin is ultimately the victim whom O-dae-su should kneel and beg for mercy, regardless of size of his guilt and responsibility.

The director uses green lighting in this scene to contrast other scenes with normal yellow or natural lighting, and to dramatize the situation, in which O-dae-su is put in. Since the color green tends to be very unusual in use when describing people's normal daily lives, the use of green lighting in this scene underscores the fact that O-dae-su is deprived of normal happy daily life where he has a romantic relationship with his wife, not his daughter. The green lighting highlights his disparity with other people in the society as he does not deserve the normal happy life due to his past sin of gossiping about one's achilles tendon.