OLDBOY (2003) – MUSICAL SCORE

I had heard a lot about this South Korean film. It won the Grand Prix du Jury at the Cannes film festival in 2004 – and that is often a good recommendation for me. So, knowing its violent content would make it unsuitable viewing for my wife, I made the most of her being at a Christmas party last night, and watched it.

From the outset it is a violent film and some of the scenes will certainly stay with me for a long, long time. Park Chan-Wook’s story is truly gripping: a man is inexplicably kidnapped and held captive for 15 years. He is then, just as inexplicably released by his captor and told he must find out why he was held captive within 5 days. If he fails to do so, a girl he has come to love will be killed.

Okay, what with the extreme violence and troubling subject matter, this cannot be a SPIRITUAL WEIGHTLIFTER, can it? “What are you playing at?” I hear you ask. Well take a closer look at the heading of this entry. You’ll see that I have cited the MUSICAL SCORE, not the film.

You see, what is remarkable for me in this cinematic triumph, is not the film itself – astounding though it is – but the seemingly incongruous juxtaposition of watch-from-behind-the-sofa scenes of violence with a joyous musical soundtrack of, in my opinion, incredible beauty.

Without doubt the film would be much more suited to a pounding techno-beat to accompany the on-screen carnage – at least that’s what you’d typically find in films of this genre these days. This one is on a different plane purely because it has so cleverly used a score that contradicts what you are seeing on the screen.

Tarantino famously uses music to devastating effect in his movies – notably “Stuck in the Middle with You” in the ear-cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs. Oldboy’s score magnificently succeeds in ensuring that no matter how much you are disturbed by what you see on screen, your heart soars (there is no other way to describe it) with bar that is played.

You find yourself being swept along by the majesty of the music even though you witness some truly brutal scenes. The music seems to render an almost balletic quality to what is seen on the screen – indeed one extended fight sequence would rival the beauty of even the finest of classic dances. But it’s the accompanying music that makes it so - a pounding, raucous beat would simply not have the same effect.

My SPIRITUAL WEIGHTLIFTERS are not always comfortable choices – this one certainly isn’t [watch the film and you will see what I mean] – but the score, without question, fits the bill in every conceivable way. It is simply an astonishing piece of work and comes very highly recommended.