“My Name, Oh Dae-Su, means getting through one day at a time. That’s what “Oh Dae-Su” means. But, God… Why can’t I get through today?”
By Michael Cunningham
What you are about to read is my interpretation of the movie Oldboy. If you haven’t watched it yet then please do, it’s one of the best movies ever made. But be warned: it’s not for weak stomachs.
Quick synopsis: the film follows Oh Dae-Su who is released into the world after being locked up for 15 years for no apparent reason by an unknown captor. This is a revenge film which obliterates any that came before it, except maybe The Count of Monte Cristo. The movie holds a 80% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 127 reviews and Roger Ebert called it ‘a powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which is strips bare.’ Spike Lee is also planning on making a joint out of it, so be sure to watch it before he does. This interpretation came to me like a vision after I had watched the film and struggled to fall asleep. Shuffling around in bed I was reflecting on the final scene in the snow, and was wondering why the lady was touched by the words ‘Even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?’ written on Oh Dae-Su’s letter. Then it hit me, BAM, right in the face! I rushed to wake my cousin up, who I had watched it with, but he was dead. So I started writing frantically, desperate to catch my train of thought before it left the station. What follows is the interpretation…
These two images provide the biggest clue to the meaning behind Oldboy.
The revenge masterpiece starts with Oh Dae-Su on a rooftop, hanging tightly onto a man’s tie while he’s teetering off the edge of the building, the man is terrified as Oh Dae-Su glares at him menacingly saying ‘I want to tell you my story’. The fact that of all scenes, the movie began with this one is very important for unraveling the hidden meaning behind the events that follow. After this scene Oh Dae-Su is eventually kidnapped and kept hostage in a hotel room for 15 years, a disturbing painting of a man neither smiling nor weeping -but both at the same time (a face that Oh Dae-Su makes directly after looking at the painting, and at the very end when he reunites with his daughter/lover in the snow) – appears on the wall, inscribed on it: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.” After the movie shows 15 years pass through events that transpire on his television, Oh Dae-Su wakes up inside a briefcase on a rooftop, it is here that he meets the man with a white puppy. The man is about to kill himself, but Oh Dae-Su wants to tell him his story before he does, so he catches the man by the tie and hangs onto him before he has a chance to plummet to his death. The man weeps to Oh Dae-Su “Mister, even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?”. Oh Dae-Su pauses, and very slowly repeats what the man just said, as if the words held some significance to him.
Oh Dae-Su tells the man his story, which is presumably one of being contained and locked up for 15 years. Afterwards the man, empathising with Oh Dae-Su’s story, nods slowly and says ‘I see”, he then wants to tell O Dae-Su his own story, but Oh Dae quickly storms off and when he reaches the street the man crashes from the sky into a car. This scene has strong parallels with a couple of scenes at the very end of the movie, and forms the basis for the interpretation. The rest of the movie follows Oh Dae-Su’s pursuit to find the man that imprisoned him and why. He finally finds out that it was a man called Lee Woo-jin. This man had a love affair with his sister at a young age, Oh Dae-Su finds out about it and spreads the word to everyone in school, which leads to Lee Woo-jin’s sister and lover committing suicide. A flashback scene shows Lee Woo-jin holding her by the hand as she hangs off a bridge, before letting her fall to her death below. This traumatic experience leads Lee Woo-jin to blame Oh Dae-Su, which forms the motive for why he imprisoned him for 15 years. To add to the revenge, he hypnotises both him and his daughter (who he hasn’t seen since she was a little girl as he’s been imprisoned so long) to fall in love. Eventually Lee Woo-jin reveals this secret to Oh Dae-Su. A perfectly ironic revenge plot considering Lee’s affair with his own sister. The whole movie has you rooting for Oh Dae-Su, wanting to see him exact revenge on his captor, but the ending switches the roles around to reveal, that he was in fact living out someone else’s revenge the entire time. However, something didn’t quite gel with me. Lee Woo-jin’s intricate plan of revenge seemed way too extreme to dish out on someone such as Oh Dae-Su, who was guilty of nothing except behaving like any teenage boy would have done in his circumstances.
Upon finding out that the woman he fell in love with was actually his daughter, Oh Dae-Su seeks the help of the hypnotist that helped hatch the entire plot against him. He writes a letter to her saying ‘this has been my story so far’. The woman meets him in the snow and expresses that she didn’t feel the need to help him, but was touched by a certain line in his letter: ‘Even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?’. She then warns him that the hypnotism might go wrong and ‘distort’ his memories. She says to him: ‘look at that tree… It’s slowly changing into a concrete pillar. You’re now inside Lee Woo-jin’s penthouse. It’s a dreary night. The sound of your footsteps crossing to the window fills the room. When I ring my bell you’ll split into two people. One person doesn’t know your secret: Oh Dae-Su. The one who knows your secret is the monster. When I ring the bell again the monster will turn around and start walking. With each step he will age by one year. When he reaches 70, the monster will die. There’s no need to worry. It will be a very peaceful death. Now, good luck to you.
There are a lot of parallels here, for starters the every step is one year is alluded in an earlier scene when Oh Dae-Su pulls out a man’s (who he believed to be his captor) teeth, saying every tooth I pull is one year of my life I’ve lost to you, also Oh Dae-Su reveals that his name means “getting through one day at a time”. The man on the rooftop says the exact same thing that Oh Dae-Su writes in the letter, he also has a white dog, which parallels Oh Dae-Su barking like a dog to Lee Woo-jin to stop him from telling his daughter the truth about their relationship. Finally, the man being held by the tie before plunging to his suicidal death resembles Lee Woo-jin holding his sister’s hand while she’s hanging over the bridge. Oh Dae-Su refers to himself as a ‘monster’ (above image) and even walks into a sushi shop and asks to ‘eat something alive’, this is something that monsters typically do. He then eats a live octopus, it’s tentacles attacking his face as he bites into it, afterwards he passes out. This monster has walked it’s 70 steps it seems. If you haven’t caught onto my explosive theory yet I’ll paint it out now: The man on the rooftop about to kill himself is the real Lee Woo-jin, and Oh Dae-Su is his haunted memory, his monster. This is evidenced by Oh Dae-Su’s first encounter with Lee Woo-jin, his captor.Oh Dae-Su grabs him by the throat, but his captor’s white haired side kick (the white dog?) intercepts him, Lee Woo-Jin says to Oh Dae: ‘Wow, you’re strong, Mr. Monster. Yes, you are the monster that I created’.
It is clear as sky now that Oh Dae-Su is Lee Woo-jin’s repressed memory of his past, which is why he has imprisoned him for 15 years, in the cell of his own mind.Oh Dae-Su is his monster, that he has created. This explains why the ‘revenge’ that Lee Woo-jin enacted on Oh Dae-su was so harsh and didn’t fit his crime, because when we are deeply depressed we like to torture ourselves, even if it’s completely irrational and we don’t deserve to suffer for it. That’s it. I’ll need to watch it a second time so I can flesh it out some more, but that is what I believe to be the ultimate interpretation of Oldboy.
Please share your opinions of my interpretation, and any interpretations you have as well!
Holy fuck nuts, well interpreted.
Haha, thanks!
RIP cousin
Overall an interesting interpretation, with a few stretches and misunderstandings of Korean culture throughout, but for the most part I agree.
Thanks for the comment, It’s true, I don’t know much about Korean culture as I’ve never been. I’m not sure what parts exactly you’re referring to, but I assume the eating live octopus part making Oh Dae-Su a monster is one of them. I know they actually do that in Korea, but I think it was this movie which made that big over there. Also I want to make known that this is just my interpretation, and I’m sure the director might have had a different vision.
Holy Fuckballs. I’m usually good at hitting metaphors, and picking up underlying tones, and not for one second did I even think about a psychological thriller interpretation. Very well thought out, adds another layer to the movie.
Thanks man! Glad you liked it.
Bullshit…dont try to read way too much into things. This movie is not tarsem singhs cell, where prisoners of the mind are to be fought. The movie is quite simply a revenge story inspired heavily by count of monte cristo but with a twist in it. I agree the person taking revenge is hiding his own guilt for not saving his sister, and going out n telling everyone that they both loved each other. He dint have the courage to face societies contempt for incestous relationships n this cowardice is what takes away the strength from her sister who may have been pregnant but can’t reveal the fathers identity. He could have saved her from committing suicide, but blames it entirely on the gossip monger. On Oh dae su’s part where he holds the other guy by his tie, it is just a side story maybe having parallel to the brother sister story…but neither is oh dae su interested in saving that guy from committing suicide and really thats not his problem, he has become to cold to even care about listening to his story and maybe in the end he feels that he should have saved that guy, so uses that guys line to convince the hypnotist knowing that however shitty the world maybe, n perverted…love still has a chance. About him becoming monster is copied from gankutsuou n count of monte cristo n eating live octopus is a strength testing ritual commonly done in korea, japan. So love the movie for the intensity of its simple emotions rather then trying to mix them with serial killers mental cages.
I enjoyed the movie a lot, I just had a different interpretation of it than you did. All views of the film are valid, none are more correct than the other. Even the director’s vision of the film is not correct, because the director not only made the film for himself, but also for every person who watches it. Thanks for your comment!
for the end bit of your analysis, all korean names are structured similarly to lee woo-jin or oh dae-su, whereas Lee is the family name (last name) and Woo-Jin is the given name of the person. For example, my korean name would be Lee Gup-bom.
Thank you for clearing that up for me, I admit that I don’t have a sound understanding of Korean culture to base my interpretation on, so in a way it is an ignorant interpretation, but still valid in the sense that it is how I interpreted it. I appreciate you offering me a new lens to view my interpretation with, and I will dissolve that last part from my memory next time I watch the film! Thanks again
So this is pretty much an awesome Jekyll and Hyde or Confessions of a Justified Sinner, except the double in play here is a repressed memory instead of schizophrenia or an over-inflated Ego? I need to watch this movie again; thanks for your analysis. It really is one of the greatest films I’ve seen. Korea is making some amazing films right now. Long may it continue and grow. Perhaps we can get some proper cinema back on the mainstream to overtake the mornic “blockbuster” culture of Hollywood. Viva Asian film!
Hi!
I like your interpretation, find it’s very insightful. Even though i’ve watched this movie about a dozen times this possibility never occurred to me! Even though i think the similar name-structure you put forward is the pattern after which people are named in Korea (when you compare it to the actor’s names or the late philantrope Kim Jong-il XD ), the rest of your analysis very solid. I’m going to watch this again RIGHT NOW.
BTW: did you know there is going to be an American remake soon?
Thanks for the comment! Yeah I’ve been informed about the name structure, I should probably change it… that part of the analysis was a rookie error on my part! It is a fantastic movie, I will probably watch it again soon as well :) Yes I’ve heard Spike Lee was doing a remake, although it was a while ago I heard this. I hope it’s good!
can you explain the ending? how oh dae su’s face is smiling when mi-do says “i love you”, but then distorts into an ambiguous face (like that poster in the hotel). does that mean oh dae su is still the monster?
At first I thought it was the sister’s daughter that Oh Dae-Su fell in love with because she was pregnant foreals. Then I’m like wait a minute, his sister suicided before anything can come out lol. I had to reread your interpretation twice because it could have been something else if one detail changes. Thanks for all you wrote :)
Haha, it was a pretty confusing movie! Any time Alice :)
I read your interpretation way back but I felt like re-reading it after watching the movie again. I don’t completely agree with the theory but it sure as fuck is interesting. I must admit that I feel the movie stressed the importance of the sentence ‘Even though I’m no better than a beast, don’t I have the right to live?’. Which does indeed makes me think he’s ‘The Monster’, ‘The Beast’.
Thank you for your interpretation, I would be interested in hearing your interpretation of Donnie Darko as well.
are there different versions of this movie? because in the version i saw, the movie does not begin with him on the rooftop holding the guys tie. the one i saw starts with him drunk, being in the police station, then getting kidnapped, locked up for 15 years, and the rooftop scene come after him being locked up all that time, then hypnotized, and waking up on that rooftop. wtf?
there is only one version of the movie that i’m aware of.. when i wrote this i for some reason thought that the movie began with a flash of the rooftop scene before continuing on with the police station/kidnapping scene you mentioned. i haven’t seen it since then so i’ll take your word that i messed up the order. either way, the interpretation is still valid regardless of the order of the first few scenes.
There’s a few interesting points like the parallel scenes and the monster comments. However I don’t think the man on the roof he meets is the real Woo Jin at all. There’s no evidence for that and you can see in the flashbacks that he is definitely not. It is just as you said a parallel scene that the director uses to enhance the story telling.
My interpretation of the story is that Mido is actually not his daughter. They are both hypnotized to fall in love. There a many scenes in the film that back this theory up and I encourage you to watch it again and look for them. Just to input, the name Mido means lost in the wrong road/end.
The shopkeeper even says it in the shop earlier in the film when they are searching for his daughter that she may have gone to Switzerland.
Other questions you may want to consider if you enjoy investigating films: Why do you think Oh Dae Su smiles at the end? Does Mido flap those angel wings like it belongs to her? Why is WooJin so concerned about his suit in the penthouse? Why does the director get the “prison owner” to say to stop imagining things to Oh Dae Su when he pretends to pull out his tooth. Why are there two tooth brushes in the prison cell where Mido is waiting while Oh dae su is in the penthouse.
In my opinion, and I think the director intended for the film to be open to interpretation, Mido is not his daughter. I mean she doesn’t even have a surname for a reason. Interesting read though! Well done.
I just watched the film and read the analysis above. But THIS analysis is another major eye-opener. I’ll think about this and maybe one day figure these questions out. Till then is there ANYONE who has the answers to the above questions?
For starters, the clock store scene where Mido asks about oh daesu’s daughter’s whereabouts is a mystery. The shopkeeper tells her that she’s moved to Sweden but is she telling the truth? Is Mido hypnotized to go there? She does an odd expression… I’m not sure but all the clocks indicate different times and the set, the sound of the clocks is disorientating Mido and us, the spectators.
After they have sex, oh dae su drys Mido’s hair. This is a typical act between a father and daughter. So some scenes suggest that she is infact the daughter. But if you see the wall above the bed, there is a KingKong poster. This suggests a love that shouldn’t be… Again the director leaves the topic open ended.
The third purple box is what holds the truth. But we never get to see what’s inside the third box infront of Mido. We know what Oh Dae Su thinks is inside the box but he’s been wrong already with the prison keeper’s hands. Has the second box with the photo album deceived Oh Dae Su already? Park chan wook decides that the box be let alone as if that box was open and Mido sees the photo album, she will know if it’s set up or not.
Every single scene has an input and a suggestion to the storyline. The whole movie is like a renaissance painting. Just before the snow scene, after the penthouse the tape player is cut off. This is an idiom in Korea used when somebody can’t remember something. The white setting of the snow suggests a fresh start, but the footprints remain a mystery and we’re not quite sure which side of the story his smile means. Does he remember or does he not? But for the first time Mido is seen in a contrasting, strong red clothing/hat which I think suggests, whether he remembers or not what woo jin made him believe (and no matter what the truth is) he still loves her as a lover, as a partner not as a father.
In your interpretation you said that Lee Woo-jin’s revenge seemed way too extreme to dish out on someone such as Oh Dae-Su as he had done something seemingly so minor. In my interpretation of the film i believe the most important quote, that is repeated throughout the film, is that of ” be it a grain of sand or a rock, in water they sink the same”. This quote provides the basis why Lee Woo-jins revenge is so huge considering the crime. Lee Woo-jin holds Oh Dae-Su personally responsible for the death of his sister and lover, as, if Oh Dae-Su had held his tongue about what he saw Lee Woo-jin believes his sister would not have ended up dead. If Oh Dae-Su had killed his sister in cold bloo it d would be the equivalent of a rock and what Oh Dae-Su did would be the equivalent of a grain of sand. When either of these things are dropped into water they both end up sinking to the same place, the bottom, and in this case the bottom was the death of Lee Woo-jins sister. Be the action as big as a rock or small as a grain of sand Lee Woo-jin makes no discrepancy between the two.
I never thought about it that way, but that’s a very interesting point. Thanks for sharing!
I just watched this movie and I have to say, this whole page is very interesting. I believe that this movie is similar to a poem, you read more little pieces of it every time you see it. Your thoughts on this movie were really well thought out. This is a very interesting take on it and I have to say, it makes a lot of sense. The movie, at first, is very overwhelming (with so much emotion and so many sidestories) and this theory added even more to it. Though it’s very complicated this movie seems very vague about its true meaning. I’m very interested in your thoughts on this movie, as well as others’. I would have never thought of these ideas or even thought of that perspective. I’m interested in how you came to that conclusion. What’s even more interesting is that this take on it is much more relatable to people than the, “plotline.” It seems like you put your own experiences into this interpretation and I like that about it. Overall, really good job! This was amazing. You think of things in a unique way.
Thanks :) I agree with what you said about the movie being like a poem, it is very poetic and has numerous layers to it that not even the director would be aware of. A true piece of art! I don’t claim my theory to be what the director intended, nor do I expect it to be for everyone, but it works for me and I’m glad it does for you too!
Great thoughts! I really love to see all the different viewpoints! Did anyone else also find the verse the filmmakers chose as a clue to woo-jin’s residence an odd choice? It’s Proverbs 6:5
“ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.”
Despite its purpose to the plot, I still felt this verse was a strange choice; primarily because it’s so ambiguous I can’t imagine how it would stand out to the filmmakers. The plot device found within it could have been extrapolated from secular literature just as easily, if not easier, as from a passage of scripture. This verse was chosen specifically just as the rest of the chapter is deliberately left unmentioned. Here is another segment from that chapter:
* ANTS
6 “Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.”
These I find especially interesting since ants are used in sequences of hallucinations. In this verse ants represent responsible and efficient members of a community. The primary ants hallucination, interestingly enough, happens just after we hear a news report saying that “Dae-su drank and was often observed fighting with his wife”. Not being a very helpful member of society. :)
I just thought this was an interesting connection. This verse contains other interesting connection you may find interesting as well! Look it up!
One other thing that may intrigue:
I’ve always felt that the action Dae-su takes in cutting his own tongue out was out of place. I now realize that was probably a gut reaction more out of discomfort than anything. In fact, I now think that was a deliberate choice made for one specific reason.
Matthew 5: 29-30
“ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away… It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell.”
I feel as though there are numerous of these subtle connections to scripture. This is such an intricate film! So cool how people can keep seeing new things in it.
(sorry for the length of this post…)