‘Oldboy’ director reveals what he’d change in the action classic

nme.com:

Oldboy director Park Chan-wook has detailed what he’d change in his acclaimed action thriller, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.Loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name, Oldboy follows Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) in his quest for vengeance against his captors after being imprisoned inside a cell for 15 years.Speaking about revisiting the film for the remastered 4K version, Chan-wook explained that, if he had known how successful Oldboy would become while making it, he would have made a specific change to the original film.“Initially when we were designing Woo-jin’s penthouse, I had this idea of creating a very long single-lane pool,” Chan-wook told IndieWire. “When it’s reflected on the glass and he’s swimming, it almost looks like a white fish swimming in a long strip of water against the dark sky of night.“I wanted to create a very surrealist image but couldn’t because of the budget.

If I had known back then that the film was going to be a success, I would have invested more money and made the pool that I wanted.”The director, who only watched the film for a third time during the restoration process, recalled how the only time he enjoyed watching Oldboy was to mark the 10th anniversary.“The only time I was able to enjoy watching the film was 10 years ago, for the 10th anniversary,” Chan-wook said. “I watched it again with the cast and heads of departments, and I found the character of Woo-jin to be a lot more interesting than I remembered.

The actor who played him, Yoo Ji-tae, gave an amazing performance.”An American remake of Oldboy was released in 2013, starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley.