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Before I say anything else, I urge you to go watch Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave. It’s streaming free on Netflix, and without any embellishment, is one of the century’s finest murder mystery thrillers. It’s so much more than that, but the less I say, the better. We can talk about Park Chan-wook’s bonafide debut with that out of the way.
While his Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was well-received, and Joint Security Area was Korea’s highest-grossing movie at the time, 2003’s Oldboy really solidified his status as one of this generation’s seminal filmmakers. Oldboy’s success was, in part, predicated on another seminal filmmaker’s involvement. I’m talking about Quentin Tarantino.
Per Netflix: With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors.
According to a contemporaneous piece in the Seattle Times, Park Chan-wook had little hope his violent revenge odyssey would fare well at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Yet, not only was Oldboy accepted, the film eventually won the Grand Jury prize. That year’s festival jury president was Quentin Tarantino, a proclaimed champion of Asian cinema and possibly the world’s biggest Oldboy fan.
Reportedly, Quentin Tarantino was so smitten with Park Chan-wook’s work, he launched a campaign to secure the Palme d’Or for Oldboy. While the prize eventually went to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Tarantino’s championing of Oldboy solidified it as Park Chan-wook’s first big international hit.
Park Chan-wook credits Quentin Tarantino for Oldboy’s western distribution. He remarked of Tarantino, “When we talked, he was describing every shot of the film. He remembered little things about the framing or the editing that I had forgotten. He was so enthusiastic, I felt like he was talking about someone else’s work. He made me want to see my own film.”
Oldboy, now streaming on Netflix, would gross $17 million worldwide. The success, no doubt, strengthened Park Chan-wook’s career, and without it, who’s to say whether we’d have ever seen the likes of Thirst, Stoker, or The Handmaiden (all good, all worth watching). Thanks, Quentin Tarantino.
What do you think of Oldboy? Are you as fervent a fan as Tarantino? Which film from Park Chan-wook’s filmography is your favorite? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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