Renowned South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has unveiled the sole alteration he would make to his iconic dramatic thriller, Oldboy, which premiered two decades ago this year.
Recognised as one of the greatest movies of the 21st century so far, Chan-wook’s film tells the story of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a man who, after having been mysteriously imprisoned for 15, is suddenly let out to pursue his captors. Nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival when the film was released in 2003, Chan-wook walked away with the Grand Jury Prize for his efforts.
Revisiting the film for its 4K restoration, the director revealed that he would make one change to the movie’s shocking ending.
Speaking to IndieWire, the director stated: “Initially when we were designing Woo-jin’s penthouse, I had this idea of creating a very long single-lane pool…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”.
Continuing, he added: “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”.
Spike Lee went about directing an American remake of the movie in 2013, with Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley taking over from Kang Hye-jung, Choi Min-sik and Yoo Ji-tae.
Watch Oldboy on Netflix now.
