Old Boy

So I was in Toronto this past weekend, and I have to say that one of the highlights was getting together with Jay and watching movies. His pick was Old Boy, and mine was Seven Samurai. Combine that with a Thai stirfry (freakin' awesome, Jay!), a tonne of beer, and it was one helluva night.

Old Boy is a very difficult movie to describe. It feels like a Korean Fight Club/Memento/Titus Andronicus type of film, but that doesn't do the emotional extravagance or volitility justice. It's a movie without conventional boundaries, one that encroaches on the morally horrific.

To say it's well-filmed is as underwhelming as saying the Holocaust was a bad time. I'd have to watch it again to pay special attention to the filming, but it worked perfectly for what was being accomplished. It was dark, moody, always edgy, bordering on nervous. The scene that starts with a frightened Daesu-Oh watching an ant crawl out of his arm will live in my mind as one of the most... mind-stinging scenes I've ever seen.

I think what really stood out about this movie was the portrayal of emotion, and that emotion's discharge. I wish we could have watched it sans subtitles; so many nuances and subtleties of emotion get lost in translation. Imagine Shakespeare translated into contemporary Swahili. It just wouldn't work.

I'm not sure what else I can really say without divulging the plot, which really needs to be witnessed a priori. It was a great movie, and I'm also glad I could share Seven Samurai with Jay.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend in Toronto - I had a blast catching up and talking with Michelle, and hanging out with Jason. It was a much-needed getaway. I'm not sure what I was getting away from, though. I guess a certain stagnation, or ennui. It was a great chance to refocus.