Daily Dialogue — September 24, 2014

“The hypnosis may go wrong and distort your memories. Do you want to proceed? [he nods] If you’re ready, look at that tree. The tree is 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 the bell, you’ll split into two people. [bell rings] 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. [bell rings] 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.”

— Oldboy (2003), screenplay by Chan-wook Park, Chun-hyeong Lim, Jo-yun Hwang, story by Garon Tsuchiya, comic by Nobuaki Minegishi

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Vengeance, suggested by Jon Raymond.

Trivia: This is the second one of director Chan-wook Park’s “Revenge Trilogy”. The first is Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002). The third is Lady Vengeance (2005). Incidentally, the very first speaking character in this film, who commits suicide with his dog and whose story we never hear, is played by Kwang-rok Oh. In the first of the revenge trilogy he played an anarchist who appears at the very end of the film. He is the only credited character who appears in both movies.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Here is the plot summary of Oldboy: After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days. When a character is able to enact vengeance on another, especially in the case of revenge, what then? Here he achieves a kind of peace through hypnosis. It’s an amazing scene that speaks to fractured psyches and letting go of the monsters who torment the Inner Self.

If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please click on Reply and post in comments. Thanks!