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'Oldboy': Deep-down tragedy and screaming emotions

A hallucinogenic thriller that relentlessly heaps taboos on top of images of extreme brutality, "Oldboy" is surely not for the squeamish. In one scene, the protagonist eagerly chows down on a live octopus, its lubricious tentacles wriggling between his lips. In another scene, he uses the claw end of a hammer to tear out the teeth of one of his tormentors.

Tartan Films 'Oldboy' B+ The verdict: Revenge is alive and weird in this transgressive trip to hell and gone. Director: Chan-wook Park Starring: Choi Min-sik, Gang Hye-jung, Yoo Ji-Tae Run time: 120 minutes Release date: April 29, 2005 Rating: R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

But taken on its own twisted terms, this latest film by Korean director Park Chanwook is a visually beguiling trip that keeps pulling you along and keeps you wondering what fresh hell could possibly come next. And that makes it considerably more compelling than a lot of the latest from Hollywood.

"Oldboy" opens with drunk and disorderly businessman Dae-su (master of moods Choi Min-sik) being detained at a Seoul police station instead of at home, where he should be celebrating his young daughter's birthday. But then, in the best film noir tradition, it all fades to black.

He wakes up imprisoned in a nightmarish cell that looks like a surrealist vision of a motel room Ñ with flashing colored lights, a frightening, face-shifting painting, and a glowing console television set that eventually beams in the news that he's been accused of murdering his wife. Fifteen years pass and he becomes something like the Korean "Count of Monte Cristo" — just barely warding off insanity by punching at the walls and plotting his revenge behind wild baggy eyes and electric socket hair.

Then, as abruptly as he was locked up, Dae-su is made a free man again. And instead of the fried dumplings he's been living on, he wants to "eat something alive." That's when the disorienting narrative structure and perverse plot really go gonzo. At a sushi bar, he meets a young chef, Mido (the vibrant Gang Hye-jung), who takes him home and ushers him into another spiral of secrets. And suddenly, given five days to find his captor and figure out why he was put away — or else something even more horrific will happen — Dae-su sets out on a bloody rampage that ultimately brings him to a Job-like passage of self-discovery.

Park Chanwook certainly shares the giddy slash-and-burn sensibility of director Quentin Tarantino, who has touted his talents. But maybe because he came of age in an era of political repression, torture and bloodshed in South Korea, Park goes beyond Tarantino-style cartoonish violence to present strains of deep down tragedy and screaming human emotions.

Love it or hate it, don't expect to leave "Oldboy" without being moved in unexpected ways.