Acknowledged for making television documentaries, producer and director Han Sun-hee made this almost two-hour film specifically for the Blu-ray release of Chan Park-wook's “Oldboy” by Plain Archive International, a South Korean Blu-ray producing company. Apparently, it also premiered at the 17th Jeonju International Film Festival held in South Korea in 2016.
This rather straightforward but engrossing documentary starts off with the camera following actor Oh Kwang-rok (the suicide man with the white dog from the film) as he walks towards the building where they filmed the roof top scene. It has been over ten years and he recalls that they could not film that day because the sky was too grey and foggy. Besides, some of the high-rise apartments that surround the site now were of course not there during filming. Interrupting Oh's narrative are those familiar behind the scene images and footage of the actual film which become the style of the whole production.
After that, the film's title appears and it continues taking us further into more interviews with not only the lead actors but also just about everyone who gets involved in the making of “Oldboy”. Of course, director Park has the most screen time, talking about all aspects of the making his award winning classic. He takes us on locations from Busan's Chinatown to the snow fields of New Zealand where they shot the ambiguous ending. We learn that he craftily worn out leading man Choi Min-sik, with at least sixteen takes of the famous one-take corridor fight, to the point that he was just about to drop dead before they finally got the final take. Watch out for Song Kang-ho sitting at the back while they are watching the footage of the shooting.
While revisiting the site where they shot the scene in which Choi's Oh Dae-su has to fight a bunch of local thugs after his release, a group of students confronts Park and they all talk about the “Dickshit” scenario which they fondly remembered. Nonetheless, Park encourages them to watch “The Handmaiden” as they shake his hand and happily depart. Besides, after all those years, a lot of people on the streets still get excited and recognized him as they surrounded him for his autographs.
According to producer Syd Lim, it was screenwriter Hwang who introduced him to the Japanese manga “Oldboy” and while reading it, he noticed that Choi would be perfect for their live version adaption since he is almost a dead ringer to the comic character. Interestingly, actress Kang Hye-jung who plays Mi-do, arrives for her audition equipped with a real sashimi knife, to the delights of Choi. Elsewhere, actor Yu Ji-tae who pays Woo-jin, the man who puts Oh Dae-su through hell, says he channels his character's behavior by studying other auteur directors. Oh Dal-su reveals that his character, the private prison warden is his first big screen speaking role and that they used a hammer made of soft sponge during his teeth-pulling scene and not a real metal one.
What makes Han's documentary interestingly different from most productions of this nature is the way it mimics some of the style of Park's original film. For example, the clever inclusion of CGI graphics while touching on the intriguing production design and color. Consequently, the use of Steadicam on some location shoots to further mirror “Oldboy's” many mobile camerawork is indeed a refreshing bonus.
By all means, “Oldboy” was not a smooth sailing shoot; they went over budget and behind schedule. Han's recollection and highly detailed vivid testimony of Park's work is an engaging experience especially for the fans.
