All language subtitles for Old.Days.2016.1080p.BluRay.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

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The apartment building
looks cleaner now.

This is...

Oh...

That's the exit.

I'm not sure.

It's the hallway where Choi Min-sik
puts on sunglasses and walks out.

I think this is where I fell on the car.

Those apartments weren't there
when we filmed 10 years ago.

There was a lot of bristle grass
back then.

Once we came out in late August
and it was cloudy.

I was supposed to commit suicide,

but the sky needed to be blue.

So you'd think,
"It's a good day to die."

But it was too cloudy, so we left.

Things didn't work out
the next time either.

We waited all morning
and then filmed when the fog lifted.

We couldn't keep delaying.

It was really tough.
There was a safety harness of course.

I'm afraid of heights,
so I was really scared.

I wanted to get out of it, so I asked
the director why he'd cast me.

We used to look at the sky
over there while waiting.

The Han River is there.
We're at the edge of the city.

The sky above us is blue,

but there's smog over the city.

It was very foggy then.

Look at that.

Impressive.

I probably wouldn't agree

if someone asked me now.

I'd have to rewrite the whole thing.

I said yes when nothing had been
decided about how to do it.

I guess I had confidence
in everything back then.

I think I was about 31 years old.

I was bored
so I went to a comics store.

Our screenwriter Hwang once told me

that Oldboy, the graphic novel,
was really good.

There was this one frame
in the manga.

A closeup of a guy's face,
and it looked like Choi Min-sik.

I saw that and thought
he'd be great for the role.

Once Choi was cast
in the leading role,

it was clear

how Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
and Oldboy would differ.

Kind of like the difference between
Song Kang-ho and Choi Min-sik.

Things proceeded so smoothly

that I couldn't imagine
the later troubles.

Choi had played
some very diverse roles,

but I really wanted to portray him

as a classic hero.

- Wow.
- Welcome back!

It's been ages.
That picture's still here.

- Hello.
- Welcome.

Hello.

They filmed lots of stuff here.
Closer to Heaven was shot here.

I guess we filmed on May 21.

We put up bead curtains here.

We thought it'd look nice.

We shot here, right?
Here it is.

The name of the room is "Oldboy".
Wow!

I remember it now
as a very happy experience.

From the very start,

Park, Lim and I wanted
to wholly reconstruct the manga.

We drank a lot
and talked our tongues off!

We had script meetings
twice a week

for almost three months at a cafe.

I was debating with Lim

when I had to go to the restroom.

It occurred to me then that
the key to surpassing the original story

was not why he was imprisoned,
but why he was let go.

I went and told Lim
as soon as I got out of the restroom.

The incest and everything else
came out then.

He said he must do it that way
or he wouldn't do it at all.

I remember the director saying,
"He didn't know what he'd done."

It's not Oh Dae-su's sexual taste.
It's a form of revenge. It's true.

Then what about Shakespeare?
Or Oedipus?

When Choi agreed, I couldn't believe it.
We'd get to work with Choi Min-sik.

He came into the office every day,
and we all got along so well.

I'm Yoo Ji-tae
and I play Lee Woo-jin.

I heard they wanted
someone to play Woo-jin.

I saw someone turn down the part,
but I never dreamed I'd be asked.

I remember Choi calling me.

I read the script and told him and
the director that I really wanted the part.

I was 28 back then.

I think life experience
is more important than age.

Mr Choi was a really respected actor
with a lot of experience,

so I was intimidated.

I cast Yu as a man two years younger
than Choi, so I thought anything goes.

The unconventional casting of Yu
paradoxically made the movie more violent.

Do you like your clothes?

I observed auteur directors
and tried to mimic them in my acting.

That was the way
to reduce the number of takes.

Back then.

Catch your breath.

You wanna talk about something else first?
And tell him to stay lying down?

I haven't worn a skirt in ages.

- It's uncomfortable?
- I'm nervous.

Before Oldboy, I'd auditioned
for a Ryoo Seung-wan movie.

I don't think I prepared that much then,
so I decided to make a fresh start.

I decided to give everything I had
for the Oldboy audition,

so I dived into it with no shame.

I thought she was a bit weird
at the audition.

She'd brought a real sashimi knife
from a Japanese restaurant.

I asked where she got it and she said
she borrowed it from a nearby restaurant.

I thought she was lying.

I told the assistant director
to go and check, and it was true.

I didn't know that chefs don't
ordinarily lend their knives.

I thought, "He has plenty of them.
So what's the big deal?"

I'd heard rumours she was emotional,
overly sensitive and unpredictable.

So I was worried,
but it turned out not to be true.

The director said he saw me trip
over my heels while leaving,

and that's why he cast me.

But I believe I got the part
because I tried really hard!

I still cringe at that.

I was so young.

I don't think I could act like that now.

It was possible
because it was back then.

Yes, I'm up!

We need to cut some here.

The Oh Dae-su I remember
was hot-tempered.

I thought there was something in his
environment that he couldn't overcome.

So that made me think
of extended and very curly hair.

I told Choi that I wanted
to give him this hair.

He said,
"You think I'm a young rapper?"

At first... I said it looked like
a rotten thatched roof.

Even for someone locked up
for 15 years, it was too much.

But she insisted on it.

Director Park who was mediating
in the middle

said they should let me do it
since I really wanted it.

Companies made pre-production
posters back then,

so he said, "Let's just try it, and we'll do
a new one if it doesn't work."

It was called a foil perm.
You have to have done it to understand.

Your hair gets wrapped up in foil
for three hours.

I thought they'd put my hair
in the microwave.

I didn't need to convince them.
I showed them the image.

The director and the cast saw the photo,
and that was enough.

It was all decided from then.

I really wanted Choi to respect my role
as make-up and hair director.

In order to give my character
a hard edge,

they slicked my hair back like this.

At first, the director disagreed.

But I didn't suggest any other hairstyle.
I followed him around, insisting on it.

I wore him down until he gave in.

My roots stand up like this.

So they gave me a strong
straightener to flatten my hair.

The stuff was so strong
that my hair fell out, like this...

He almost became bald.
He had a hard time, so I felt really bad.

I had to fight for everything back then.

I was new back then, so I didn't know
Korean films or industry trends.

I think I was the youngest member
of the main crew.

The director wrote notes on the script,
intentionally or unconsciously.

Things that had to be visualised.

Mi-do and Oh Dae-su are always together
so I wanted her clothes to have patterns.

I tried to think of something
that could give the film consistency.

The patterns and the film's situations
matched each other well.

I see that now. At the time,
I just thought the clothes were cool.

- Have we met before?
- Search for the Best Chef

The fabric I got for Oh Dae-su

had a kind of pin-striped pattern.

The style of his outfit
had to match that of Lee Woo-jin.

Our budget was too small.

I don't know how I did all that
on that budget.

So I decided on this.

I had him wear similar clothes
all the time.

He seems to wear only one suit,
but there are dozens of them in his closet.

Not many people will remember,

but three buttons were trendy
for men's suits.

I told the director we should have two.

That's what the coolest guys
in French Noir or ‘60s-70s films wore.

I remember Director Park said,
"I don't like three buttons either."

So we did that,
and these days two buttons are in.

Movies have to lead the trends.
But it's always hard.

I'm shooting an Oldboy interview.

Yes.

You always call at weird times.

I'm at Jangchung-dong
where we did the first day of filming.

Yes. The first location.

I'm on camera now.

It's just me.

No, it's okay...

"How are you going to shoot this?"

Solsaid afewthings,

and I was hired soon after.

"I want continuous movement.

"And I want to use a lot of green.

"I want to use a telephoto lens often.

"And the camera should always
be moving,

"forwards and backwards,
but also up and down."

Camera movement was
really important for that scene.

I was a complete newbie and it was
the first time I'd seen a 35mm camera.

The camera moved along a dolly
and I had to step in at the right time.

It was the first time for me,
so I was 120% nervous during filming.

That was the first camera movement
while filming Oldboy.

It wasn't originally a moving shot.

And that was the first of many times
that we used a wide angle lens.

I think the film's camera movements
were well coordinated.

People still talk about it.
I wonder how we did it like that.

We'll start slow.

- Roll.
- 1A-2!

Cut. Again.

Why are you starting when I haven't
even said ‘Ready' or ‘Action'?

Yes. The camera moved in like this.

We set up over there.
The store name's been changed.

- Okay.
- Okay!

We've already shot half the movie!

I thought, "This is it!"
because it was the first shoot.

Yeah.

I think we set up a second time
over there.

We put the monitor here
and shot Choi following Mi-do.

Was it always this narrow?
I thought it was wider then.

The director's instructions for Choi
when he turned around were complicated.

"You're crying but you're laughing."
I couldn't understand it.

Director Park said later that day
that when Choi turned around,

he could see in his face
where the film would go.

I was just tired.

It was the first day,
so we didn't have many takes.

I wonder today, if I can make films
as fearlessly as I did then.

I think we were all brave then.
Even the director.

We can be again someday.

Shall we visit the grave tomorrow?

No.

First i have to kiil that bastard.

When the music begins,
gas is released.

Look around right away.
Then, no muttering.

So when I hear that sound,
I should stop talking?

I was so inexperienced then.

I was doing things
that could badly affect the movie.

Every time we set up for a scene
and the cast and crew arrived,

my heart beat so fast.

What if we place the actors here and
they feel distracted? It'll be my fault.

I thought this film could end up
being my last project.

I keptthinking that.

It said in the script
that there were repetitive patterns.

Geometric prints weren't common,
but I thought we should go retro.

The first room was green.

Not clear green, a grotesque mixture
of olive green and dull greens.

Green is the colour of nature,

but it's also used in portraits
of the sick or the crazy.

Woo-jin's colour.

He has energy and passion mostly for revenge.

A cold purple would be
the best colour to show that.

I mixed purple patterns in places
where Woo-jin was prominent.

In the end,
Mi-do gets locked up in the room.

Director Park wanted a completely
different colour scheme then.

There's a lot of confined,
claustrophobic space.

So we naturally thought
of certain lighting tones.

The green light we use in movies
isn't a natural green.

All i could think at that moment...

All the lighting in Oldboy
had some green in it.

In the script, Oh Dae-su spent years
locked up in a room.

After time passed, it looked like mould.

We shot on film then,
and green is a colour everyone rejects.

Everyone thought that green
shouldn't show up on film.

I thought that green should be
expressed.

I don't usually make decisions quickly.

I took my time. I thought I should use
the colour the film industry hates the most.

He's not a technician.
He's a true artist.

He really worked endlessly
to find what was right for the story.

And he knew best how to use green,
which I had always tried and failed at.

Jung was such a newbie then,
though he's a master now.

He was just a babe in the woods then.

This one...

That's okay, too.

A bit sleepy but I smile again.

My back!

His back got chafed too much.

Oh, no.

Watch out for this thing!

I'm more worried
about my manhood than my back.

We appeared in a lot of scenes.

Jang-hyuk always plays policemen
on the scanner in Park's films.

He served as a riot cop,
so he knows all the jargon.

Even on Sympathy for Mr Vengeance.

He came and shot
police scenes in my film, too!

I punched the wall often
in the cell scenes.

Your foot stepped on his head, right?

Just my legs appeared at the door
while I was giving him dumplings.

Push hard.
Step down with your foot.

Just push my head.

Not just the face.
Tap with your foot.

Tap my head
like you would a soccer ball.

I don't think it'll work.

I can't guarantee your safety
once I'm out of here!

I'm sorry!
I won't swear at you again!

Just tell me how much longer.
One month? Two?

Or three?

Don't go. I'm sorry!

Choi boxes... with a picture of a guy.

He was supposed to hit the set,

but the whole set echoed
as the wall shook.

Who had imprisoned me?

I remember that...

When looking at the storyboard,
you could see that it would shake.

Isaid that to the art team
and the set builders several times.

I told them to put bricks or rock
behind the part he hits.

I said it many times,
but it didn't work out.

So we put wallpaper on a wall
and I punched it.

We couldn't afford to have Choi hurt
his fists, but me getting hurt was okay.

The close-ups were done against a wall,

and we put something behind it
for the full shots.

But the director shot that scene
for a long time.

Cut!

Only short takes were going to be used,
but the director filmed for a long time.

I was worried about Jang-hyuk's hands.

I thought maybe he was mad at me
or something.

Picture yourself...

...lying in a field.

You'll see an endless field
of green grass.

The sun is shining brightly.

Korea has a director's team,
which is unlike other countries' systems.

This team works as one
with the director.

A lot of ideas from the director's team
were put into Oldboy.

I think we shot here before we went
to shoot Woo-jin's house.

Would Choi really fit
in the suitcase or not?

- I tried going in the box.
- Me, too.

Several people went in and tested
if it could be opened by pushing it.

Then I think Choi went in
and got it in one take.

The problem was opening it, so I asked
for something to open it from the inside.

I asked a couple times,
but it didn't happen.

So it closed quite loosely.

When we came to shoot the scene in a place
we'd scouted, construction was going on.

So I remember we just moved
over to another place.

Even now, I think the director
was very open-minded.

He asked opinions of all the crew,
down to the youngest member.

As the lead actor, I found
the ideal type of film director in him.

He's very clever.

- It's an honour.
- I'm a huge fan.

Can you take a picture of us?

One by one.

One, two.

Next.

We were playing football.

- Oldboy?
-Yes.

- Oldboy was shot here?
-Yes.

I never knew that.

- The "Dickshit" scene was shot here, right?
- That was here?

"Dickshit. A new word."

That's it.

I'm looking forward to your next film.

- The Handmaiden.
- The Handmaiden.

On the news it said it's X-rated.

I think you're awesome.

That was exaggerated.

We said that just to be clear with the cast,
but it got blown out of proportion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I shake your hand again?

Please go and see The Handmaiden.

I will. I'm a big fan.

Then all hell started.

The first budget I raised
was 3.3 billion won.

Everyone had to make sacrifices
to stay within that budget.

If anything went wrong,
it would cost money.

The weather didn't help.

Shooting what was on the schedule
each day was really hard.

The schedule was made to fit the budget,
but 48 days increased to 72.

I thought a producer's main job was
scheduling and staying within the budget.

In that sense, I failed.

Oldboy was behind schedule
and over budget.

I played the bad guy a lot.

I would yell and swear and demand
why everyone wasn't moving faster.

Yoo Ji-tae later asked
why I swore so much.

I was kidding but he's a serious guy.
I was a bit scared of him.

He's a big guy, so I apologised.

CONCLUSION:
REDUCE LIGHTING SET-UP TIME.

COORDINATE EACH SCENE EFFICIENTLY
FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS.

I don't know if I should say this.
Director Park was known for many things.

At one time, he was known
for falling behind schedule and such.

Naturally, I expected huge problems.

When we were drafting the schedule,
I knew he wouldn't shoot that much.

He would shoot one or two shots
at most per day.

A good day would be three or four.

Looking back now, it wasn't that hard.

It wasn't the work that was hard,
it was the all-nighters.

Fighting against sleep and fatigue.

But the director wasn't rough on the set.
He was gentle and very quiet.

He never raised his voice.

What made us most nervous was
when he would let out a sigh...

That meant we were in big trouble.
But he never yelled at us.

He doesn't yell at you directly.

- Did he ever raise his voice?
- He never yelled.

But when he looked at the monitor
and then looked at me...

...you don't know what that's like.

I've had that look several times.

I got that look a lot.

Cut!

Who the hell are you?

Do it fast.

You're salting it?

-Go.
- Quiet!

Look, Director...

Oh!

That fucker...

Please stay to one side
so cars can go by!

Or maybe it's better
to kick my shoulder.

Dickshit.

A new word.

Television doesn't teach you
swear words.

Can ten years' worth
of imaginary training be put to use?

I thought the crane would go here.

Oh Dae-su crosses the road there.

The camera comes down
to the thugs here.

At normal walking speed, the scene
takes too long, so I told him to run down.

We rehearsed it 16 times,
so it was tiring.

I guess he was pissed off with me.

It was total chaos.
Complete chaos.

Our crew hadn't eaten at all,

the lighting crew were about to pass out
after rigging all the lights.

This was the hardest part
of the whole process.

So many spectators filled up that space.

This side, too.

The production staff apologised to them all
and would shout at them, too,

so they wouldn't appear in the frame.

Citizens of Busan.
Thank you very much.

If you stay there,
we can't shoot any more.

Busan people don't use titles.
They called Choi Min-sik by name.

He had such a hard time,
sweating a lot.

And then kids were calling him
by his first name, so I took action.

I jumped up and said, "You think Choi Min-sik
is your buddy?" and hit him with my cap.

This kid was saying, "What's it to you?"
I said, "You stay until the shoot is over."

On his way to the restroom,

Director Park asked if I got into a fight,
and then kept shooting.

He's invincible.

That's how he was able
to shoot that scene.

I was overly ambitious,
so I asked for too much.

The buses passed
by Pukyong University,

so I asked the crew to change them all
so you couldn't tell we were in Busan.

If it were now, I would check
whether it'd be noticeable in the movie.

If it's a problem, then we fix it with
computer graphics or something easier.

They were shocked because I told them
to stop all the buses going by.

All the stores have changed.

Nothing's the same.

Everything changes so fast here.

I realise that again.

Cut.

- Okay?
- Sure.

Did it hurt?

Untie him quick.

Oldboy was the first time
that I had lines.

I didn't know when I read the script.

I went straight from theatre-acting
to the movies, so I didn't know anything.

The first time
I went to see Director Park,

he had his legs up on the table like this.

His feet were up
and hetookouta laptop.

I thought that was the way he talked.

Then he said,
"That's probably how you should look."

When I saw the movie, I was amazed
that I looked like that in it.

Wow. The mechanism is
completely different.

He told me to act... ambiguous.

That was easy for me.

That means it's neither here or there.

I think that's what made me
think about this and that.

How can I make it ambiguous?

It was a sponge
made to look like steel.

It wasn't harmful to the actor at all.

So how do I make it look realistic?

I found myself thinking
about details like that.

Do you want to talk?

Cut.

My teeth are pulled out,
and I get gold teeth.

I went to a dentist to get it done
with a director's team member.

He was so eager, he suggested
grinding up six teeth and sticking gold on.

So he called the director to confirm it.

The director was so mad at him.

I leave without killing Oh Dae-su and say,
"That'll take care of your cold."

He told me to say something
that had nothing to do with the scene.

So I just said it.

That'II take care of your cold.

It was strange.
Everyone was gung-ho.

They were at the top of their game.

There was energy flowing everywhere.

The corridor fight scene
made me realise what a film set was.

You throw away the knife, not wanting blood,
but what'll people think if it appears again?

Guys with hands raised go outside,
then split like Moses and the Red Sea.

When he was doing Oldboy,
I was working on Arahan.

He said, "Action scenes are such a bother.

"Do you know anyone good?"

Yang Kil-yong was with the Seoul Action
School then, but now he's independent.

I recommended him.

It was the first film I did
as a martial arts director.

So I didn't give it much thought.

I saw the storyboard for Oh Dae-su's
revenge scene in the prison.

I was blown away.
The shots were intense.

Someone could get seriously hurt.

I was taught that actions
carry emotions.

So I tried to keep that going.

I think there were 60 to 70 moves.

My arms will hurt the most.

I didn't mean to make it this complicated.
But Yang... Where is he?

Where'd he go? What's going on?

Director Park called me and said,

"Why don't we do this in one take?"

"What? How?"

The guy has to fight a lonely, wearisome
battle against a formidable foe.

The director said he was mistaken.

He should've said so much earlier!

After the knife goes in...
to the end?

But I can't remember for sure.

If you can do that,
then we won't use any other details.

- Make it unique.
- So take it to the end in one shot.

Director Yang,
can we cut the part at the end?

- Yes, cut it.
- Then it's easier to remember.

Then I have to change every punch and kick
that doesn't appear to make contact.

I thought if we went with a long take,

it'd be hard to put emotion into it.

So we changed
the choreography on site.

I could sense the sheer duration of it.

Are you okay?

But Director Park wouldn't okay it.

Why?
He said something was missing.

Yeah?

After doing over ten takes,
I started getting nauseous.

How many more times
could we film this?

You probably don't know this, but action
scenes are way harder than working out.

And he had to act, too.
He was so tired, he could barely stand.

He was about to drop dead.

After saying "Cut", he was like...

That crafty director waited
until I actually got tired.

Sowe did 16 or 17 takes.

The sequences in Korean action films
have very fast editing.

I was worried how the general audience
would receive it.

We talked about it over beers.

Good.

Great job!

Good work, everybody!

Good job.

Great job, sir.

Get some rest.

There are magical moments like that
when you're shooting a film.

Something that clicked,
although you didn't intend it.

I think that scene happened like that.

My older brother was a real bookworm
so he read a lot.

I didn't read novels much,
but he read a lot.

I think that's what laid the groundwork
for his filmmaking.

While they set up the lights here
for the night-time scene,

I popped into this bookstore by myself.

Kang Hye-jung and Yoon Jin-seo
came to watch,

although they weren't shooting
that day.

I remember I bought two books
and gave them one each.

One was Miss Smiila's Feellng for Snow
or something like that.

I think it was Miss Smila's
Feellng for Snow,

but I can't remember who I gave it to.

I held onto Miss Smilla...
while I was single.

Then it got stored in a box
because I moved around a lot.

I don't know if the director
still remembers this.

He lent me a book once,
but I ended up keeping it.

I think it was called Enduring Love.

The cover was blue. I nicked it.

Sorry, Director.

Thank you.

- Are you going to shoot here?
- I did before.

This is the kind of scene

that I said
I was overly ambitious about.

When we're on a street with crowds,
it's common sense to wrap up quick.

At the time...

I thought sorting out the environment
was the production crew's job.

All I thought of was getting my job done.

So I would say, "Once more!"
if I didn't like even the slightest thing.

I don't think
I would do it that way now.

I was ignorant

about analysing the character,
distributing my energy,

or what role the character plays
in the drama.

I knew nothing about any of that.

I still remember the director saying,
"Feel the space."

So I suppose very lonely people
keep thinking of ants.

Although I have never done that.

Filming was done on a subway train,
so it was a bit tense.

I had to get the "okay" no matter what.

During the filming, I kept feeling anxious,
nervous and overwhelmed.

Whenever I have to depict
extreme emotions or express a lot,

there are moments when I feel
someone's helping me just by watching.

When acting, there are things that
only the actors themselves can solve.

So being an actor is a lonely job.

It's a job that bothers me
all the time. It's a lonely battle.

But there are moments when you hear
something like the voice of God.

Nothing is said,
but even a look helps.

Choi helped me this way,
like a punch in my chest.

He's an actor who makes you think,
"Wow, I just heard the voice of God."

Let me speak. Jung, give us some time.
She's losing focus.

- Sorry, sir.
- Three minutes.

When Oh Dae-su leaves Mi-do
and goes to fight Woo-jin,

he hugs me and says, "Dear Lord."

I just fell apart at that.
I thought God was really coming.

What would you like me to pray for?

"Dear Lord...

"Please let me meet
a younger man next time."

When I'm shooting with younger actors,
they're something I'm responsible for.

My impression was that
she was very honest.

Her approach to the work wasn't
sophisticated, but she was direct.

If she didn't know, she said so.
And she had a lot of questions.

"Evergreen.

"Who are you?"

Is that what you wanted to ask?

No. You must find that out
for yourself.

Come on, it's a game.

It was that scene.

Woo-jin's speech had to have

the exact intonation
and pronunciation that I requested.

But Ji-tae wasn't used to that.

So every word was hard.

I tried hard to put emotion into it,
but I've never been that wealthy

or lost an older sister due to incest,
I had no vicarious experience.

So it was a tough character to play.

Yoo Ji-tae is a serious guy.

He had a lot of lines and
they had to be delivered dynamically.

So it was really tough.
He had to really think it over.

There's no other away.
You just have to make him comfortable.

If he made a mistake
and the other actors said...

"Let's break for a smoke,"
then that's more discouraging.

I realised at some point

that my idea of Woo-jin's
speech and actions

was way too detailed.

It would've been hard for anyone.

The director likes well-structured acting

and he has a strong sense
of what he wants,

so we talked a lot about how
and when to stress which lines,

and how it would look in the frame.

Then I acted it out.

At some point,

I focused on things like facial expressions
and we were able to finish it.

Then we added all the sound later.

That's the most rewarding scene
in the movie.

Great job!

Acting's not done alone.

It's a partnership
between the director and the actor.

A magic moment when sparks fly
produces a complete performance.

Do you really think...

...that Mi-do has fallen in love
with Oh Dae-su?

If I dwelled on everything,
howcouldlfilm it?

In order to create inexplicable emotions,

I had to be in love with him.

It was comfortable acting
with Mr Choi.

We would chew on squid
between takes.

The school was huge.

It was like a maze.

Woo-jin's mentality would be similar
to the school.

It's huge but seems empty,
with grey dust flying around.

It was just really big.

Some young guys were filming
the school on an 8mm video camera.

I wondered what they were doing.
Then more of them came.

There were a lot of crew members,
all young.

They smoked a lot
and drank canned coffee.

They drank it endlessly.

Shooting a movie required so much
equipment. A lot more than we expected.

Can I just look at the records?

It's dark. Put the lights on.

Oh Dae-su asks, "Who are you?"
over the phone.

Every name was from the director's crew
and she wanted her name in it, too.

So you can hear her name.
Kuk Su-ran.

I asked Director Park to put in
my name without telling him.

She's an opportunist!

We used the names of the crew
in the yearbook.

So my name went in, too

I never asked for it.

We were called the track outfit duo.
He would take me along for workouts.

People said if we started a company,

it should be called
"Rough Guys Entertainment".

That's how much fun it was
for us two.

We didn't know anything about directors,
but he was like a king to them.

He would sit
and stare into a small hole.

One actress rode a bicycle
around the playground all day.

I didn't know what was so difficult.
I remember lots of things now.

I was only twenty, so I was worried
whether I could do it.

I had to undress.

I was in only a few scenes,
so I doubted people would remember me.

At first, I turned it down.

I was walking out from my part-time job
when someone honked at me.

I opened the door
and it was Director Park.

He asked why I was there
and not filming.

I remember him saying that.

That encounter felt like fate.

I'm Oh Tae-kyung
and I play the young Dae-su.

Cut!

Why are you going out here?

When I read the script, I was curious.

The way Oh Dae-su speaks is strange.

It's not the normal way we talk.

The director emphasised the parallel bars.
He wanted me to look cool.

I practised my accent for a month,
and the parallel bars for a month, too.

But it was harder than I'd expected.

I fell off them once.
I was hanging upside down.

I was hanging for a long time,
so it was tiring.

There was a mattress
so I didn't get hurt.

But all the blood rushed to my head.

I'm remembering it all now.

I play the young Woo-jin,

but I'll do my best to be remembered
as Ahn Yeon-seok, the actor.

It was a strong film to be debuting in.

I don't think I knew anything back then.

Everything was just awesome
and I was passionate about everything.

Everything was new to me.

- Set!
- Action!

The first scene I did was on the bridge,
so I was running all day.

While I was shooting it,
the students didn't know who I was,

but they said I was handsome
and looked cool.

That was awesome.

The students wouldn't listen
and Su-ran threw her loudspeaker once.

But the scenes we shot
looked really cool.

We had no money,
so Jung rented a Steadicam himself

and carried it himself.

Oldboy was physically tiring for me.

You usually mount a light camera
for Stead icam, but we used a heavy one.

So I just had to persevere.
I got haemorrhoids the next day.

Come on.

Okay, okay.

Satisfied?

- Liftthisup.
- No way.

I think we shot the science lab scene
right after we met.

So I was more nervous

about how we could do
those scenes so soon.

I don't remember it,

but he said I asked him
if he'd ever kissed a girl.

I really don't remember,
but I said I was a year older than him.

And then I asked him right away
if he'd ever kissed a girl properly.

I asked about his girlfriend,

and we prepared for the scene together.

I was quite young...

...so it was almost the first time
I'd been with a girl.

I was really nervous about that
and about being filmed.

So the nervousness that the young
Woo-jin felt came out naturally.

It was a bit awkward. I think
we were both too young to handle it.

I couldn't be totally cool after that.

How should I put it?

I don't know....
It was just awkward.

I wasn't so cool.

I was twenty, so he looked
a lot more experienced in my eyes.

But he wasn't that much older.

Put your bottom up close.

Hold her hand.

Woo-jin.

I know you've always been afraid.

After shooting Oldboy, I thought
all film sets would be like that.

I've said I've never experienced
a film set like that ever again.

Everyone loved this film so much,
they kept talking about it.

"So this is what cinema is,"
I thought.

Everyone looked out for each other,
they really loved the script,

and discussed how to improve it.

Filmmaking was an all-night discussion.
It was amazing.

I could feel their passion.

Thinking back now...

I was on a set that was so great,
and I assumed it was always like that.

The passion and the tone
were unforgettable.

I think I was fearless then. The director
wanted a space that looked surreal.

So I suggested going somewhere that's
in winter, since it was summer for us.

He asked if we really could,
and I said yes.

If our bags that left Singapore
aren't here,

and they're not in Singapore either,
then they disappeared on the way?

Lots of things went wrong.
Our lens box and costumes bag got lost.

We went there
and the daylight was so short.

Oh Dae-su's fur coat was shipped
separately, but it got delayed.

So we couldn't use it for the shoot.

So he wore a raincoat that
we bought last minute in New Zealand.

It arrived later, so Mr Choi took it
because he didn't want to waste it.

We'll be in deep shit
when we get back to Seoul.

What are we going to do about being
behind schedule and the extra expenses?

I love you...

Dae-su.

The scene with Oh Dae-su's footprints...

The jimmy jib moved like this.

The director said he couldn't see
the footprints,

so the director's team threw on dirt.

They did what they could,
but it didn't show.

Because of that one jimmy jib shot,

we only finished two shots
and it was over.

What do you want to do?
If we start doing it now...

If the light's good, can we shoot
until 10 or 20 minutes past?

Yes.

- 4:10 to 4:20?
- 4:00pm.

So we have only 30 to 40 minutes left.

It's not enough, so it's better to stop.
We'll lose the light after one shot.

It won't take long. Let's do it quickly.

Let's just shoot Scene 11-5 today.
Set it up quickly.

I shouldn't have, but I got mad
when I was out in the field.

It felt like everyone was against me.

The assistant director came and
said the director wanted to talk to me.

So we sat by the fireplace...

and we said nothing
for about three minutes.

Director Park said we'll shoot everything
the next day and that was it.

Directors are the most vulnerable
at sunrise and sunset.

The day scene's not finished,
but the sun goes down.

He didn't finish it the next day.
We were a day and a half late.

OK!

- We're done!
- Goodbye, New Zealand!

I was wondering
if I would have to do this

until I was too exhausted to breathe.

That's what I thought.

I forget about things like that.

It was serious then.

The design for the penthouse
started from having no money.

The script said he was
in the top 1% of the richest.

At that time, building a set
that cost 230 million won

meant either the producer has balls,
or he's clueless!

I was the latter.

Minimal!

Minimal and strange.

There was a huge picture of a wave
that didn't come out so much in the movie.

We also didn't have enough money
to fill the wall.

So it was conceptual.

We put together three of the largest
backdrops available in Korea at the time.

We had to bring in former commandos
to put them up because no one else could.

The production company thought
we were overspending.

We fought a lot.

There's nothing to fight about now,
but back then,

I was thinking, how can I create
a rich person's house with so little money?

There were lots of issues.

I wasn't the type to accommodate
everyone's situation,

so they resented me a lot.

I remember one thing
that made me sad.

I showed the director
images of what I was planning.

What he wanted
required a lot of money.

Don't hold it that way.
Do it like this.

These are the scissors we used.

The scissors that Oh Dae-su
cut his tongue with.

They were made of silver
and they were the most expensive prop.

The producers asked
why I showed such good images,

that it was unnecessary.

I didn't think that way. None of the props
there looked expensive.

They said Soo-ah died alone
at the dam.

So who took this photo?

We made the picture frames with wood.

So the scissors made it believable
that we were in a rich man's home.

I thought the smallest thing
shouldn't be common.

But you know...

I understand now.

There was no guarantee
how the movie would turn out,

so they felt pressured.

There were many times I wondered
if we really had to go that far.

The late Mr Ji Joong-hyun
got hurt badly.

He broke his teeth.

When he doubled for Choi getting thrown,
his back was cut like this much.

...three!

Are you okay?
You look like you're getting tired.

Let's do it just one more time.

Don't overwork yourself.

It feels a bit slow. Probably because
you bounce too little coming down.

I wanted the penthouse scene
to be realistic so we did many takes.

He had to hang upside down.

He had wires,
but he fell and broke his teeth.

Two, three!

Are you okay?

Hold on.

I heard him talking to a friend one day.

He said, "Fuck, I'm screwed.
I lost all my teeth." I felt bad.

I sat for a while and then went
to ask Su-ran how much she had.

There was 500,000 won
in the money pouch, so I asked for it.

I gave it to the martial arts director
and said I was really sorry.

We couldn't even afford to give him that.

I went to the hospital after his accident

while filming
The Good, the Bad, the Weird.

I was so stunned.

Cut!

- Are you okay?
-Yes.

THE LIGHTING TOOK
TOO LONG TO SET UP.

COULDN'T FINISH SCENE 63-1, 2, 5.
MANY WORRIES.

HAD TO WAIT 2 HOURS
AS GLASS CLOSET DIDN'T WORK.

THINGS ARE TENSE.

OPERATING THE GLASS CLOSET TOOK
TOO LONG. NO SLEEP. TROUBLE.

I'd worked with directors Kang Woo-suk
and Kim Sang-un, so I was shocked.

They shot a minimum of 40 shots per day,
but here we shot only four.

The lighting director
is a lot older than me.

But I nagged him to work faster and
said even I could do lighting at that rate.

The director wanted a sunset scene
for when Yoo Ji-tae works out.

The crew said we should paint
a blue matte for the backdrop.

It takes a day to paint it
and adaytodryit.

That would mean two days.

I said we could start filming
in three hours.

I used lights to create a sunset.

The lighting director
contributed a lot to Oldboy.

In order to reveal details
in the dark parts that are barely visible,

he spent hours setting up the lights.

I used to sit
in the penthouse set alone.

The make-up director told everyone
to get out, saying I was doing art.

Isat for 30 minutes
contemplating how to do the lights.

I've done a lot of films
that took time.

Now I ask myself whether
that work was really necessary.

Now, things are done so quickly.

The crew are told to keep shooting fast.

So movies now don't move you as much.

I feel that doing things fast enabled
low-quality films to keep getting made.

Once, in a very timid gesture,
I put a clock on the director's desk.

I was hinting: "check the time."

What I thought was...

such an artist is pouring his heart
and soul into achieving something.

I couldn't tell him to stop
just because time was up.

I resented him.

The director refuses to compromise on art
unless he completely understands.

I got worried, so I asked him a few times
if we could just go ahead.

But I never won once.

I don't think I ever really wanted to.

I liked it. It couldn't be helped.

So the producer and his wife used
all their credit cards to keep filming.

They never told me,
soldid alot of takes.

When I heard that later,
I felt so sorry, and grateful.

One last time.

Really.

Jung, I mean it.

- Cut!
- Cops.

Wow. You're so fast.

- Rolling!
- 109-8-1.

We had nothing to look forward to.
We were all so tired.

There was a pool of water
in the penthouse.

Every reporter that came fell in it.

We would count how many fell in.
That was the only fun we had.

Once on set, filming takes a long time.
We shot for 48 hours sometimes.

We voted whether to sleep then film
or just keep filming.

We wrap up scene 109,
no matter what.

Wrap up scene 109 today,
be it 2:00pm or 3:00pm.

Sleep, then assemble at 4:00am
of the 9th. That's choice #1.

We're filming 24 hours
so we should rest for at least 12 hours.

Then it's 4:00am.

The lighting director
is of the opposite opinion.

It's a question of whether to start
from morning and work all night,

or start from evening and work 24 hours.

Everyone decides for themselves.

10, 11, 12, 13,

14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

We assemble tonight.

Only a few.

9, 10, 11, 12,

13, 14, 15, 16. That's it.

Let's shoot.

Then we finish it now?

Let's go.

I remember one time,
everyone fell asleep.

Only the director and a few people
were awake. That was hell.

Choi was supposed to look down
and then raise his head slowly.

When we said, "Action..."

The director said, "That poor guy!"
It was that exhausting.

Even then,

Choi was able to make everyone relax,
as if we were working on a comedy.

Wait. Oh Dae-su
does superhuman feats.

He bends this.

Then we can't film it touching you.

- You can.
- It bends right away.

Bend it like this.

Looking back,
I think I did it intentionally.

But it was...

It was for me...

I don't think anyone else knew this.

I wasn't losing my mind,

I was trying to relax my mouth muscles
and release the tension.

I was nervous too, you know.

Mi-do. Mi-do!

Let's go.

You know that scene
where Choi has an outburst?

Where he says, "I'll be your dog."
He got the okay after two takes.

It was incredible being there.

There are splendid moments like that,
though filmmaking is so painful.

None of us even dared to gulp.

If by any chance...

Mi-do finds out the truth,

you son of a bitch...

In the script and the storyboard,

I was supposed to shed tears
because I'd finally got my revenge.

But then the director asked me
to dine with him,

and he said he wanted to change it.

I asked him how,
and he told me to look and just laugh.

I said, "Laugh?" and he said
it'd be much more unusual and interesting.

His tongue was cut and bleeding a lot,
and we were shooting it for days.

Once you put blood on, it dries up,
but it had to look wet every time.

He lost his frame of mind,
and filming all night made him lose sleep.

He lost his temper all of a sudden,
so I went to the director.

And I asked him to let the AD formally
approve my spraying water on the blood.

- Set.
- Action!

Cut.

Take a break.
Keeping your mouth open is exhausting.

Take five.

We waited around a lot
and we were running low on energy.

I think everyone was really depressed
for various reasons.

But Ithink that helped the film a lot.

Just leave it closed.

Now...

what willilive for?

Huh?

Everyone was acting like Woo-jin.

They're laughing but not really.

They had a grudge.

Filming was wrapping up
but nothing felt finished.

That's how it felt.

LAUGH, AND THE WORLD
LAUGHS WITH YOU.

WEEP, AND YOU WEEP ALONE.

When I ring my bell,
you'll split into two people.

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.

With each step,
he will age by one year.

I can't talk about it
without mentioning the spirit of that era.

A lot of great films came out that year.

That energy may have existed
in those days.

There were too many good films
coming out

to credit it just to youth.

Ithink we thought
what we were making was important.

Even the fights with the producers
were due to that energy.

It was a monster born out of all
the circumstances of the times.

The film was a blessing
to all involved.

Maybe I'll never see
another project like that

because we can't go back to that time.

Mr Choi gained weight again.

We stopped for a few months and
then he gained weight again for filming.

Hye-jung, do that again.

Yeah, with your shoulders.

He told me to check out the wings,
so I just put them on.

I acted cute like I would before elders.

Cut.

It couldn't be completed unless
everyone involved was crazy.

We were all crazy.

The make-up and costume designers,

the directors of art,
lighting and cinematography.

They were all crazy,
including the actors.

I think Director Park
put a spell on everyone.

He might say he doesn't know
how he did it.

I don't know.

I just...

I was doing what I'd always done.
I didn't know any other way.

I thought all directors did it that way.

Now, what will I live for?

I wasn't even flirting!

Let me go!

Who are you?

Who I am isn't important.
What's important is why.

Still haven't worked it out?

I can't trust you.

Don't open it, okay?

Can't you come now?

Two men's secrets are revealed.

Oldboy.

The big twist has to be kept
a secret no matter what.

We can't tell a soul.

When we began marketing,
we didn't have any screenings.

They said it'd be banned from theatres
because of the incest

and it'd receive tremendous criticism,
but I wasn't worried about that.

I did worry about sales, though.

On the day of the press screening,

it was the only screening,
but there was no applause.

No one even talked,
and everyone just left quietly.

This is a very vulgar story.
A father and daughter fall in love.

Can it get any worse than that?
How could he pull it off?

It explores the fundamental sense of guilt
and the issue of good and evil.

It asks these questions non-stop
for 100 minutes.

It sounds vague, but I thought people
would watch it if it was interesting.

That was the simple idea I had
while making it.

I just tried to make an interesting film.

More people came to see it
than I expected.

I don't know why, but I was so busy
when the film opened in theatres.

My own brother made it but I didn't even go
to the premiere. I saw it much later.

Because everyone went to see it.

I told him over the phone
that I enjoyed it.

He sounded a bit annoyed
and said, "It's about time."

THE MATRIX TRILOGY MEGA-TALK

QLDBQY WHO ARE YOU?

SECRETS OF OLDBOY REVEALED

BEST MOVIES OF 2003

THE WINNER OF THE MOST 24TH
BLUE DRAGON AWARDS!

Before Cannes, we screened it
at a film market.

There was one in Milan then.

The programmer for Cannes was there,
and he sent us an invitation a week later.

It wasn't in competition at first.
It was in Un Certain Regard.

One week before the official selection
was announced,

they suddenly put it in competition.

I thought submitting to Cannes
was too much.

I didn't think they would like it.

It wasn't the customary applause.
You could tell they really loved it.

I remember it was a very long
standing ovation.

It was the first time a Korean film
won the Grand Prize at Cannes,

and it brought the level
of Korean cinema up a notch.

It was the first example of a Korean film
being globally recognised

as one of the very best.

This is from the UK.

And this is from Japan.

These are box sets.

International buyers
loved this scene the most.

It's been ten years.

Ithinkthere should be
an Oldboy Memorial Hall or something!

How should I put it?

No more coffee.

Oldboy is...

significant in several ways.

The biggest is that it's the most
well known internationally,

and the most popular internationally.

I think Oldboy gave me something
and took away something.

As a 32-year-old producer,

there were times
I trusted myself too much.

You forget the pain over time...

but the feeling of happiness remains
like images.

The actors...

When directors think of a film,
they remember first and foremost

which actors they worked with.

I met Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae,
and Kang Hye-jung for the first time,

and this was my happiest
and most rewarding work.

That's it.

Look, when did
this royal maid wake up?

Your majesty,
we must leave a record of this.

Ah!

We shall hand it
to the History Compilation Committee.

Your highness.

The evaluation of Oldboy by critics,
the public, and the film festivals...

Because our work is to show the public,

they are all happy,
good and memorable things.

But when I feel myself,
as an actor,

I always have a strong desire
to work like this again.

I really miss those days.
I miss them.

The experienced elders were revered.

It convinced me
to make movies till I die,

the challenges, passion, sacrifice
and respect all came together.

It's like a far-off homeland.

Oldboy is like that.

I've spent the past 10 years asking
if I'll ever see anything like that again.

I wish I could work again
with such a director, crew and cast.

I've longed for it for 10 years.

It's like a far-off homeland.