Program Note
The signature scene in Old Boy, where CHOI Min Sik chews on a live octopus in a sushi bar, stunned Western audiences. CHOI Min Sik himself suggested the idea of this scene, as he believed that gripping and eating the octopus with his hands would better express the psychological state of a primitive being who had spent 15 years consumed by anger. To portray Dae-soo, who was mysteriously kidnapped and imprisoned in solitary confinement, CHOI Min Sik demonstrates his capability to do anything. Dae-soo embarks on a revenge rampage, extracting his captors’ teeth, striking his enemies with a hammer, and even cutting out his own tongue with scissors. What happens to him symbolizes the unpredictability and absurdity of life, pushing him beyond the boundaries of an ordinary person. With a messy hairstyle and striking changes in how he speaks, CHOI Min Sik does not pass judgment on whether Dae-soo is a good person or not. Instead, he portrays him as a symbol of revenge who has given up hope of becoming a better human being. (JANG Byungwon)