scrambled channel

I can’t imagine that there are many people out there that envy the lot of Prince Harry. Like most people his age, from time to time he will do something rather stupid. Yet for Harry, there are always people there to take pictures when he fucks up. I generally have no interest in the Windsors whatsoever, but the latest furore over Harry’s ill conceived costume has caught my attention somewhat. OK, for a person in the spotlight like Harry, it was a fairly foolish costume choice, yet although I run the risk of being branded insenstive, I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. Do the same people that find a swastika offensive when worn in jest by partygoers, find Hogan’s hereos offensive?

The affair has doubtless sold millions of copies of The Sun, the rag that broke the pictures. Nothing sells a paper like righteous indignation, with a side order of boobs. The Sun covers both angles and is the UKs biggest selling paper, boasting of around 10 million readers daily. Harry is hounded by photographers because they know that papers like The Sun will buy pictures of him. The Sun just wants to sell papers and evidently, though I don’t know why, Harry’s hapless antics move units.

This is why I feel very little sympathy for the perennially indignant who are puffing up over this one. They only seem to be happy when they can brandish their copies of said circular and demand an apology from someone. They need to look at the basic ecnomics underlying the situation. If there is something offensive on the front just don’t buy the bloody paper. That would seem to be the best way to ensure that it isn’t on there again.

Oldboy is the most super cool thing, at least stylistically, that I’ve seen for a while. I’ve caught several South Korean films and have been consistently impressed. If nothing else, they always look so good. Perhaps I’m just a film snob, but I have such a cynical attitude to anything remotely Hollywood, that I just don’t go there. Perhaps a film like this allows me a super slick fix through the side entrance - with subtitles there is no guilt.

Not only is Oldboy stylishly put together, it is also a sharp and suspenseful thriller. Min-sik Choi perfectly portays the central Dae-Su as weary and mystified. Imprisoned without explanation for fifteen years, he is driven not so much by revenge, but by a need to understand why it all happened. He is taunted by his mysterious tormentor, who threatens to kill himself and leave Dae-Su forever bewilered. Though our sympathy lies with Dae-Su’s anti-hero character the film refuses to paint characters in black and white. We are shown Dae-Su’s flaws and we come to understand and to a certain extent, sympathise with the chief badguy.

Oldboy is extremely violent most of the time. There are several grizzly torture scenes if that’s your thing. Of course there and numerous fight scenes too. The latter are realistically shot, a welcome change from the endless clones of The Matrix. There was one great scene that evoked memories of all those 2d scroller arcade games like Double Dragon, perhaps not a coincidence given the enourmous popularity of gaming in South Korea. That aside, the violence isn’t approached voyeuristically, and for that reason is possibly more disturbing.

I loved Oldboy and urge all not put off by a bit of blood to go and see it. Nor am I alone in enjoying it. There’s been a huge buzz about the film and it made it in at 15 in a poll of 2004’s best films by readers of The Guardian. As a result of its popularity, a US produced remake is on the way. I bet they change the ending though.