올드보이
"15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance."
Oldboy - Movie Quotes
Memorable Quotes
웃어라, 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다. 울어라, 너 혼자 울 것이다. (Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.)
— Oh Dae-su
Context:
Dae-su first writes this in his journal during his imprisonment. He later repeats it after his release, reflecting on the lonely nature of his ordeal.
Meaning:
This quote, repeated by Dae-su, encapsulates the profound isolation of his suffering. It's a cynical acknowledgment that while joy can be communal, deep personal pain is a solitary experience. It becomes the mantra of his lonely 15-year imprisonment and his subsequent quest for revenge.
모래알이든 바윗덩어리든, 물에 가라앉기는 마찬가지다. (Be it a rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink as the same.)
— Lee Woo-jin
Context:
Lee Woo-jin says this to Oh Dae-su during one of their confrontations, dismissing Dae-su's attempts to understand the scale of his supposed crime.
Meaning:
This quote reflects Woo-jin's nihilistic and deterministic worldview. He suggests that the scale of a sin is irrelevant; all transgressions, large or small, lead to the same consequence. In his eyes, Dae-su's seemingly small act of gossiping is as damning as a monumental crime, justifying his disproportionate revenge.
15년 동안의 상상력. 그게 저의 정체를 알아내는 유일한 단서였습니다. (For 15 years, I imagined. That was the only clue to figuring out who you are.)
— Oh Dae-su
Context:
This is part of Dae-su's internal monologue as he reflects on his time in prison and how he compiled a list of everyone he had ever wronged.
Meaning:
This highlights the psychological toll of Dae-su's confinement. With no information, his only tool for survival and investigation was his own mind. He had to endlessly comb through his past, imagining every possible enemy and every sin he might have committed, turning his memory into a prison of its own.
당신의 가장 큰 실수는 정답을 못 찾은 게 아니야. 자꾸 틀린 질문만 하니까, 정답을 찾을 수 가 없는 거지. (Your gravest mistake wasn't failing to find the answer. You can't find the right answer if you ask the wrong questions.)
— Lee Woo-jin
Context:
Spoken by Woo-jin as he taunts Dae-su, revealing that the key to the mystery lies not in the identity of the captor, but in Dae-su's own past actions.
Meaning:
Woo-jin delivers this chilling line to mock Dae-su's frantic search for the truth. Dae-su is obsessed with the "who" and "how" of his imprisonment, but Woo-jin asserts that the only question that matters is "why." It underscores the philosophical nature of Woo-jin's revenge, which is rooted in motive and meaning rather than simple retribution.