Oldboy (2003, S. Korea)

In director Chan-wook Park's mysterious, compelling, mysterious, and visceral (double) revenge thriller - a neo-noir and potently sinister tale (mostly in flashback) of revenge, hypnotism, and incest adapted from the Japanese manga written by Tsuchiya Garon:

• the film detailed the circumstances of a womanizing businessman Dae-su Oh (Choi Min-sik) in the late 1980s who was inexplicably kidnapped from a phone booth (on his daughter's birthday, July 5th!) and imprisoned for 15 years in a strange, dingy, windowless hotel-like room without knowing the charges; there, he learned by TV during his long imprisonment that he had been framed for his wife's murder, and that his young three year-old daughter was sent to live with foster parents in Sweden; he also suffered hallucinations of ants crawling on him and emerging through his skin
• the sequence of Dae-su inexplicably freed and released by his former grade-school classmate - villainous, sadistic and insane captor-tormentor Woo-jin Lee (Yu Ji-tae), with only five days to find answers: to seek surrealistic vengeance against his captor(s) and prison officials, and discover the enigmatic reasons for what had occurred, while engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Woo-jin
• the scene of recently-freed Dae-su stumbling into a sushi restaurant where he became acquainted with helpful and young sushi chef Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeong); after consuming a wriggling, live octopus (eaten headfirst!) and receiving an enigmatic phone call from Woo-jin, Dae-su fainted; Mi-do took pity on him and took him in; she assisted him in following clues in order to unravel the mystery
• the major revelation that persecuting millionaire villain Woo-jin's diabolical vengeful plan against Dae-su was in retaliation for an incident years earlier when they were classmates at Evergreen school; Dae-su had been blamed by Woo-jin for spreading a rumor ("Your tongue got my sister pregnant") regarding an incestuous pregnancy (between young Woo-Jin and his own slutty sister Lee Soo-ah (Yoon Jin-seo) who were having sexual relations); when rumors spread the news of the incest, Woo-jin's humiliated sister allegedly committed suicide
• the vengeful tooth extraction scene in the control room of the prison, where Dae-su forcibly extracted (with the claw of a hammer) 15 of the teeth of the prison manager Park Cheol-woong (Dal-su Oh); Dae-su explained: "I am going to avenge myself for all 15 years. Each tooth I extract will age you by one year"
• the scenes of Dae-su's suffering of many setbacks and punishments as he went about seeking answers, finding vengeance and locating his young daughter
• eventually, grown-up Mi-do became Dae-su's lover - she signaled to him that she was ready to have sex, by singing a song mentioned in Dae-su's journal: "The Face I Want to See"; falling in love and having sex with her was the villain's diabolical vengeful plan all along; Woo-Jin had raised Mi-do in secret, and had both Mi-do and Dae-su hypnotized to fall in love when she grew older - a punishment suited to fit the crime

Incestuous Sex Between Dae-su and His Own Daughter Mi-do

• the sequence of Dae-su's extremely-painful tongue self-excisement with a rusty pair of scissors - to find atonement and to prevent any further rumors or talk after realizing he had taken the virginity of his own long-lost daughter Mi-do (an act of unintended incest!)
• the main reason for Dae-su's imprisonment, learned by the film's end, was the film's major plot twist - in a startling flashback scene set in an elevator, Woo-jin experienced a guilt-ridden memory revealing that he had murdered his own sister (by letting go of her over the side of Habchun Dam) - she had not committed suicide; as the guilty memory from years earlier came over him, he shot himself in the side of the head inside an elevator as the door opened, leaving a bloodstain on the wall

Woo-Jin in Elevator	Flashback to Woo-jin's Murder of his Sister
Sister's Murder	Woo-jin's Suicide in Elevator

• the concluding hypnosis scene - Dae-su was attempting to erase his unbearable knowledge of his lover Mi-do being his daughter, by hiring a female hypnotist - who proceeded to put him in a spell - she asked him to return mentally to Lee Woo-Jin’s apartment and to split up into two different people when he heard the sound of a bell she was holding; two different Oh Dae-Sus were viewed: (1) the one who had no memory, and (2) the monster who held the secret and died pacing:
  "The hypnosis may go wrong and distort your memories. Do you want to proceed? If you're ready, Iook at that tree. The tree is slowly changing into a concrete pillar. You're now inside Lee Woo-jin's penthouse. It's a dreary night. The sound of your footsteps crossing to the window fills the room. 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. When he reaches 70, the monster will die. There's no need to worry. It will be a very peaceful death. Now, good luck to you"
• the film's ambiguous ending was in an unidentified place, in the snowy mountains: Dae-su was embracing Mi-do who told him: "I love you... Dae-su" - but did the hypnosis work? Did he remember the truth about their true identities?