Buckland-Warren-Puzzle-Films-Complex-Storytelling-Contemporary-Cinema

224 Eleftheria ThanouliFigure 11.4OldboyThe breakdown of linearity becomes even more obvious in the constructionof the cinematic time in Oldboy. 6 The complexity of the narrative with theplot twists and riddle-solving is largely supported by the complex temporalorder in which the story events are presented on the screen. A closerlook into the first 20 minutes of the film could illustrate the nonlinearchronology that characterizes the entire narration. A pre-credit sequencewelcomes us in medias res, as the silhouette of a person appears to be holdinganother one off a neck-tie on the ledge of a rooftop. The one holdingthe rope is Oh Dae-Su who introduces himself by initiating a flashback.The story events follow in the order below:a. Cut to a police station where Oh Dae-Su has been arrested for beingdrunk and disorderly. He is bailed out by his friend, Joo-Hwan.b. Oh Dae-Su calls his daughter from a phone booth. Joo-Hwan takesover the phone and as he speaks, Oh Dae-Su is kidnapped by personsunknown.c. Credit sequence with various types of clocks ticking and turning.d. Oh Dae-Su is held captive in a private prison resembling a shabbyhotel room. He has been held captive there for 2 months with no wordof who is holding him there or why.e. He describes his routine, which includes regular visits by his holderswho clean the room and cut his hair. During those visits he is gassedinto unconsciousness.f. A year after his imprisonment, he watches on the news a report ofhis wife’s murder and finds out that the police consider him as theprime suspect. He has a nervous breakdown.