SEOUL, April 03 (AJP) - A few Korean films have left a deeper imprint on global cinema than Oldboy (2003), the brutal, operatic noir that propelled director Park Chan-wook onto the world stage — with a Cannes Grand Prix and admiration from filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino. Its side-scrolling corridor fight, shot in a single take, has since become one of the most imitated sequences in modern cinema.
Now, that visual language has found an unlikely new interpreter: BTS.
The video opens with RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, Jungkook and V stepping into a stylized past — retro hair, vintage tailoring, mustaches and beards — before moving into a dimly lit corridor staged for confrontation.
What follows is a clear visual homage. In Oldboy, Choi Min-sik’s protagonist battles waves of attackers in a claustrophobic hallway, captured in a lateral tracking shot that has since become iconic. BTS mirrors the composition: the members advance in formation as the camera glides sideways, flanked by opponents, blending choreography with cinematic tension.
The sequence adopts a one-take structure, placing multiple figures within a compressed horizontal frame. Everyday objects — from newspapers to back scratchers — are used as props, injecting a note of absurdity into an otherwise controlled, high-stakes setting, a tonal contrast long associated with Park’s direction.
The references extend further. Later scenes unfold in an office setting closely resembling a key location from the film, while visible newspaper headlines — including “Brand New 2.0 Launch” and “Hidden Code Discovered” — fold the narrative back into the track’s thematic frame.
Released in 2003, Oldboy drew more than 3 million viewers in South Korea and went on to win the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Its corridor sequence, staged in a confined space and executed in a lateral one-take composition, remains one of the most recognizable images in Korean noir.
Online, the parallels have not gone unnoticed. Social media users have circulated side-by-side comparisons, with one post on X reading, “This is literally the Oldboy hallway scene but BTS version,” while another described it as “not an ‘Old’ boy — brand new Oldboy,” underscoring how viewers are decoding the visual references in real time.
The track itself debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, adding commercial weight to the artistic conversation.
More broadly, the video reflects a shift in K-pop production, where music videos increasingly draw on established cinematic language — particularly from Korean film — to construct globally legible narratives beyond performance-driven formats.
In a separate development, BTS also announced a new single, “Come Over,” set for release as part of a deluxe vinyl edition of Arirang, extending the group’s promotional cycle following their return after nearly four years.
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