An allegorical rewriting of an existing text creates a temporal and interpretative palimpsest that bridges the past and the present. Until recently Korean cinema has served to redeem the repressed experiences of the country’s historical traumas through allegorical representations of collective, traumatic experiences. The mode of allegory has been one of the primary vehicles mobilized for both the making and reading of Korean cinema. Yet around the start of its renaissance in the late 90s and early 2000s, yet, diverse and radical shifts have occurred in Korean cinema, one of which was a break with the heritage of the allegorical mode. Old Boy, a paradigmatic example that embodies this break employs counter―and pseudo―allegorical gestures, and turns politically loaded cinematic motifs into signs that are intelligible without an understanding of their historical and cultural contexts, as well into a form of cinematic entertainment enjoyed by audiences worldwide. Signaling the film’s departure from the legacy of Korean cinema, the change achieves a culture crossing vis-a-vis the translation of Korean cinema into a language that appeals to global audiences.