The barrier-breaking master director Park Chan-wook, beloved even more by movie fans, has released the most populist film he has prepared for a full 20 years. Faced with a black comedy that is funny but makes you want to cry, there is simply No Other Choice.
The film No Other Choice (director Park Chan-wook, distributed/provided by CJ ENM, produced by Moho Film/CJ ENM Studios) depicts the story of Mansu (Lee Byung-hun), a company employee who felt his life was so complete that he could say "I have achieved everything," and after being abruptly fired, prepares his own war toward reemployment to protect his wife and two children and to keep the hard-earned house he bought. Director Park Chan-wook adapted Donald E. Westlake's novel The Ax, which was selected as a book of the year in 1997 by The New York Times and The Washington Post, into a film for the first time in 28 years.
This is the new film from Park Chan-wook, the director who has been praised for each work such as Joint Security Area (JSA), Oldboy, Thirst, Lady Vengeance, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave. Earlier, he showed a singular cinematic world loved by film fans with works like The Learned Pervert and Elegant Mise-en-scène. In No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook again shows the pleasure of examining every corner of a scene. Landscapes packed with meaningful color, patterns, and props down to the corner of a single shot immerse viewers in the characters' desperation within roughly two hours. The flesh tones and bloodshed unfolding within impeccably composed cuts are not gory but deliver a lofty sense of thrill.
While the beauty of his scenes has long been known, the barriers in subject matter and storytelling have also been hurdles for Park Chan-wook's works. But No Other Choice breaks down that wall. The immediately relatable story of job loss and reemployment stimulates the bond among employees. It is the struggle of a household head who lost the sense of security he had after dedicating his life to his company through dismissal. A story that anyone can easily empathize with regardless of borders, occupation, gender, or age evokes instant sympathy.
Black comedy elements that leave you unsure whether to laugh or cry are positioned throughout for extended stretches. Is there any behavior that spreads as easily as laughter? Presented briskly in the form of black comedy, it approaches viewers familiarly. Of course, after laughing uproariously, there is the poignant desperation of reemployment when reality sets in. What would a dismissed worker be willing to do to get a new job? In a truly desperate struggle to survive, can morality be maintained to the end? It prompts light yet weighty reflection on what kind of struggle results from the lives of ordinary people for whom even immorality is hard to carry out decisively.
At the center of all this empathy is, without question, Lee Byung-hun. Although No Other Choice has been rumored for its dazzling casting including Son Ye-jin, Park Hie-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yom Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won, a significant portion of the screen time is dominated by Lee Byung-hun. What makes that concentration acceptable is not just the story structure but the veteran actor Lee Byung-hun, who properly digests all that screen time. He may not show a new face, but he brings delicacy to his performance by mobilizing every possible detail, down to a single vein on his forehead.
That does not mean the presence of the renowned actors is diluted. Son Ye-jin, in her first film in seven years, shows an unprecedented image as a wife and an ordinary mother. Her continued beauty despite limited screen time is a bonus. The hustle performances of Park Hie-soon, Lee Sung-min, and Yom Hye-ran cannot be overlooked. Their wholehearted efforts, literally sparing no body, make each moment they share with Mansu the centerpiece of separate episodes.
Meeting high expectations, No Other Choice was officially invited to the competition section of the 82nd Venice Film Festival, and it became the first winner of the newly established People's Choice International Award at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. It was also selected as South Korea's representative in the international feature category for the Academy Awards. Domestically, it premiered as the opening film of the 30th Busan International Film Festival. It is impossible to avoid word-of-mouth spreading before its official release.
Opens on the 24th, rated for ages 15 and older, 139 minutes.
[Photo] Provided by CJ ENM.
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