Director Park Chan-wook expressed his views on the "Korean film crisis" situation.
On the 21st, SBS' SBS 8 News aired an interview with director Park Chan-wook, who returned with the film "No Other Choice."
Park Chan-wook was invited to the competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival with his new work "No Other Choice," and after the film's festival premiere a flood of praise from major foreign media raised expectations for awards, but unfortunately the awards did not materialize.
The film "No Other Choice" tells the story of Mansu (played by Lee Byung-hun), an office worker who felt his life was so complete that he felt "everything was achieved," who is suddenly fired and prepares his own war toward reemployment while trying to protect his wife and two children and keep the house he worked hard to acquire.
He said, "Even in films depicting workers' realities like Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times,' tragic stories can be funny. I made it thinking along those lines."
He cited the "house" as what he paid the most attention to and answered, "How you depict the house. I thought of the house as one of the characters and put a lot of care into it."
Regarding the title "No Other Choice," he explained, "The original was 'Axe.' They used it as an expression for being fired. If I had used that title as is, I had to rename it because people might misunderstand it literally as a weapon due to preconceptions from the violent films I made before."
He, who said he devoted more than 10 years to the production of this film, said, "From the moment I started reading the original novel I was so taken that I wanted to make it into a film. I thought its appeal would not diminish over time and that it would always work."
With "No Other Choice," set to open on the 24th, already topping advance ticket sales and promising to draw crowds, Park Chan-wook said, "Korean movie theaters have lost a lot of customers. Since the pandemic. The audiences who left haven't come back. In that situation there is a strong perception that this film carries a big responsibility, so it's a burden, but I hope my film plays a role in persuading audiences to return."
Amid an ongoing slump in the Korean film industry to the point that people talk about a "Korean film crisis," Park said, "It's a vicious cycle. You can't ask people to keep coming if it's not interesting. Ultimately, we are the ones who will solve this problem. I think we have to overcome it by making more substantial and fresh films."
Finally, when asked about his next work he said, "I have a western I want to make in the U.S. I've been working on the script for several years, and seeing 'No Other Choice' completed like this, I don't want to give up. I'll keep trying."
[Photo] Broadcast screen capture
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