Park Chan-wook: Korean filmmakers ‘treat social conflict as a serious problem’
His latest film, No Other Choice, has been longlisted for a Bafta.
Director Park Chan-wook has said he cannot “shy away” from social issues when making films.
His latest movie, No Other Choice, follows a factory worker, played by Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun, who begins killing his competitors while searching for a new job.
The film, longlisted for the Bafta for best film not in the English language, explores material ambitions and the corporate rat race.
Park, who also directed The Handmaiden and Oldboy, said Korean filmmakers feel a duty to tackle social issues so audiences can better empathise with others.
“In Korea, social conflicts are inherently stronger, and we treat them as serious problems,” the 62-year-old director told the Press Association.
“That’s why it feels almost necessary to reflect these issues in our films, otherwise it’s hard for the audience to empathise. It’s very important that our commercial films and popular culture confront these issues directly, instead of shying away from them.”
Park said No Other Choice “addresses many social issues, such as job security, the impact of unemployment on individuals and their families, and the material desire to maintain a middle-class lifestyle. It also offers a critical exploration of the boxed-in notions of masculinity and male self-confidence”.
The story follows Man-su, played by Lee, a man who believes he has it all: a steady job, a wife and two children, and a beautiful home.
When he is fired from his job of 25 years, he finds himself in a brutal struggle to be rehired, desperate to protect the life he has worked so hard to build. As competition grows increasingly cutthroat, he begins to consider extreme measures.
Lee, 55, said he immersed himself in the character’s emotional complexity, balancing family life while carrying out brutal actions.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about this and trying to immerse myself in these emotions as much as I can, it’s the same approach I take with all my films,” the actor said.
“In this film, Man-su is a very ordinary man, the head of a family, facing a tremendous reality and forced to make extreme decisions. In carrying them out, he ends up in a chaotic situation, which is what I focused on.
“Everything he does is for his family, everything is to protect his home. In front of them, he appears serene and peaceful, though inside he is experiencing so much.
“The part that was especially difficult for me and what I paid the most attention to is Man-su’s nature. He is always affectionate, warm and clumsy in his own way. How can he hold a gun to people he feels sympathy for, trying to eliminate them? What must he be feeling in those moments?”
Other films longlisted for the Bafta include Norwegian drama Sentimental Value, Palestinian docu-drama The Voice Of Hind Rajab, and Brazilian drama The Secret Agent.
No Other Choice is in UK and Irish cinemas on Friday.
