Director Park Chan-wook shared why he held on to “No Other Choice” for so many years.
At a press conference for the film held Tuesday morning at CGV Yongsan in Seoul, Park reflected on his nearly decade-long push to adapt the story. “I love mystery novels and read a lot of them, but it’s rare that I feel compelled to turn one into a movie,” he said. “Often, once the question of ‘who did it’ is answered, there isn’t much left to savor. This one was different.”
“This story begins with someone already set on committing a crime―there’s no riddle to solve,” he continued. “It’s about how an ordinary person ends up crossing that line, the psychology behind it, and the social machinery around him. You can revisit it and keep finding more. The psychological devices are finely tuned. It’s a very bitter tragedy, but I also saw room for a new kind of absurdist humor. The novel has traces of that, and I thought in my hands that heartbreaking-but-funny tone could really come alive.”
“No Other Choice” centers on Mansoo (Lee Byung-hun), a company man who feels he has it all―until he’s abruptly laid off. Desperate to protect his wife and two kids and keep the home he fought to buy, he prepares for his own war to get back into the workforce. The film is based on “The Ax” by American author Donald E. Westlake.
Park has been publicly vocal about wanting to adapt the book for roughly a decade, but financing and production didn’t come together for years. After a long wait, “No Other Choice” is finally complete; it has landed a Competition slot at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and will open the 30th Busan International Film Festival.
Showcasing Park’s meticulous direction and a star-studded cast―including Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yum Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won―“No Other Choice” hits theaters in September.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)