A Tribute to Park Chan-wook + “No Other Choice”
Highlights
Tribute
Join us as we pay tribute to director Park Chan-wook with a conversation celebrating his achievements, followed by a screening of No Other Choice.
No Other Choice
After being unemployed for several years, a man devises a unique plan to secure a new job: eliminate his competition.
Description
A withering corporate satire forms the backbone of Park Chan-wook’s new film which is replete with the bravura set pieces for which he’s known. Man-su (Korean superstar Lee Byung Hun) has it all—great job, wife, two kids, two dogs—until the paper corporation he works for lays him off. When a new job doesn’t manifest after several months and his fantastic life begins to crumble, he arrives at a radical solution to beat the competition. Cue the elegantly devised macabre sequences that Park is known for in films like Oldboy (2003) and Decision to Leave (2022). The difference here is comedic: Unlike some of the filmmaker’s other protagonists, Man-su is no natural-born killer, just an ambitious businessman willing to do whatever it takes—no matter how extreme—to reclaim his comfortable life. Adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s The Ax, No Other Choice builds to a conclusion that is chillingly of the present moment. – Rod Armstrong
Trailer
Biographies
Born on August 23, 1963, Park Chan-wook is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, and producer who is among the most acclaimed auteurs in the world. Park has constructed a unique cinematic world with his unconventional storytelling, fascinating characters, and sensual visuals. He is perhaps best known for his “Vengeance Trilogy”, consisting of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005). He became celebrated as a global auteur with Oldboy (2003), winner of the Grand Prix at the 57th Cannes Film Festival. In the years since, he has continued to receive worldwide acclaim with films such as Thirst (2009), which won the Jury Prize at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival; Stoker (2013), his Hollywood debut; and The Handmaiden (2016) which had its world premiere in competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. In 2022, he came back with his first feature film in six years, Decision To Leave (2022), for which he won Best Director at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and reaffirmed his status as one of the most distinguished directors in the industry. In 2025, he returns to the screen with No Other Choice (2025), a long-awaited passion project featuring a star-studded cast.