Park Chan-wook brings 20-year project on job insecurity to Venice

VENICE: It took Park Chan-wook two decades to bring his latest film “No Other Choice” to the screen, but the South Korean director said on Friday the story’s core theme of job insecurity was more relevant than ever as technologies march into the workplace.

Park, who shot to international fame with his violent 2003 thriller “Oldboy,” said he struggled for years to obtain financing for his latest work, a biting satire that blends jokey comedy with bleak social commentary.

But he kept faith in the project because people remained deeply connected with its focus on economic anxiety.

“We all harbour that deep fear of employment and security,” Park told a press conference ahead of the film’s premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

“No Other Choice” follows a paper industry veteran, played by “Squid Game” star Lee Byung-hun, whose life falls apart after he is unexpectedly laid off.

With his family facing eviction and their luxuries rapidly stripped away, the troubled hero sets out to eliminate potential rivals for a new job in a darkly comic killing spree.

The movie is based on Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 horror-thriller novel “The Ax.” Park told Reuters that updating the story to today’s world made its backdrop, an AI-driven, automated workplace, more resonant.

“Twenty years ago, we couldn’t have imagined a fully AI-controlled, automated factory,” he said. “Maybe that is the reason it took me so long to make it.”

Besides weaving in the latest technological advances, Park said he also added a starker, more ambiguous ending.

“All the horrific efforts (the protagonist) makes to protect his family, sacrificing his own humanity, ultimately lead to the (moral) collapse of the family,” he said.

Park is one of Korea’s most feted directors and the ensemble team of actors who flew into a stormy Venice to promote the film said appearing in one of his films was a professional dream, even if his meticulous approach pushed them to their limits.

“He does ask quite a lot from you, he’s very demanding,” said Lee.

Son Ye-jin, the female star, whose fame skyrocketed thanks to her role in the TV series “Crash Landing on You,” admitted that she initially struggled with Park’s painstaking direction.

“It’s so detailed that for example, he would say to put more emphasis on a syllable or walk in a certain way … But as the shoot went on, I realised he was spot on and my acting really improved,” she said.

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Both Lee and Son were greeted by screaming fans as they hit Venice’s red carpet, underscoring how much South Korean culture now resonates in the West.

“Seeing the fans here in person has allowed me to feel firsthand how much K-content is loved, and that makes me very happy,” said Lee.

“No Other Choice” is one of 21 films competing for the prestigious Golden Lion prize, which will be awarded on September 6.