Park Chan-wook finds humor in man’s tragic plight in ‘No Different Alternative’

 
No e-book has ever impressed director Park Chan-wook’s want to create a movie adaptation extra strongly than Donald E. Westlake’s “The Ax.”
 
At a press convention in Seoul on Tuesday, the acclaimed director affirmed as soon as once more what it meant to convey the e-book to the massive display screen — a mission he as soon as described because the one “I’ve wished to take advantage of for thus lengthy,” now titled “No Different Alternative.”
 
“It has been virtually 20 years since I first considered it. Whereas I wasn’t engaged on this mission solely, I had been pursuing it ceaselessly,” the director mentioned. “And now the day has lastly come to fruition.”
 
Each the director and solid members described the upcoming movie as concurrently heartbreaking and hilarious.
 
On the press occasion, Park mentioned he noticed ample room for “darkly absurd humor” when adapting the unique novel right into a film.
 

The solid of Park Chan-wook’s ″No Different Alternative″ poses for photographs at a press convention in Seoul on Aug. 19. [YONHAP]

 
“The e-book brilliantly described how an unusual man is cornered by the social system. Each time I revisited the e-book, I discovered it very partaking and value savoring as a consequence of its intricate psychological mechanisms,” he mentioned. “I additionally noticed the potential to convey a brand new layer of absurd humor — the sort that’s each unhappy and humorous.”
 
“A better have a look at human life exposes its tragicomic duality,” Park continued. “I’m not making an attempt to generate laughs by mocking folks of their depressing circumstances. The movie explores feelings that all of us have, so it’s in the end the story of us all.”
 
The movie follows Man-soo (performed by Lee Byung-hun), a middle-aged man who, after being immediately fired from a paper firm, turns into decided to discover a new job and offers with these standing in his means.
 

Actor Lee Byung-hun poses for photographs at a press convention for ″No Different Alternative″ in Seoul on Aug. 19. [YONHAP]

 
Actress Son Ye-jin, recognized for the favored TV sequence “Crash Touchdown on You” (2019-2020) and the film “The Negotiation” (2018), performs Man-soo’s cheerful and mentally sturdy spouse, Mi-ri.
 
Relating to the movie’s comedic parts, Lee mentioned, “I used to be stunned by how humorous director Park’s movie turned out to be. After studying the script, I needed to ask him, ‘Am I purported to play this for laughs?'”
 
Nonetheless, Lee confused that the movie’s emotional complexity was sure to evoke a variety of emotions in audiences, which was why he centered on portraying his character Man-soo — a person cornered into an excessive scenario — “in a convincing and plausible means.”
 

A poster for ″No Different Alternative″ is seen on this picture, supplied by CJ ENM. [YONHAP]

 
The solid additionally contains Lee Sung-min from “Good-looking Guys” (2024), Yeom Hye-ran from the favored Netflix authentic “The Glory” (2022), Cha Seung-won of “Believer 2” (2023) and Park Hee-soon of “The Policeman’s Lineage” (2022).
 
Following this 2022 Finest Director win at Cannes for “Determination to Depart,” the auteur’s newest movie is now poised for one more main cinematic honor, as it’s set to compete for the celebrated Golden Lion at this 12 months’s Venice Worldwide Movie Pageant, from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6. It marks the primary Korean movie to compete for the pageant’s high prize in 13 years after Kim Ki-duk’s “Pietà” received the award in 2012.
 
It has additionally been chosen because the opening movie for this 12 months’s Busan Worldwide Movie Pageant (BIFF), which can run from Sept. 17-26. BIFF described it as a movie that “embodies what audiences most hope to see: a piece able to reinvigorating Korean cinema at this pivotal second.”

Yonhap