Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ heads to Venice competition, marking 1st Korean entry since ‘Pieta’

Director Park Chan-wook poses after winning the Best Director award for “Decision to Leave” at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. / AFP-Yonhap

Director Park Chan-wook’s new film “No Other Choice” has been officially invited to the main competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. This marks the first time in 13 years that a Korean film has competed in the festival’s main section, since director Kim Ki-duk’s “Pieta” won the top prize, the Golden Lion, in 2012. The news comes as a welcome surprise for the Korean film industry, which has recently faced concerns after failing to secure any invitations, competitive or non-competitive, for Korean feature films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in May.

On July 22 (local time), the Venice Film Festival organizers announced “No Other Choice” as one of the 21 official entries in the "Venezia 82" competition lineup. Director Park shared through distributor CJ ENM, “Now that the film is finished and has been invited to Venice, I feel it was worth holding onto this project all these years.” He had previously described this film as “the one I most wanted to make.”

Other notable titles in competition this year include Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia,” a remake of the Korean cult film “Save the Green Planet!” released in 2003. The Venice International Film Festival will run from August 27 to September 6 on Lido Island in Venice, Italy.

“No Other Choice” tells the story of Man-soo (played by Lee Byung-hun), an office worker who, after being laid off, prepares for a personal war to get rehired and protect his wife Mi-ri (played by Son Ye-jin) and their two children. The film is based on American author Donald Westlake’s novel “The Ax,” a title that metaphorically refers to “corporate downsizing.” Although it was initially expected to premiere at Cannes, post-production delays kept it from being submitted in time.

The film boasts a star-studded cast, including Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin as a married couple, alongside Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yum Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won. It is slated for theatrical release in Korea this September. On July 22, CJ ENM unveiled the film’s first teaser poster and trailer.

“No Other Choice” marks Park Chan-wook’s first feature in three years since “Decision to Leave,” which earned him the Best Director award at Cannes. Many are watching closely to see whether he can take home another major trophy, this time from Venice. Park was previously invited to Venice's main competition in 2005 with “Lady Vengeance,” where he won three unofficial awards: the Young Lion Award, the Best Innovation Award, and the Future Film Award.

The Venice International Film Festival has long maintained a special connection with Korean cinema. In 1987, director Im Kwon-taek’s “The Surrogate Woman” earned actress Kang Soo-yeon the Best Actress award, the first time a Korean film won at one of the “Big Three” international film festivals (Cannes, Venice, and Berlin). In the early 2000s, Lee Chang-dong’s “Oasis” received a Special Director’s Award and Best New Actress for Moon So-ri. Kim Ki-duk’s “3-Iron” won the Silver Lion.

However, after Kim Ki-duk’s “Pieta” won the Golden Lion in 2012, no Korean films were invited to Venice’s main competition for over a decade. Many Korean blockbusters have since shifted focus to the Cannes Film Festival in May, leaving Venice with only sporadic Korean entries in its “Orizzonti” or non-competitive sections. Last year, “In the Realm of Ripley” by director Chae Soo-eung was invited to the Immersive Competition, and this year, the generative AI-based work “8PM and the Cat,” created by Korea National University of Arts’ AT LAB (Art and Technology Lab), has been officially invited in the same category.

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.