Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice' draws rave reviews as Venice competition heats up
Five days into the 82nd Venice Film Festival, the Lido is buzzing with one question that has Korean film fans on edge: Can Park Chan-wook's comedy-thriller "No Other Choice" break a 13-year drought and bring home the Golden Lion?
The festival kicked off Wednesday with Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino's meditative presidential drama "La Grazia," setting a high bar for the 21 films vying for top honors through Sept. 6. Nine competition entries would have screened by Monday morning KST, and if early reactions are any indication, Park's twisted black comedy might just deliver what the country's been holding its breath for after years of Korean cinema's festival drought.
Produced by CJ ENM and starring household names Lee Byung-hun ("Squid Game") and Son Ye-jin ("Crash Landing on You"), "No Other Choice" follows a laid-off manager at a paper manufacturing company who decides murder might be the most efficient path to reemployment. It marks Park's return to commercial cinema three years after "Decision to Leave," which earned him best director at Cannes in 2022, and his first Venice competition entry in two decades since "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" in 2005.
According to reports, Friday night's premiere drew an eight-and-a-half-minute standing ovation — one of the longest of the festival so far. Variety reported that Park soaked in the lengthy applause, waving to the room and embracing each cast member present, including Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon and Lee Sung-min.
The critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, with reviewers praising Park's deft blend of savage comedy and timely social commentary. The Guardian called it "the best film in the Venice competition so far," while the BBC dubbed it "this year's 'Parasite'," pointing to both films’ incisive explorations of class tensions in the capitalist system. Currently sitting pretty at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (though with only 17 reviews as of press time Sunday), the film definitely seems to have momentum on its side.
The stakes could not be higher for Korean cinema, which has seen its global footprint steadily erode since its peak triumph in 2020. Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" swept the Oscars that year with four wins including best picture, and since then, it's been slim pickings on the festival circuit for the country. This year hit particularly hard — Hong Sang-soo, who's practically owned Berlinale with four awards in five years, walked away empty-handed in February with "What Does That Nature Say to You," while Cannes didn't invite a single Korean film to its main competition slate in May.
Meanwhile, Park finds himself in formidable company as three previous Golden Lion winners are gunning for repeat glory. Yorgos Lanthimos's "Bugonia," which screened Thursday, offers Korean audiences an unexpected stake in the race — it is a remake of Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 cult classic, "Save the Green Planet!" With Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons leading the charge, the film is holding steady at 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Guillermo del Toro's Netflix-backed "Frankenstein" premiered Saturday to a respectable 77 percent approval rating. The streaming giant's presence underscores the festival's openness to films regardless of their distribution platform— unlike Cannes, which notoriously bars Netflix originals from its competition, Venice previously handed Alfonso Cuaron's Netflix-produced "Roma" the Golden Lion in 2018. Gianfranco Rosi, who won the festival's top prize in 2013 for "Sacro GRA," also returned Friday with the documentary "Below the Clouds," earning strong notices for its apocalyptic vision of Naples.
Wild cards still wait in the wings. Two-time Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow returns Sept. 2 with nuclear thriller "A House of Dynamite," her first feature in eight years. Then there's the festival's boldest selection, screening Sept. 3: "The Voice of Hind Rajab," Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's drama about a six-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. The film generated buzz early on when it was announced that Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Alfonso Cuaron had signed on as executive producers. Pro-Palestinian protests have already swept the Lido in the festival's opening days; if this wins, Venice will have made one of the most politically charged statements in festival history.
Copyright © 코리아헤럴드. 무단전재 및 재배포 금지.