{"id":1409045,"date":"2026-01-22T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1409045"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T10:09:00","slug":"no-other-choice-park-chan-wooks-bleak-bloody-takedown-of-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1409045","title":{"rendered":"No Other Choice: Park Chan-wook\u2019s bleak, bloody takedown of capitalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>In Donald E. Westlake\u2019s 1997 novel<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Ax<\/em>, an American paper factory employee fears that he could be replaced by a cheaper worker from Asia. In Park Chan-wook\u2019s 2025 adaptation of<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Ax<\/em>, which he\u2019s renamed<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>, the head of a Korean paper manufacturer threatens to use AI to shred its workforce. Regardless of the country and decade, then, the message is clear: no one\u2019s job is safe under capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan-su goes through a lot to eliminate his human competitors,\u201d Park tells me through an interpreter in Rosewood Hotel during the London Film Festival. \u201cBut he ends up meeting an even scarier competitor \u2013 AI-managed automation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Park, the 62-year-old Korean auteur behind<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Oldboy<\/em>,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Handmaiden<\/em>, and<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Decision to Leave<\/em>, has been developing<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>for almost two decades. The project, which was once set in America, stars Lee Byung-hun (the Front Man in<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Squid Game<\/em>, and the voice of Gwi-Ma in<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>) as Man-su, a sacked middle manager who, like a paper clip, stubbornly clings to a dying industry. With few jobs available to him, Man-su decides to kill off his rivals one by one. Whereas Park depicted skilled assassins in his \u201cVengeance trilogy\u201d, Man-su is a sweaty, clumsy antihero \u2013 he\u2019s more \u201cold boy\u201d than<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Oldboy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I find interesting about the film is that it\u2019s not a revenge story,\u201d says Lee in a separate interview, also through an interpreter. \u201cThe people Man-su is trying to eradicate, he has no relationship to them. He doesn\u2019t know them. He might feel empathy towards them, but unfortunately he has to eradicate them. The audience might cheer on Man-su but, at some point, they might abandon him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"WG8_CBw2U1A\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WG8_CBw2U1A\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>Lee, a 55-year-old Korean actor, first came to prominence as the lead of Park\u2019s 2000 thriller<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Joint Security Area<\/em>. Around 15 years ago, Park told him about<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>. \u201cIf Director Park had offered me the film then, I would have done it,\u201d says Lee. \u201cHowever, I wonder: would I have had enough experience, wisdom, and maturity back then to portray the emotions I can portray now?\u201d The role of Man-su required those extra 15 years of maturity? \u201cAbsolutely. The passing of time is the biggest weapon for an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As usual, Park shoots<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>with ravishing verve and ingenuity, often discovering shots that feel like they\u2019ve never been attempted in a movie before. Even simple actions are excuses for elegant cinematography: drinks are downed from the POV of a shot glass; Man-su digging a grave is overlaid with a glimpse of his wife, Lee Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), sleeping in bed, making it look as if he\u2019s burying her body.<\/p>\n<p>In a way, that\u2019s the key image of<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>: while the logline alludes to a crazed serial killer chasing after his dream job, the film is ultimately a satire about outdated gender roles. Man-su could, at any point, ask his wife for help; instead, he wrecks his family\u2019s livelihood as he believes the father should be a household\u2019s main provider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this patriarchal society, Man-su considers himself not a proper man,\u201d says Park. \u201cAfter losing his job, he believes he\u2019s also lost his authority as a father. But after committing two murders, he regains his confidence. Even though he\u2019s horrified by what he\u2019s done, he ironically feels like a man again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Man-su goes through a lot to eliminate his human competitors. But he ends up meeting an even scarier competitor \u2013 AI-managed automation<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>While<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>is hilarious \u2013 one sequence involving a decibel-heavy death is the funniest five minutes of any film in the past year \u2013 Park also applies nuance to the drama. For example,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>has fewer murders than Westlake\u2019s book and Costa-Gavras\u2019s French-language movie adaptation from 2005. Park also fleshes out Mi-ri\u2019s character: in the novel, she\u2019s a cinema worker; in<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>, she\u2019s a dentist\u2019s assistant whose career ambitions are paralleled by Man-su\u2019s increasing toothache.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s to portray Man-su\u2019s stubbornness,\u201d Park explains. \u201cHe tells himself that he\u2019ll be able to find a job within three months, and then he\u2019ll deserve expensive treatment from a dentist. The fact that his wife has a job at a dentist\u2019s office, it offers an easy solution for the toothache, but it harms his self-esteem as a man. The dentist offers to fix his teeth for free, but he turns down the offer because he considers the dentist to be a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A frequent gag, then, is Man-su cradling his mouth out of pain. Through amateurish assassinations (he uses oven mitts to silence a gun) and his gardening obsession (the underlying punchline is that he should work in horticulture, not paper), Man-su delivers physical pratfalls with a deadpan facial expression. While Lee\u2019s stare is unnerving in<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Squid Game<\/em>, it\u2019s uproarious and humanising in<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"76846921-e573-4236-bd57-b3da00c9effb\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/4\/1434772.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"No Other Choice_Still_&#169;CJ ENM_7\" class=\"img\" height=\"1835\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1434772.jpg\" width=\"2752\" title=\"1434772\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">No Other Choice<\/span><span class=\"credit\">(Film still)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>\u201cWhen we were at the Venice Film Festival, critics mentioned that the film was a slapstick comedy,\u201d says Lee. \u201cUntil then, I didn\u2019t realise that\u2019s what I was doing. I thought I was just being faithful to the script. None of the body movements were calculated to be funny. But then a journalist wrote that it\u2019s reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin\u2019s<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Modern Times<\/em>. I thought: wow, there\u2019s the moustache, and the last scene with Man-su wandering around the factory like a lost soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee returns to that final image when the conversation turns to what actors and paper factory workers have in common: a fear of AI. \u201cHe\u2019s walking out of the factory in this crestfallen way, and behind him the AI is shutting off the lights one by one,\u201d says Lee. \u201cIt\u2019s as if he\u2019s being chased by this new technology, where he\u2019s lost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Park wrote the script in English with Don McKellar, and then in Korean with Lee Kyoung-mi and Lee Ja-hye. When relocating the story from America to Korea, the director made minor alterations to the existing draft, like the fancy-dress party (\u201cit was initially American history-themed, with people dressed as Lincoln, Jefferson, and Pocahontas\u201d) and Man-su\u2019s obsession with bonsai plants. \u201cWhen Man-su is filled with jealousy, he breaks a bonsai branch. When he ties up a dead body with wires, it\u2019s like a bonsai plant.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Man-su thinks autumn will represent a time of harvest where he can finally reap the fruits of his labour. He finds out it\u2019s the season where leaves begin to fall<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>For the past decade, Park has also been trying to make<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brigands of Rattlecreek<\/em>, a violent western based on an infamous spec script by S. Craig Zahler called<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brigands of Rattleborge<\/em>. Zahler\u2019s screenplay is full of long, drawn-out scenes, all designed to be directed like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Dragged Across Concrete<\/em>. Surely this is the opposite of Park\u2019s ostentatious style?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve changed it a lot, so that it\u2019s not a slow or still movie anymore,\u201d says Park. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be very much a dynamic film.\u201d If it\u2019s so hard to finance, could he relocate the story? \u201cIt\u2019s a western, so I have no plans to make it into a Korean film. It\u2019s stalled right now as an American film. However, like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em>, I\u2019m hopeful that<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Brigands<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>can ultimately be made as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After all, Park\u2019s films are so detailed, you can sense the years and years of planning in each shot. My final question to the director is about Man-su\u2019s garden, which prompts an 11-minute answer that he only ends because I\u2019ve vastly overrun my time slot. Park explains in detail the thought process behind Man-su\u2019s greenhouse, the gecko tree behind a murder victim\u2019s house, and how plants symbolise the passing of time. \u201cMan-su thinks autumn will represent a time of harvest where he can finally reap the fruits of his labour. He finds out it\u2019s the season where leaves begin to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, what\u2019s key to understanding<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>No Other Choice<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>is the revelation that Man-su\u2019s father buried alive pigs near the garden, and hung himself in the house\u2019s storage room. \u201cMan-su\u2019s house is built atop this tragedy,\u201d says Park. \u201cHe grows plants where these animals were brutally killed. He planned to foster happiness in this place. Instead, he meets the tragic fate of becoming a serial killer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No Other Choice<em>\u00a0is in UK cinemas on January 23<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69464\/1\/park-chan-wook-no-other-choice-lee-byung-hun-interview-2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Donald E. Westlake\u2019s 1997 novel\u00a0The Ax, an American paper factory employee fears that he could be replaced by a cheaper worker from Asia. In Park Chan-wook\u2019s 2025 adaptation of\u00a0The Ax, which he\u2019s renamed\u00a0No Other Choice, the head of a Korean paper manufacturer threatens to use AI to shred its workforce. Regardless of the country [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1409045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1409045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1409045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1409045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1409045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}