Park Chan Wook’s highly anticipated new film 'No Other Choice' made a dazzling debut at the 'Venice International Film Festival,' earning an extended 8-minute-and-30-second standing ovation after its premiere.
The film was screened on August 29 (local time) at the Sala Grande in Venice, where applause and cheers erupted as the end credits rolled. Cast members Son Ye Jin and Park Hee Soon were visibly moved, struggling to hold back tears amid the rousing reception.
International media outlets have already showered the film with praise. Deadline hailed it as “a work of endless surprises that delivers sheer delight,” further highlighting Lee Byung Hun as “a master of slapstick.” Variety called the film “yet another piece of evidence that Park may be today’s most elegant filmmaker.” The Guardian awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as “a sharp black comedy satirizing national circumstances.”
Screen Daily also praised the director’s latest, writing that “there could be no story more fitting for the age of AI. It is, perhaps, his most elegant work to date, an immensely enjoyable film that balances psychological tension with witty, comic elements.”
Based on Donald E. Westlake’s American novel 'The Ax,' 'No Other Choice' is a crime thriller that follows Mansu, played by Lee Byung Hun, a recently laid-off man who plunges into a desperate battle for reemployment. The ensemble cast also includes Son Ye Jin, Park Hee Soon, Lee Sung Min and Yeom Hye Ran.
The film has been invited to compete in the festival’s main competition section, making it the 11th Korean film ever to do so and the first since' Pieta' in 2012, marking a 13-year gap. Park is now in contention for the coveted Golden Lion.
Winners, including the Golden Lion, will be announced in the early hours of September 7 (KST). 'No Other Choice' is scheduled for theatrical release in Korea on September 24.
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