'No Other Choice' Director Park Chan-wook On How It Became A Korean Film

No Other Choice is the second film adaptation of Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax. Director Park Chan-wook actually intended it to be an American film but could not find investors for it. Now that the Korean version is already acclaimed ahead of its Christmas release, Park says he is glad he didn’t make it in Hollywood.

“In the credits, when you see the special thanks section, I almost considered putting in the American studios that turned me down but I didn’t,” Park said on the Contenders Film: Los Angeles stage.

In the film, Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) is laid off from a paper factory. The bosses claim they had no other choice but to downsize. Likewise, Park was forced to make the film in Korea.

“At the time, I had no other choice but to change this into a Korean film,” Park said. “Thanks to that decision, I was able to work with such a great actor, so I really view it as a blessing today.”

In addition to Lee, the delay also gave Park another element in the adaptation, which he co-wrote with Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee and Don McKellar. Man-soo becomes so desperate to find another job that he murders the other candidates for a position he’s applied for. However, in 2025 Man-soo also faces AI replacing veteran workers.

“Because it’s such an important issue today I decided to incorporate it,” Park said. “Man-soo goes through the process of eliminating human competitors only to be faced with a far scarier AI competitor.”

Lee said it was his job to convince the audience Man-soo could resort to murder.

“Man-soo is just an ordinary guy but he is placed in a very impossible situation that he is trying to escape,” Lee said. “Who would commit murder because they were fired? All the situations are so extreme so it’s my immense homework to be able to convince the audience of Man-soo’s motives.”

Since finishing No Other Choice, which is now South Korea’s official Oscar submission, Park is in development mode, again struggling to find investors for two potential American films, a sci-fi action movie and a Western. No Other Choice has taken up all of his time since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

“I’ve actually run out of ideas for my next Korean films,” Park said. “I haven’t had enough time because of this promotional tour so I need to spend a lot of time working on that next.”

Check back Monday for the panel video.

‘No Other Choice’ Director Park Chan-wook On How It Became A Korean Film

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