'What is being asked of you is extreme': Inside the mayhem of Korea's Oscar hopeful

Lee Byung-hun looks each inch 1 of Korea’s biggest stars, debonair successful his natty, slim-fitting suit, relaxing successful this glass-walled country by the excavation of a West Hollywood hotel. The blessed tourists don’t announcement Park Chan-wook, the cinematic maestro down specified tours de unit arsenic “Oldboy” and “Decision to Leave,” projecting thoughtful politesse beside him. These 2 giants of Korean movie hadn’t made a diagnostic unneurotic since 2000’s “Joint Security Area” (though they collaborated connected a conception of the 2004 fearfulness anthology “Three … Extremes”). It took a satirical American caller chronicling capitalism’s crushing effects connected a schlubby, middle-age dada to reunite them for Oscar submission “No Other Choice.”

“Even if I didn’t similar the quality oregon communicative that helium posed, I would’ve inactive participated due to the fact that it’s manager Park. He has different level of storytelling,” says Lee, speaking, similar Park, done an interpreter. “From erstwhile projects, I cognize his process is incredibly joyful and afloat of laughter. So I knew I could look guardant to the experience.”

Park says helium started processing the task arsenic an American movie astir 20 years ago, truthful helium didn’t deliberation of casting Lee arsenic the middle-age institution antheral astatine its center. But erstwhile it yet came unneurotic arsenic a Korean task instead, Lee “had reached the close property for the role. So earlier I started the adaptation process for the [Korean] screenplay, I had him successful caput for the main character, Man-soo.”

Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel, “The Ax,” concerns a household antheral who is laid disconnected from his occupation arsenic a manager astatine a insubstantial company. After a agelong play of unemployment, helium identifies his apical competitors for jobs — and sets retired to execution them. A 2005 surface adaptation by Costa-Gavras did not deter Park from moving retired his ain version, leaning into themes of the cruelty and absurdity of capitalism.

Lee Byung-hun successful “No Other Choice.”

(Neon)

“This man, aft helium gets fired, doesn’t people those who person straight harmed him, but, strangely enough, goes for those who are arsenic arsenic pitiful arsenic him,” says Park. “The conscionable people should person been the institution oregon adjacent the capitalist strategy arsenic a whole. He went aft the incorrect target.”

It’s antithetic to see an awkward, suburban dada and institution stalwart being an acting stretch, but Lee is known for his melodramatic intensity, action-movie heroism, adjacent villainy. “No Other Choice” exhibits spasms of taut thriller and household melodrama, but its bare-knuckled satire, sprinkled with slapstick, plays arsenic Park’s funniest film.

“It is existent that this movie is much comedic successful nature, but my different films person besides had elements of achromatic drama and acheronian humor,” says Park. “Doing that is successful my nature; it each feels precise intuitive.”

One sloppy execution effort becomes full-on farce arsenic Man-soo finds himself shouting marital proposal to an intended unfortunate implicit deafening euphony earlier the enactment devolves into a messy three-way scrum.

Known for his warring ability, Lee calls the country “the biggest obstacle for maine … We’re biting and pulling, we’re rolling around. That is really a batch much hard than thing choreographed.”

To Park’s grin of acknowledgment, Lee proudly takes recognition for the tallness of carnal drama successful the sequence, erstwhile the combatants messily drawback for a fallen gun, resulting successful an overhead changeable of 3 struggling posteriors.

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1. Director Park chan-wook. (Sela Shiloni / For The Times) 2. Star Lee Byung-hun. (Sela Shiloni / For The Times)

Park’s hard-nosed attack to his themes, his quality to elicit beardown performances and his deft interaction with analyzable worldly person built his lofty reputation. But truthful has his bid of the tools of cinema. In “No Other Choice,” his transitions and ocular juxtapositions convey profound themes beneath the satirical surface.

He visually compares Man-soo’s wife’s caput to the shovel that volition beryllium utilized to assistance dispose of victims, and the family’s location is superimposed implicit a bonfire, implying what’s astatine stake. Man-soo is simply a changeless gardener who uses beardown wires to twist roots and branches arsenic helium needs; their aboriginal usage suggests the unnatural shapes into which the capitalist strategy twists humans.

The beingness of a performer of Lee’s lasting raises the question of however the manager works with actors.

“I’m definite you’ve heard of manager Park’s reputation,” Lee says, smiling. “He ne'er gets huffy and is precise gentlemanly and calm connected set. But it boils down to thing deeper than that, due to the fact that what is demanded of you, whether you’re an histrion oregon a unit member, is simply a level of your trade [at its highest]. What is being asked of you is extreme.

“But the ambiance is precise happy. Any caller actor, unit subordinate moving with him, they mightiness consciousness nervous. However, arsenic idiosyncratic who has already experienced moving with manager Park, I knew it would beryllium precise enjoyable.”

Park says, “His archetypal question to maine aft speechmaking the screenplay was, ‘Am I allowed to beryllium funny?’ Because helium said helium was laughing arsenic helium work the publication though [it’s] specified a tragic situation.” Once Lee had the greenish airy from his manager to marque a fool of himself, helium was disconnected and running.

In a country involving a snake bite, Lee’s facial expressions were “funnier by twofold” compared to Park’s expectations. For a aboriginal country erstwhile Man-soo is strolling, businesslike, toward his archetypal attempted murder, Lee improvised a spastic callback to the earlier snake moment. Park laughs astatine the memory, past makes the interpreter giggle by saying, “I had no different choice but to permission it in.”