Thanks in part to the sweeping success of Parasite, South Korean cinema has grown massively in its popularity here in Canada and the United States recently. While Bong Joon-Ho may be the most recognizable Korean filmmaker thanks to his Oscar winning resume, Park Chan-wook may be the most acclaimed. His 2003 film Oldboy is a classic, and his more recent work The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave are both modern classics in their own right. No Other Choice is his latest, a dark comedy that just won TIFF's international people's choice award and seems to be on the right track to make some serious awards noise this year.
No Other Choice follows Yoo Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun), a family man unceremoniously laid off by his longtime employer as they bring in new management. After months of struggling to find a new job, he devises a new plan; figure out the better candidates and eliminate them from the competition.
I tend to find that comedy is something that can struggle to translate from an international film to an English speaking audience. PCW seemed to not get that memo though as this is one of the sharpest and most entertaining movies of the year. Despite a near two and a half hour runtime there are few dull moments, and there were countless points in the film that had myself and the entirety of my audience howling with laughter. On top of that it's a very topical film. I don't know how much of the social commentary comes from the source material, but this has a lot to say about the ways in which modern technology and artificial intelligence can ruin lives despite the benefits of it. Our main character is a good man driven to dark places by little more than his desire to care for his family and keep their home.
Lee Byung-hun is pretty terrific in the lead role here. His performance is a tough one, needing to make you feel enough for the character to make up for how grim his actions become. The writing certainly helps us care for him, but Byung-hun gives such a compassionate performance that is both endearing and hilarious. As he tries to take out his competition it's clear that he's in over his head, and his lacking ability makes for some hilarious moments but also hammers home the fact that his actions are out of necessity. Alongside him, Son Ye-jin is pretty terrific as his wife. She comes across as a pretty powerful force, ultimately being the one to make the tough financial decisions for the family that push her husband down his dark road. She plays the active role well along with the frustration of being in the dark with regards to her husbands actions. The whole cast is pretty great, but those two are the no doubt standouts.
Stylistically there's really no one like Park Chan-wook. There's plenty of moments that just look traditionally beautiful, but for every one of those there's also a scene shot in ways I never could have thought of. The cinematography doesn't just look good, but it's fun. It's full of energy that matches the tone of the film beautifully. Musically I feel the same way, there are bold choices made that just work with the tone Chan-wook is crafting here.
I do think the film could have been a bit shorter, but I'm not one to complain about too much of a good thing. This is as entertaining as it is topical, one of the year's best. 4.5/5
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