At the red carpet event of the film No Other Choice, at the New York Film Festival 2025, I got the opportunity to talk to Park Chan-wook and main star Lee Byung-hun about the genre-bending masterpiece they had created.
First, I was interested in Lee’s unique position of having worked on both American and Korean films, and what he thought the primary differences between the two industry giants were. “Now, in 2025, I don’t feel that there are many differences anymore… but it was different 20 years ago.” He pointed out that when he first started working in Hollywood, one of the first differences that was apparent was that Hollywood films tended to have a longer pre-production period, while actual production was short; it was the opposite in Korea. I then asked him what he wanted audience members to take away from No Other Choice, and he replied, “I really hope the intentions of the film are clearly communicated…especially the black comedy elements as well as the deep sense of tragedy…” He really hoped that audiences would understand the deeper narrative that the film was portraying about society and morality, but he enjoyed the entertainment value.
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Next, I spoke to the director, Park Chan-wook, and we first touched on how the film differed from the novel that it was based on, “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake. “Well, the first difference is that there were fewer victims,” he elaborated with a laugh. “We did have a time constraint, but I also wanted to make sure the audience did not start to emotionally distance itself from his character.” He then went on to explain that another key difference was that his wife and children discovered that he was the murderer in the film, which did not occur in the book. This was done to juxtapose the fact that he was killing to save his family, but also simultaneously tearing them apart in the process. The last question I asked was what he had coming up next. “I’ve been working on a large-scale sci-fi-action project called Genocidal Organ, but it requires a significant budget, so we’re still securing an investment,” he explained. “Definitely look out for it soon, though.”
