'No Other Choice' Interview: Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun

Moviefone speaks with Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun about 'No Other Choice'. "Our main character goes far to maintain a middle-class lifestyle," Park said.

(L to R) Director Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun discuss 'No Other Choice'.

Opening in theaters in wide release on January 9th is the new South Korean film from legendary director Park Chan-wook called 'No Other Choice', which stars ‘Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun.

Moviefone recently had the honor of speaking with director Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun about their work on 'No Other Choice', the themes director Park wanted to explore, Byung-hun’s approach to his character, and why he likes working with director Park.

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Director Park Chan-wook on the set of 'No Other Choice'. Photo: CJ Entertainment.

Moviefone: To begin with, Director Park, can you talk about the core themes that you wanted to explore with this movie and what compelled you to tell this specific story?

Park Chan-wook: It's hard to pick one core theme. I would have to say the first one is job insecurity and the process of losing one's job. The second theme would be the desires of the middle class. Even though our main character isn't about to immediately starve, he goes very far to get his job back to maintain the lifestyle of a middle class. The final theme would be the exploration of masculinity and that twisted sense of responsibility that our main character feels as a father and a husband.

Lee Byung-hun stars in 'No Other Choice'. Photo: CJ Entertainment.

MF: Byung-hun, can you talk about your approach to playing this character, the different levels that you had to create, and what element of the character you were able to relate to?

Lee Byung-hun: I think what was attractive to me about this character of Man Soo is that he's an ordinary man that is very protective and loving of his family. Of course, there are traces of patriarchal structure in this character as well. This is a very ordinary guy that is faced with very drastic situations, and he is just doing one line of work for 25 years when suddenly he experiences losing his job, and that leaves him completely off kilter. He very clumsily navigates all these decision-making processes in this process and is in that process of losing a sense of morality. It might look funny to the audience, but he is slowly transforming into a murder. I think what I really wanted to make sure of is to be able to convince the audience of this changing process in Man Soo. That was both challenging as an actor, but also incredibly fun and rewarding.

Director Park Chan-wook on the set of 'No Other Choice'. Photo: CJ Entertainment.

MF: Finally, Byung-hun, what do you enjoy most about working with director Park and what it is like collaborating with him as an actor on set?

LBH: Since working together on ‘Joint Security Area’ 25 years ago, I always knew that Director Park loves having conversations and talking with the actors and being able to find new ideas through those conversations. Throughout our 25 years of friendship, it's not just filmmaking that we've talked about. Over a drink, we've talked about many topics, including life and society. I think these aspects of Director Park really makes the set worthwhile for me. So even if a scene is particularly physically taxing or mentally painful, I think I still really enjoy the experience because we're able to talk about these ideas and create a sort of synergy, and there's always a warm mood surrounding the production of the film.

Editorial Note: This interview was conducted with the use of a translator.

(L to R) Son Ye-jin and Lee Byung-hun star in 'No Other Choice'. Photo: CJ Entertainment.

What is the plot of 'No Other Choice'?

After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager (Lee Byung-hun) descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.