****
Unquestionably one of the most provocative and visually playful of celebrated modern directors, Park Chan-Wook treats each of his films as elaborately designed art pieces.
Grand narratives of vengeance, mystery and conspiracy with melodrama, twists and turns abound. There is nothing conventional about how his stories unfold. Just watch Oldboy (2003 ), which earned its reputation in part due to its disturbing, unimaginable twist. Beyond the shock value however, Park’s films are full of creative camerawork, evocative colours and music, and captivating set-pieces.
Following an American takeover, Yoo Man-Soo has been laid off after a long career working at a Korean paper company. With his family forced to make sacrifices due to sudden financial uncertainty, he endeavours to find work at another paper company within three months. However the competitiveness of the job market forces Man-Soo to take more drastic and violent measures to ensure success.
While last week’s film review (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ) explored various philosophies regarding survival in a post-apocalyptic landscape, No Other Choice suggests that similarly extreme attitudes may be required to survive the present.
Park Chan-Wook’s overt use of mobile phones in developing tension is commendable. Nowadays, revered Western filmmakers such as Tarantino, Scorsese, Nolan et al all shy away from even including phones in their films, while Park embraces them in his contemporary works. He does not include them begrudgingly either, his filmmaking suggests a creative drive to utilise mobiles in compelling and visually inventive ways.
After watching No Other Choice, it makes you wonder why more films do not make use of video calls as a means of creating suspenseful situations. The idea of being scared to reject a video call out of fear of what one might think, when answering it could have even worse circumstances, is a relatable idea, despite the film’s heightened scenario.
This is a microcosm of the overall idea of insecurity in modern society. The protagonist is pressured, either by himself or the world he lives in, to hold a certain status, own a certain type of house, and provide a life of luxury and opportunity for his family. It is a well-observed, perceptive commentary on one man’s shame and panic of not living up to his personal, patriarchal beliefs, and failing in his societal role.
This all makes the film sound very self-serious, but the beauty of No Other Choice is its blackly comic tone. The film is blatantly self-aware of the ridiculousness of the lengths the protagonist takes, and there are some amusing sequences built from Man Soo’s totally overreactive and ill-judged strategy. The best way to show a mirror to the negative aspects of our society is to make us laugh at it, and this film delivers in that department.
Some might be turned off by the broadly slapstick effect of how the narrative develops, but I think Lee-Byung Hun’s central performance is both dramatically involving, as well as entertainingly animated. It works effectively within Park Chan-Wook’s directing style.
The narrative is not as tightly woven as his previous works, which negatively affects the overall pacing. You are left with plenty of meat on the bone to chew on as the credits roll, which I usually appreciate.
I foresee many viewers feeling slightly confused by how the film concludes. What begins as wacky, high-concept idea morphs into a thought-provoking thesis on what fulfillment and success represent in modern times, and what we ourselves are willing to sacrifice to achieve the “dream life”.
In Galway cinemas now
4/5 stars
