Park Chan-wook’s latest, ‘No Other Choice,’ lit up the red carpet and a packed Gala Presentations premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival.
The film follows Mansu (Lee Byung-hun), a company man who thought he’d “made it” until a sudden layoff upends his life. Determined to protect his wife, two kids and the hard-won home they built, he launches a personal war to land another job―no matter what it takes.
Invited to TIFF’s Gala Presentations, ‘No Other Choice’ held its world premiere on Monday, Sept. 8 at 9:30 p.m. local time. Before the screening, Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun greeted an eager press line with easy smiles, then took selfies and signed autographs for fans who had waited for hours, sending energy through the venue.
At the festival, Lee Byung-hun became the first Korean actor to receive a Special Tribute Award, an honor reserved for artists with outstanding achievements in cinema. “I first heard about this story from Park Chan-wook 15 years ago, and now we finally get to bring it to the big screen. I’m convinced it’s a must-see,” Lee said, adding, “I hope audiences will have ‘no other choice’ but to be drawn to it,” teasing curiosity about his turn as Mansu.
Once the film rolled, audiences were pulled into a new register of Park’s filmmaking―grounded, relatable stakes, a powerhouse ensemble and meticulous, inventive visuals―delivering a cinematic experience unlike anything in his canon. The screening closed to cheers and extended applause, and Park thanked the crowd with a broad smile.
Early reactions praised Park’s razor-sharp balance of tone: “Even as Park weaves humor into a weighty story, he never loses the message” (@SamanthaLui); “The way Park edits and plants precise details is mind-blowingly good” (@shyamm); and “Best of the best―Park does it again. Painful yet funny, a brutally realistic portrait of our society” (@Mal).
‘No Other Choice’ opens in Korea on Sept. 24.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)