No Other Choice

 

“I am a good person. Losing my job is not my choice!”

Conniving, ambiguous and morbid, No Other Choice is a darkly diabolical comedic spiral driven by one desperate man’s selfish drive to rebuild his perfect life, no matter the moral cost, in a sharply assembled social commentary from the Korean master Park Chan-wook. 

Discussion Points:

There are few directors like Park Chan-wook who can develop a compelling lead character amidst their moral decline. Lee Byung-hun is incredible as You Man-su, a career paper manufacturer made redundant after 25 years. Expecting to be hired within 3 months, 13 months instead pass by and You is left struggling to make ends meet and support his wife and two children. Feeling hard-pressed on every side, You resolves to eliminate his industry competition to leave himself as the sole candidate in the limited job pool. What follows is a darkly comedic, tragic and disturbing descent into moral greys as You sacrifices his ethics and ideals in pursuit of his employment prospects. Opposite him is Son Ye-jin as his wife Lee who becomes increasingly suspicious of her husbands absences and demeanour. Their interplay is electric, thanks to a wonderfully witty, funny, tragic, satirical screenplay that entertains amidst the chaos. Park Chan-wook’s direction has never been better with incredible shot compositions, transitions and lighting set-ups. It’s a visual novel dripping with symbolism, and so sharply edited and assembled. It certainly goes to some dark places, and it’s impossible to endorse the lengths to which You ventures, but it’s a masterfully entertaining journey of a man who abandons his ideals of class solidarity to become the next best Pulp Man of Moon Paper.