TEHRAN – The 2025 Korean satirical black comedy-thriller film “No Other Choice,” co-written, produced and directed by Park Chan-wook, will be screened at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran on Thursday.
The 140-minute film will be screened with Farsi subtitles at IAF’s Naseri Hall from 5pm, Irna news agency said.
The movie, which is based on Donald Westlake’s novel “Axe,” stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, and Cha Seung-won.
This is the second time that the novel has been adapted into a film, following Costa-Gavras’ 2005 French-language feature film Ax.
The film depicts a desperate paper industry professional who decides to eliminate his competitors in order to secure work in order to maintain his way of life.
In his diabolical new thriller, Park Chan-wook crafts a dark fable about the brutal nature of modern work culture and the domestic desperation for material comfort. With a tightrope-like performance, Lee Byung-hun brings humor and likability to the difficult role of Man-soo, a middle-aged husband and father who is laid off from the paper company he has devoted decades of his life to.
After a long period of uneasy unemployment, Mance begins to take ruthless measures to solidify his position with potential new employers, leading to wild and increasingly absurd acts of violence, drawn in a distinctive and sumptuous black comic book style by Park.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in August and received high praise, and in September it had its domestic premiere as the opening film of the 30th Busan International Film Festival. It was also selected as a Korean film in the International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
Park Chan-wook (62 years old) is a South Korean film director and former film critic. Widely regarded as a leading figure in Korean and 21st century world cinema, he is known for his films that blend crime, mystery, and thriller elements with other genres, and is known for his cinematography, framing, dark humor, and often brutal subject matter.
His films Old Boy (2003) and Lady Vengeance (2005) received critical acclaim and were financially successful. Old Boy, in particular, is considered one of the greatest films of all time and helped establish Park as a well-known director outside of his home country.
Most of Park’s subsequent works were commercially and critically successful both in Korea and abroad. Examples include Thirst (2009), The Handmaiden (2016), which won the BAFTA Award for Best Non-English Film, and The Decision to Separate (2022), which won the Best Director award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
SS/SAB