‘No Other Choice’ director Park Chan-wook reveals why he used satire to critique capitalism

Celebrated South Korean director Park Chan-wook revealed that his film “No Other Choice” reflects how capitalism operates in South Korea, where competition intensifies once a worker loses his job. During a recent appearance on “The Daily Show,” Park said Korean society experiences capitalism “to the extreme,” a perspective that shaped his decision to tell the story through satire. Adapted from the 1997 novel “The Ax,” the film follows a longtime company employee who is fired and begins targeting other job seekers as he competes to reenter the workforce.

Explaining his use of satire, the 62-year-old filmmaker told host Ronny Chieng how the absurdity of the capitalist system is captured through a mixture of genres. “Rather than portraying it straight and giving it a realistic portrayal, we’d rather turn to absurd problems that people in this capitalist system experience and humorously give a satire of that,” Park said.

Park argued that because “there’s nothing that’s purely sad or purely just funny” in life, humor remains an “inseparable entity” from the tragedy of economic struggle. Regarding this tonal approach, he added, “I think that is the way to best capture the essence of the problems that we’re dealing with.”

Actor Lee Byung-hun, who plays the fired office worker Mansu, told Variety in a separate interview that the film’s humor arises naturally from tragic and depressing moments. “From a third person’s point of view, from a distance, you could be laughing at Mansu,” Lee said. “However, if you were Mansu himself, that would be a completely different reality. He’s extremely desperate.”

The 55-year-old star noted that throughout the film, he focused on staying inside Mansu’s emotional reality. “I really tried to be completely in Mansu’s POV as I was acting as him and truly living in his own emotions,” Lee shared, adding that he was wary of “really forcing a laugh” because it could “warp the emotional arc.”

In an effort to touch the capitalist class directly, the film’s distributor, Neon, even issued an invitation to “all Fortune 500 CEOs” for a free screening in New York. “This is truly a film that speaks to our gracious executive leaders and the culture they have cultivated,” Neon wrote in its social media post. In the post, Neon highlighted the “unbearable weight” executives carry while managing “the systems you strive to conquer for economic growth,” turning the promotional cycle into a reflection of the capitalism Park and Lee depict on screen.

The film has since secured several major recognitions, including a best director win at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, a Golden Globe best actor nomination for Lee and a nomination for best international feature film at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards.