Park Chan-wook says 'Decision to Leave' differs from his previous films

From left, actor Tang Wei, director Park Chan-wook and actor Park Hae-ill pose during a press conference of the romance thriller film “Decision to Leave,” held at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul in central Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of CJ ENM

By Lee Gyu-lee

• Published Jun 2, 2022 5:12 PM KST
• Updated Jun 3, 2022 4:42 PM KST

Director Park's Cannes-winning film follows romance between detective and murder suspect

By Lee Gyu-lee

Director Park Chan-wook, who notched the Best Director award at this year's Cannes Film Festival with the romance thriller film “Decision to Leave,” said that his new movie is made in a tone and style that are different from his previous works.

The award-winning auteur, who had already had two wins at the Cannes with Grand Prix winner “Old Boy” (2004) and Jury Prize winner “Thirst” (2009), is set to debut his latest movie for the first time in six years since the psychological thriller "The Handmaiden" (2016).

The subtle suspense romance follows a gentle, tidy detective named Hae-joon (Park Hae-ill) who leads an investigation into a murder case, and Chinese immigrant woman Seo-rae (Tang Wei), who is the dead man's wife and the prime suspect of the case. Despite the nature of their relationship as a cop and a suspect, Hae-joon finds himself attracted to her while trying to figure out whether she is the murderer in the case.

“(In my previous works) I've been overt with expressions that evoked (audiences') senses and used scenes of violence, sex, and nudity as necessary. Those are the films that serve right up to your face,” the director said during a press conference of the film, held at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul in central Seoul, Thursday.

“This time I wanted to do it a little differently. As the story is about people who are hiding their feelings, I wanted audiences to try to figure out and look into what the characters are thinking. They have to look closely to observe the subtle and delicate changes (of the characters). And to do so, I figured the movie shouldn't have too many dynamic elements. Like if it were music, I lowered down the volume of the accompaniment of the guitars or drums.”

When asked about his big win at the prestigious film festival earlier this week, Park Chan-wook said he is more nervous about how the Korean audience will respond to the film. The movie is slated to hit local theaters on June 29.

“I'm more anticipating the film's premiere in Korea. I'm most curious and nervous about how the audience in Korea will react to the film,” he said. “This film, more than any of the films I've made in the past, has the most sentiments that Koreans will understand better.”

Tang, who plays a mesmerizing, enigmatic woman, said she became engrossed in the story when she first talked with the director about the project.

“When the director told me about the film for the first time, it took about an hour and a half. And I remember, as I was listening, I kept drinking water. I was getting excited. And slowly and slowly, I immersed myself into the director's story,” she said. “The director and writer's eyes were very tender. And because of that feeling, I felt relieved even though I had to act in a foreign language.”

The director noted that the film is a “100 percent detective and 100 percent romance” when referring to its genre.

“The key is that (those two genres) are inseparable in this film. From looking at it from this perspective, it's a detective, drama genre but from another perspective, it's a love story,” he said.

“The process of the detective meeting the suspect, investigating and questioning her resembles the things that happen between couples. Alluring, playing hard to get, blaming and giving excuses and such, which could be seen between couples, happen during the investigation. The detective working on the case, in this film, parallels the process of developing a romance.”