by James Mottram
One of world cinema’s most celebrated directors, Park Chan-wook is back with his masterful new film Decision to Leave. Winning the South Korean the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival when it premiered earlier this year, it’s a striking look at obsession that begins as a Busan detective, Hae-jun (Park Hae-il), is called to a new case, after a man is found dead at the bottom of a vertiginous beauty spot. He turns his attention to the man’s wife, the Chinese-born Seo-rae (Tang Wei), who becomes a major suspect. But as he investigates further, he finds himself falling for her in classic film noir style.
For a filmmaker who is best known for his extreme twists on genre films – vampire saga Thirst, erotic drama The Handmaiden or, most famously, his trilogy Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance – it’s quite a gear change. A nod, perhaps, to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Vertigo, it’s a film that had critics salivating out of Cannes for the nuanced, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them subtleties of character and location.
Through his trusty translator, Park spoke to FilmInk during Cannes about film noir, his ambivalence to action and shooting for TV.
Early on in Decision to Leave, we see Hae-jun literally retrace his steps up the mountain that the dead husband has fallen from. What does this say about him?
“As Hae-jun says himself when asked ‘Why do you have to go up like this?’, he says ‘This is the route that the person went up and it is our duty as policemen to go up like this.’ And it shows his pride, his professionalism, his sense of responsibility as a detective and policeman but also the fact that he is the person who would always go by the book.”
Why was it important for your main female character to be Chinese?
“I’m afraid my answer will disappoint you a little bit because there was no artistic or philosophical reason behind this decision. I and my co-writer [Seo-kyeong Jeong] are big fans of Tang Wei and when we started this project, we literally had nothing to base it on. It was just a white page, a big canvas to draw on. But we both loved Tang Wei. So, it was a given – this person is going to be a Chinese. That was the starting point and then we thought, ‘Why is she here? What does she do in Korea?’ From those questions, we started to give depth and dimensions to the character. And we both love describing a character who is isolated and lonely… being a Chinese [person] living in Korea, whose society is quite excluding foreigners… so we thought the setting and the character’s nationality and the premise was just perfect.”
Do you see Decision to Leave as a film noir?
“This film could be defined as a film noir. And that’s what is seen when you watch the trailer. But I tell my people that ‘Let’s be careful on that.’ I don’t want this film to be seen as just that, I would like to see more emphasis on the romantic side of this film. And if you see the police investigation aspect of this film, you see a man and a woman meet and they are exploring, they are testing each other, they’re trying to find out what the other person’s thinking, what their true intentions are. So that kind of investigation, that kind of exploration… they are trying to solve the mystery of the other person. And when they finally find out the other person’s true intentions and their thoughts, then the mystery is solved. So, if you say that this film is about investigation… it’s not just from the point of view of the policeman. It’s also from the suspect or the woman’s side – she is also trying to find out and she is the detective in this drama. And the reason why I don’t want my film to be labelled as a film noir is because within that frame, when there’s a strong woman character, then that woman is automatically defined as a femme fatale, and I don’t want Tang Wei’s character to define it as such.”
Are you a big fan of shooting action scenes? Despite a deliberate change of space, you still feature one thrilling fight…
“Well, I’m not a big fan of shooting action scenes… I would avoid it if I can. And I only include those scenes for the sake of the character, just like the fighting scene where the detective wears that iron glove; that was a necessary scene for the character. That’s why that scene was there. That’s why I shot that scene. And if I have to shoot something, I want to do it impeccably… but then that doesn’t mean that I enjoy shooting it. I mean, all my previous films – and perhaps my future projects that will come to me – will deal with violence. And that’s why action scenes are necessary, right? I would shoot it, even though I don’t quite like to do it.”
How was the editing process?
“I calculated the time wrong, so after the first cut, I found that the running time was just too long! The process of reducing the running time was quite long and it was a very rigorous process. I went frame by frame and if there was any one frame that I could cut out, then I would do that. There’s a Korean saying: one dust [particle] plus one… but if each dust accumulates together then it will become a big mountain. Just like that. We thought about each frame… and we did that for a very long time. And, at the end, the result is quite effective. I think that’s why my film became like this machine, whose nuts and bolts are tightened to the very end and everything’s compact and dense and tight all together – so it’s very tense.”
You made The Little Drummer Girl prior to Decision to Leave. What does a TV limited series give you that feels different to a movie?
“Of course, making a film specific for the cinemas, that is my top priority because that allows you to watch in a standardised image quality and sound and you get the full concentration and attention from the audience. However, there is a fundamental merit to making TV series as opposed to film. One, you can tell a very long story and, second, you can explore a variety of characters.”
When you made The Little Drummer Girl, were you a big fan of John le Carré?
“Yes – ever since I read his work in my high school years, I always wanted to make a film or series or any content based on his work. And it was in Cannes when I came here with The Handmaiden that I asked my people to arrange a meeting for me to sit down with some producers, so that I can make the series.
“Making The Little Drummer Girl was a dream come true. Because to me, that was one of the best works ever [by le Carré]. But at the time, the reaction or the critics’ assessment, on that novel was not up to par, in my opinion, so I thought I would love to take this novel and make it into a TV series and hopefully I’ll be able to show just how great it was.”
How do you think about your audience when you make a movie?
“I always put myself into the shoes of the audience. I tried to imagine myself as an audience who doesn’t know anything of my film. I can’t really imagine any specific person. But I think of myself as a movie lover. And if I’m just a regular movie lover who’s in the cinema, how will I see my film? And of course, I can’t completely transform myself into that person. That’s impossible, but it’s something that I keep on trying to train myself, to practice that. In that sense, at that moment, I’m me but at the same time, I’m not me.”
Decision to Leave is in cinemas October 20, 2022
