Park Chan-wook, the director who put Korean cinema on the map before Bong Joon-ho, with The Handmaiden and The Vengeance Trilogy
Called the country’s most famous director long before Parasite and Bong Joon-ho’s surprise Oscars success, Park’s varied output is both dark and humorous – and often favouring female leads
That is a shame since Park’s creative output has probably been more consistent and inventive than Bong’s throughout their careers. Park rose to prominence internationally with his famous Vengeance Trilogy –Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance – in the 2000s. But he has a number of other critically acclaimed films to his name such as Joint Security Area, Thirst and The Handmaiden, all of which – a measure of Park’s talent – successfully tackle different themes across different genres.
Bong may currently be grabbing the headlines and praise, but Park remains a bravura filmmaker and a director whose work everyone should see. If you’re unfamiliar with the man, here are five things you should know.
His first films were flops
Although he would develop into an acclaimed director, success was not instant for Park. His first film The Moon Is … the Sun’s Dream (1992), about a gangster who has an affair with his boss’ lover, sank without a trace. Park has said the film was so unsuccessful he himself, writing under a different name, was the only person to review it. Five years later he released Trio, which also met with little success. These days the films are relatively forgotten, unavailable for Western audiences and considered unworthy of a director of Park’s eventual talent. It wasn’t until Joint Security Area, released in 2000, that Park found his groove.
He is a self-taught filmmaker
Park’s cinematic education was nothing like as formal as that which exists in Western countries. For much of the 1980s South Korea was ruled by a military dictatorship that restricted certain foreign films. At university, Park studied philosophy. He eventually established a film club as he was hankering for a more creative outlet. Given the political situation, Park’s club had to use illicit VHS copies when showing foreign movies. And those TV channels that did occasionally show edgier international fare in South Korea at this time often did so without Korean subtitles. Park watched them anyway and credits this with helping him develop his particular visual style of filmmaking.
Revenge is not something to be celebrated