Decision to Leave director Park Chan-wook explains the film’s themes
“I didn’t start out doing a modern take on the noir genre.”
South Korea’s entertainment industry has taken the international scene by storm, from their pop music acts to award-winning shows and features, including parasite and Squid Game. Now comes an expansion of the country’s plethora of hit films Park Chanwook‘s mystery romance film, decision to gomain role Tang Wei as the woman who Park Hae-il‘s character suspected of murder. The director spoke to Variety about what inspired him to take the noir genre path and the reasons behind his decision to add a romantic narrative to his extensive line of violent works.
Park shines at the forefront of the country’s modern feature film scene and boasts an impressive portfolio that explores the darkest side of cinema old boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady revengeand The maid, all of which have received critical acclaim and positive reviews. With its latest feature decision to go—Although it was heavily viewed as a neo-noir film, the director explained that he didn’t initially want to go that route: “To be honest, I didn’t start out with making a modern take on the noir genre, I wanted to start from that genre and then move beyond that.”
Park has always incorporated romance into his films, but viewers can easily overlook this due to the violent nature of his work. So with decision to go, the South Korean filmmaker decided to tone it down a bit. “Before I did this movie, I figured if I told everyone I was doing another love story, would they laugh at me?” Park also told Variety, adding that he caused it himself because the love story was in his films has often been overshadowed by the violence and sex he incorporates into them. He then continued, “So I realized I needed to get rid of that veil so people could see the romantic history that lies within.” I had to tone down the violence and nudity that people adopt [views] my films. And then people will finally be able to see the love story in it.”
decision to go follows Detective Hae-joon as he gets “entangled in a web of deceit and desire” while investigating Seo-rae, a lady he accuses of killing her own husband. Whether her husband’s sudden death from a fall on a hill was an accident, suicide or homicide is still unknown, although the widow appears to be innocent. The film has received major international awards including the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Film, the Grand Bell Award for Best Film and the Grand Bell Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also earned the director the Cannes Best Director Award and the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Director. In addition, the film’s cast members received awards, with the lead actors winning the Blue Dragon Film Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.
The cast of the film also includes Lee Jung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, and Go Kyung-pyoand Jung Yi Seoand it is co-written by thirst screenwriter, Jeong Seo Gyeong. decision to go is now available to stream exclusively on MUBI. You can check out the trailer below.
