The review dedicated to the films of Park Chan-wook SparkChronicles

The film festival dedicated to director Park Chan-wook will start from Monday 23 January in some cinemas in Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Turin, Genoa and Naples.

The review includes the famous revenge trilogy, which consists of films Mr. Vendetta, Old Boy And Lady Vengeancewith Thirst, I’m a Cyborg, but That’s Ok, Stokers And Miss. One title a day to accompany the public to the release of Decision to leave the latest film by the South Korean director, winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and arriving in Italian cinemas from February 2, distributed by Lucky Red.

At the end of the review, a special preview of Decision to Leave will be distributed during which exclusive devices inspired by the film will be distributed.

The titles of the review mr. Vendetta

2002

First chapter of the famous “Trilogy”, lays the foundation of a kind of physiology of revenge itself. Sensational film, Park Chan-wook has never hidden that he views the vengeful act under two different aspects. On the one hand, the idea of ​​revenge as something perversely cathartic. On the other hand, its fulfillment, which the director always describes as something purely irrational and uncontrollable.

Mr. Vendetta

South Korea / 2002 / Thriller, Action / 129 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Im Ji-eun, Han Bo-bae, Lee Dae-yeon, Ki Joo-bong, Kim Se-dong, Lee Yoon-Mi, Ryoo Seung-bum

Written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Mu-yeong, Lee Jae-sun, Lee Jong-yong

old boy

2003

Presented at the Cannes Film Festival and awarded the Grand Jury Prize, it immediately won over critics and is now considered a spearhead of Korean cinema, a true cult film on the Asian scene. An original, taut film with a strong visual impact and full of twists, which captivated viewers from around the world with its immediate and visionary power.

old boy

South Korea / 2003 / Thriller, drama / 120 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Byung-ok, Ji Dae-han, Oh Dal-su, Lee Seung-shin, Yoon Jin-seo, Oh Tae-kyung, Yoo Yeon-seok

Written by Park Chan-wook, Nobuaki Minegishi, Hwang Jo-yoon, Lim Joon-hyung, Garon Tsuchiya

Thirst

2009

Second film by the director presented at Cannes, winner of the Jury Prize. Film much loved by the director, who has never made a secret of considering it one of his best. The realization of the project took a very long time, until the final result was completed: one of Park Chan-wook’s masterpieces.

Thirst

South Korea, USA / 2009 / Horror, thriller / 134 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin, Kim Hae-sook, Shin Ha-kyun, Song Young-chang, Mercedes Cabral, Ériq Ebouaney, Seo Dong-soo, Oh Dal-su, Choi Hee-jin

Written by Park Chan-wook, Chung Seo-kyung, Émile Zola

Lady Vengeance

2005

The third, shocking film of the ‘Trilogy’. As Chan-wook in Mr. Vendetta Park told an unwitting journey to self-destruction of the protagonists, and if in Oldboy violence was an integral and necessary part of the story, in Lady Vengeance the protagonist, rather than pursuing her impulse to take revenge, seeks a way that could guarantee her salvation.

Lady Vengeance

South Korea / 2005 / Thriller, drama / 112 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Lee Young-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kwon Yea-young, Kim Shi-hoo, Nam Il-woo, Kim Byeong-ok, Oh Dal-su, Seung-shin Lee, Seo Young-ju, Kim Bu-seon

Written by Park Chan-wook, Chung Seo-kyung

I’m a Cyborg, but that’s okay

2006

Winner of the Alfred Bauer Prize for most innovative work at the Berlin Film Festival, Park Chan-wook tells the viewer a colorful and wonderful fairy tale. In the images, dialogues and music of rare beauty, he manages to convey delicacy even when the narrative places us in front of scenes worthy of the worst violence.

I’m a cyborg, but that’s okay

South Korea / 2006 / Romance, Drama / 105 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Lim Soo-jung, Rain, Oh Dal-su, Lee Yeong-mi, Kim Chun-gi, Park Jun-myun, Cheon Seong-hoon, Choi Hee-jin, Lee Yong-nyeo, Son Young-soon

Written by Park Chan-wook, Chung Seo-kyung

Stokers

2013

Park Chan-wook’s first feature film in English, starring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode, further consolidates the internationally recognized auteur. Sensual and enigmatic work, full of Hitchcockian echoes.

Stokers

UK, USA / 2013 / Horror, thriller / 99 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Lucas Till, Alden Ehrenreich, Phyllis Somerville, Ralph Brown, Judith Godrèche

Written by Wentworth Miller

miss

2016

Third time for the director in competition at Cannes. A new seductive thriller inspired by the novel Thief by British author Sarah Waters. The director’s first period film that sets the story in colonial Korea and Japan in the 1930s.

Special preview: Decide to leave

Decided to Leave, which was awarded Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, is the new film by Park Chan-wook, who, after the trilogy of revenge, chooses the path of a refined sentimental thriller.

Synopsis: While investigating the death of a man who mysteriously fell from the mountain, Detective Hae Jun meets the elusive Seo-rae, the victim’s young widow, who seems unfazed by her husband’s disappearance and which is precisely the reason for this, immediately becomes the prime suspect of murder. Guilty or innocent? Melancholy and mysterious, the woman succeeds in arousing the detective’s interest and igniting a disruptive passion in him, which will lead to him jeopardizing her profession.

Decided to leave

South Korea / 2022 / Thriller, crime / 138 min.

Directed by Park Chan-wook

With Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Go Kyung-pyo, Kim Shin-young, Yoo Seung-mok, Jung Yi-seo, Jung Young-sook, Lee Hak-joo

Written by Park Chan-wook, Chung Seo-kyung