GR425 | Festival Catalog | Evelyn Lu

PARK CHAN-WOOK FILM FESTIVAL

GUIDING BOOK

“In my opinion, all relationships between people have some sort of violence, and it is central.”

— Park Chan–wook

CONTENTS

01 His Black

Director Biography Filmgraphy Selected Awards

02 Films

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance Oldboy Lady Vengeance Stoker The Handmaiden

03 Into Black Desire Festival Theme Festival Location Festival Schedule

1

His Black Director Biography Filmgraphy Selected Awards

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

PARK CHAN-WOOK A SOUTH KOREAN FILM DIRECTOR

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“The audience seems hazy to me, shrouded in a veil through which I can’t see.”

BIOGRAPHY Park Chan-wook, a South Korean film director. He is considered as one of the greatest filmmakers in the Korean film industry. His work has been admired by many famous directors, including Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino even went on to cast his vote for Park’s popular movie, ‘Oldboy,’ helping it win the Grand Prix Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Park is known for embellishing world cinema with visually mesmerizing movies, such as ‘Joint Security Area,’ ‘Thirst,’ ‘Oldboy,’ ‘Lady Vengeance,’ etc.

His movies often display violence as they usually deal with intense subject matter. Not surprisingly, he has been targeted by journalists and critics for producing violent movies that glorify vengeance, but Park reckons that as an artist, he has complete freedom when it comes to capturing the essence of an emotion. In spite of making movies that display excessive violence, Park is one of the most celebrated directors in Korea.

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

FILMOGRAPHY

1992

The Moon Is…the Sun’s Dream

1997

Trio

2000

Joint Security Area

2000

Anarchists

2001

The Humanist

2002

A Bizarre Love Triangle

2002

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

2003

Oldboy

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“Certain subjects may no longer be taboo in cinema. But there are ways to treat them that still create shock.”

2005

Lady Vengeance

2005

Boy Goes to Heaven

2006

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok

2009

Thirst

2013

Snowpiercer

2013

Stoker

2016

The Handmaiden

2016

The Truth Beneath

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

AWARDS SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE 2003

Berlin International Film Festival

2019

Locarno International Film Festival

2002

Toronto International Film Festival

2002

Seattle International Film Festival

OLDBOY 2004

Cannes Film Festival Winner: Grand Prize of the Jury

2005

Sundance Film Festival

2004

Toronto International Film Festival

2005

SXSW Film Festival

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LADY VENGEANCE 2005

Venice Film Festival 3 wins including: Best Film in Competition (CinemAvvenire’ Award)

2015

New York Film Festival

2015

Toronto International Film Festival

2005

BFI London Film Festival

THE HANDMAIDEN 2016

Cannes Film Festival Winner: Vulcain Prize for the Technical Artist

2017

nternational Film Festival Rotterdam

2016

Village Voice Film Poll 2 nominations including: Best Film

2016

Indiewire Critics’ Poll 5 nominations including: Best Film

STOKER 2013

Sundance Film Festival

2013

International Film Festival Rotterdam

2013

CPH:PIX

“I guess I probably make violent films partly because I can’t express my anger in my real life very well.”

2

Films Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance Oldboy Lady Vengeance Stoker The Handmaiden

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE

“I know you’re a good guy... but you know why I have to kill you... ”

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE Urgently in need of the money to pay for his gravely ill sister’s kidney transplant, Ryu, a punky deaf-mute factory worker, resorts to kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy industrialist—an act of desperation which leads to a series of events that spiral into a bloody cycle of violence and revenge.

PLOT Ryu, a young factory worker, has recently quit art school in order to look after his sister, who is dying a slow, agonizing death for want of a kidney. When a doctor tells Ryu that he is an unsuitable donor and that the chances of finding one is slim, Ryu turns to the black market. But the old lady who runs an underground organ ring cheats him, taking both his life savings and his kidney and leaving him without the kidney she promised in exchange. Ryu’s girlfriend, a Raggedy-Ann leftist named Young-Min, urges Ryu to kidnap the four-year-old daughter of industrialist owner Dong-

Jin Park, who recently laid off Ryu and many other workers from his factory.

Ryu agrees, but just as the plan is on the verge of success, Ryu’s sister discovers what Ryu and Youngmin have been up to, and kills herself in despair. Compounding the tragedy, Ryu loses track of his little illicit charge during a visit to his childhood haunts, and she drowns in the river Ryu and his sister played in as kids. Dong-jin’s deep grief quickly turns to rage and he embarks on an implacable quest for vengeance. At the same time, Ryu goes after the organ traders, knowing that if they had come through, none of the tragic occurrences would ever have happened. Bound by their common sense of loss and deep-seated anger, the two are on a collision course of revenge.

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INFO Director:

Park Chan-wook

Producer:

Lee Tae-heon, Im Jingyu

Writer:

Jae-sun Lee, Mu-yeong Lee

OLDBOY

“Laugh and the world laughs with you.

Weep, and you weep alone.”

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

OLDBOY Imprisoned by a mysterious, sadistic captor for 15 years, Oh Dae-su survives only because of his will to get even with the villain who has made his life a living hell. But when he’s suddenly released without explanation, he finds himself further plunged into a Kafkaesque conspiracy.

PLOT Oldboy begins in 1988 when the main character, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), is mysteriously kidnapped on the night of his daughter’s birthday. For fifteen years, Oh Dae-su is confined to a hotel room without reason. His only window to the outside world is a television set. Through the television he learns that is wife has been murdered. In his strange absence he becomes the main suspect. Each day Dae-su practices boxing and attempts escape.

One day, Dae-su is released on the roof of an apartment building. From a small

trunk, he emerges into the world. Unable to figure out why he was kidnapped or who kidnapped him, he goes to a sushi restaurant where he meets Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung). Oh Dae-su faints at the restaurant and Mi-do takes him back to her apartment. Upon waking, Daesu briefly loses self-control and tries to attack Mi-do. However, the two reconcile and become friends. Mi-do agrees to help Dae-su search for his daughter.

They learn that Dae-su’s daughter was adopted by a Swedish family after his wife was murdered. Distraught by the news, Dae-su continues to search for his kidnapper. He tracks down the restaurant that made the dumplings he ate each day in captivity. From there he finds the delivery boy and then the make-shift prison. Returning to the private prison to get information, Dae-su must later fight his way out of the building. The famous fight scene involves

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INFO Director:

Park Chan-wook

Producer:

Kim Dong-ju

Writer:

Joon-hyung Lim

Dae-su armed with a hammer against multiple henchmen.

Eventually, Dae-su and his captor meet.

His captor Lee Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-tae) gives Dae-su five days to solve the mystery of his imprisonment. If he solves the mystery, Woo-jin will kill himself, if Daesu cannot solve the mystery, Woo-jin will kill Mi-do. Dae-su and Mi-do work together to understand Dae-su’s imprisonment and in the process fall in love.

In a moment of intense passion the two have sex. Dae-su begins to put together the pieces of his connection to Woo-jin, realizing that they both attended the same high school. As a teenager, Daesu witnessed Woo-jin and his sister’s incestuous relationship. Dae-su then accidentally spreads the rumor of their relationship and Soo-ah (Woo-jin’s sister) commits suicide.

Solving the mystery, Dae-su rushes to

Woo-jin’s penthouse apartment. There, Woo-jin reveals that Mi-do is actually Dae-su’s daughter and that he used hypnosis to orchestrate their meeting and attraction. In a moment of extreme anguish, Dae-su cuts out his own tongue, Woo-jin commits suicide, and the penthouse fills with blood.

In a flash-forward, Dae-su is hypnotized again to forget the terrible act he has committed. Dae-su and Mi-do meet again, but the success of the hypnosis is unclear.

LADY VENGEANCE

“Ma’am, there is no such thing as a “perfect person.”

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

LADY VENGEANCE After being wrongfully convicted, a woman is imprisoned for 13 years and forced to give up her daughter.

While in prison she gains the respect of her cellmates and plots her revenge on the man responsible. Once released, she begins her elaborate plan of retribution, but discovers a horrifying truth.

PLOT The story begins with Lee Geum-ja’s unfortunately involvement with the kidnapping and murder of a 5 year old boy, Won-mo. The antagonist Mr. Baek not only murdered that young boy but kidnapped Lee Geum-ja baby girl and threatened to kill her too if Lee Geum-ja didn’t confess to Won-mo’s murder. She did and serves 13 years in prison. Her daughter was adopted by a kind couple in Australia. In prison, Lee Geum-ja underwent an apparent spiritual transformation earning her the nickname “Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja.” In fact, unknown to the prison authorities, she orchestrated n elaborate murder of the most aggressive (the “Witch”) of the inmates in her cell-block. This earned her both respect and a debt from the victims of the Witch, a debt that, when

she is eventually released, that includes gifts of food, shelter, and weapons. Now free, Geum-ja discovers that her teenage daughter, now estranged and called Jenny, was adopted by Australian parents. They exchange letters and Jenny agrees to a short visit to South Korea to bond with her biological mother. Lee Geum-ja discovers Mr. Baek is now a children’s teacher at a children’s preschool and has continued his string of child murders.

Unknown to him, Mr Baek has married an ex-convict Geum-ja planted with him.

Mr. Baek is afraid of Geum-ja and tries to have Geum-ja and Jenny kidnapped by associates. In the ensuing battle, Geum-ja kills both kidnappers (with an ornately beautiful double-barrelled pistol), while Mr. Baek is subdued by his wife. Lee Geum-ja is distressed by the murders Mr Baek has caused while she

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INFO

was in prison and searches for clues as to who the victims are. She discovered Mr Baek’s cell phone is attached to a charm bracelet, which each charm represents a child he has killed. She uses that to track down the parents and relatives of the your children Mr Baek kidnapped, tortured and murdered. She gathers them all in an abandoned schoolhouse, where they all meet in a large classroom.

The outraged group of parents and grandparents heatedly deliberates on Mr. Baek’s fate, tied up in a room nearby.

They decide as a group to take turns torturing Mr Baek, they decide what weapons to use based on how their own child died, and who would be allowed to kill him (a grandmother using a pair of school scissors from her grandson’s classroom). The film ends with Lee Geum-ja giving her daughter a white cake and instructs her daughter to “live white” (a Korean symbol of purity). Jenny

Director:

Park Chan-wook

Producer:

Lee Tae-heon, Jo Yeonguk

Writer:

Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-gyeong

tastes the cake and says Geum-ja should live pure too. As the white snow falls around them, Geum-ja buries her face in the white cake, sobbing, while Jenny wraps her arms around her.

STOKER

“Sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.”

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

STOKER After India’s father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

Evelyn's delight and India's chagrin.

PLOT On her 18th birthday, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska)—a girl with a strong acuteness of the senses—has her life turned upside down after her loving father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) dies in a horrific car accident. She is left with her unstable mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman).

At Richard's funeral, Evelyn and India are introduced to Richard's charismatic brother Charlie (Matthew Goode), who has spent his life traveling the world.

India, who didn't know Charlie existed, is perturbed by his presence. He announces that he is staying indefinitely to help support India and Evelyn, much to

Shortly after, India witnesses Charlie argue with Mrs. McGarrick (Phyllis Somerville), the head caretaker of the house.

Mrs. McGarrick complains to Charlie that she has been his "eyes and ears" since he was a boy. Mrs. McGarrick then disappears. Charlie and Evelyn grow intimate while India continues to rebuff his attempts to befriend her. Later, her great aunt Gwendolyn (Jacki Weaver Gwendolyn ends up changing hotels due to an unexplained fear and suspicion of Charlie. However, she loses her cell phone and tries to call the Stokers' home from her hotel payphone. Charlie corners her in the phone booth and strangles her to death with his belt.

Meanwhile, India discovers Mrs. McGarrick's body in the freezer and realizes Charlie is a murderer.

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INFO

India unleashes her inner aggression at school and stabs a bully, Chris Pitts (Lucas Till), in the hand with a pencil after he tries to land a surprise punch to her head. This draws the attention of another classmate, Whip Taylor (Alden Ehrenreich). India goes home and witnesses Evelyn and Charlie growing intimate. She wanders off to a local diner where she runs into Whip. She and Whip go into the woods where they proceed to make out until India aggressively bites him.

Whip attempts to rape India until Charlie intervenes, and breaks Whip's neck with his belt while Whip's body lies on top of India. India aids Charlie in burying the body in her garden. She attempts to call Gwendolyn, but hears her phone ring in the garden, realizing Charlie killed her too. India takes a shower and masturbates to the memory of the murder, climaxing as she remembers Charlie breaking Whip's neck.

Director:

Park Chan-wook

Producer:

Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Costigan

Writer:

Wentworth Miller

THE HANDMAIDEN

“You can even curse at me or steal things from me. But please don’t lie to me. Understand?”

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

THE HANDMAIDEN In Japanese-occupied Korea, a conman operating under the sobriquet of “Count Fujiwara” hires a pickpocket named Sook-Hee from a family of con artists to become the maid of the mysterious heiress Lady Hideko, whom Fujiwara plans to marry and to commit to an asylum in order to steal her inheritance.

PLOT The story begins with Lee Geum-ja’s unfortunately involvement with the kidnapping and murder of a 5 year old boy, Won-mo. The antagonist Mr. Baek not only murdered that young boy but kidnapped Lee Geum-ja baby girl and threatened to kill her too if Lee Geum-ja didn’t confess to Won-mo’s murder. She did and serves 13 years in prison. Her daughter was adopted by a kind couple in Australia. In prison, Lee Geum-ja underwent an apparent spiritual transformation earning her the nickname “Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja.” In fact, unknown to the prison authorities, she orchestrated n elaborate murder of

the most aggressive (the “Witch”) of the inmates in her cell-block. This earned her both respect and a debt from the victims of the Witch, a debt that, when she is eventually released, that includes gifts of food, shelter, and weapons. Now free, Geum-ja discovers that her teenage daughter, now estranged and called Jenny, was adopted by Australian parents. They exchange letters and Jenny agrees to a short visit to South Korea to bond with her biological mother. Lee Geum-ja discovers Mr. Baek is now a children’s teacher at a children’s preschool and has continued his string of child murders.

Unknown to him, Mr Baek has married an ex-convict Geum-ja planted with him.

Mr. Baek is afraid of Geum-ja and tries to have Geum-ja and Jenny kidnapped by associates. In the ensuing battle,

37

INFO

Geum-ja kills both kidnappers (with an ornately beautiful double-barrelled pistol), while Mr. Baek is subdued by his wife. Lee Geum-ja is distressed by the murders Mr Baek has caused while she was in prison and searches for clues as to who the victims are. She discovered Mr Baek’s cell phone is attached to a charm bracelet, which each charm represents a child he has killed. She uses that to track down the parents and relatives of the your children Mr Baek kidnapped, tortured and murdered. She gathers them all in an abandoned schoolhouse, where they all meet in a large classroom.

The outraged group of parents and grandparents heatedly deliberates on Mr. Baek’s fate, tied up in a room nearby.

They decide as a group to take turns torturing Mr Baek, they decide what weapons to use based on how their own child died, and who would be allowed

Director:

Park Chan-wook

Producer:

Kim Dong-ju

Writer:

Joon-hyung Lim

to kill him (a grandmother using a pair of school scissors from her grandson’s classroom). The film ends with Lee Geum-ja giving her daughter a white cake and instructs her daughter to “live white” (a Korean symbol of purity). Jenny tastes the cake and says Geum-ja should live pure too. As the white snow falls around them, Geum-ja buries her face in the white cake, sobbing, while Jenny wraps her arms around her.

“Living without hate for people is almost impossible.”

3

Into Black Desi Festival Theme Festival Location Festival Schedule

ire

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

FESTIVAL THEME FESTIVAL SUMMARY Park Chan-wook’s dark and violent aesthetic puts Korean Cinema on the Map, where he combines dark humor, a painterly sense of composition and lots of gore. But behind the violence is a deep humanity - and a love of the absurd.

In honor of Park Chan-wook’s birthday on August 23, the Korean Film Museum has decided to open a special weeklong Black Desire Film Festival exhibition in tribute to his “Revenge Trilogy. In collaboration with MUBI, a selection of their films will be available for free viewing on their website during the event.

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BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

BLACK DESIRE

PARK CHAN-WOOK

FESTIVAL LOCATION ADDRESS The festival will take place at the Korean Film Museum in Seoul, Korea, featuring an exhibition and live viewing of selected films by Park Chan-wook and the stories behind the creation of the films. There will also be special events where you can try to participate in the film production process, see scenes from the films, and feel the emotions presented in the films up close.

For those who can't make it to the festival, the festival will also collaborate with MUBI so you can watch Park Chan-wook's films online for free during the festival event.

ACCESS

SUBWAY

Digital Media City Station (Seoul Subway Airport Railroad Road, Gyeongui Jungang Line, and Line 6), Exit 9.

Walk straight for approx. 490m.

Turn left and walk straight for approx. 110m.

Turn right at the intersection and walk for approx. 190m.

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PARK CHAN-WOOK

SCHEDULE

Day 1 | Fri. SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE | 2 pm Deaf-mute Ryu (Shin Hagyun) has just been fired from his job in a Seoul, South Korea, factory, and the timing couldn't be worse. His sister (Im Ji-eun) is suffering from kidney trouble, and she needs a transplant that Ryu himself can't provide. Ryu and his girlfriend (Rachel Lillian Goldberg) then kidnap the daughter of wealthy tycoon Park (Song Kang-ho) to raise the money, but an unexpected disaster strikes, and Park launches a bloody quest for revenge that leaves many dead and puts Ryu's life in danger.

24 th

23 th

BLACK DESIRE

Day 2 | Sat. OLDBOY | 4 pm Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he's abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company.

And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailor with a denouement that is simply stunning.

27 th

Day 3 | Sun. LADY VENGEANCE | 3 pm Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has spent the last 13 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit. She's fantasized about getting revenge on the various people who wronged her, including the police officer (Nam Il-u) who forced her to confess and a shady teacher (Choi Min-sik) with whom she has a checkered past. After her release, she teams up with a group of eccentric friends she made while behind bars and sets out to clear her name and find the daughter she was forced to leave behind.

26 th

25 th

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Day 4 | Mon. STOKER| 2 pm India Stoker's (Mia Wasikowska) world comes crashing down when her father (Jacki Weaver) dies in a car accident.

Adding to the girl's emotionol turmoil is the sudden arrival of Charlie (Matthew Goode), an uncle whom she never knew existed. Charlie moves in with India and her unstable mother (Nicole Kidman), and soon India begins to suspect that this charming and mysterious man has ulterior motives. However, instead of feeling alarmed, India becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

Day 5 | Tue. THE HANDMAIDEN | 4 pm In Japanese-occupied Korea, a conman operating under the sobriquet of “Count Fujiwara” hires a pickpocket named Sook-Hee from a family of con artists to become the maid of the mysterious heiress Lady Hideko, whom Fujiwara plans to marry and to commit to an asylum in order to steal her inheritance.

“It is not possible for a person to be completely free of sin and be squeaky clean.”

“I have always meticulously storyboarded my films from beginning to end.”

— Park Chan–wook

© 2021 Annotated Process Book Designed by Evelyn Lu. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission.

Project Visual System for film Festival Academy of Art University Designer Evelyn Lu Instructor & Class Hunter Wimmer GR 425 Visual System2

BLACK DESIRE PARK CHAN-WOOK FILM FESTIVAL KOREAN FILM MUSEUM MUBI More Info : blackdesire.info