|
| |
박찬욱
|
| |
朴贊旭
|
| |
Bak Chan-uk
|
| |
Pak Ch'anuk
|
born
August 23 ,
1963 is a
South Korean Director and
Screenwriter . He grew up in
Seoul and studied
Philosophy at the
Sogang University , where he started a cine-club called the 'Film Gang' and published a number of articles on contemporary cinema. On seeing ''
Vertigo '', he resolved to try to become a filmmaker. After graduation, he wrote articles on film for journals, and soon became an assistant director of films like ''Kkamdong'' (Yu Yeong-Jin) and ''A Sketch of a Rainy Day'' (
Kwak Jae-yong ).
His debut feature film was ''
The Moon Is... The Sun's Dream '' (1992), and after 5 years, he made his second film ''Trio'', but the response to these two films were quite cold.
In 2000, Park directed ''
Joint Security Area '', which was a great success both commercially and critically, even surpassing
Kang Je-gyu's ''
Shiri '' as the most-watched film ever made in South Korea. This success made it possible for him to make his next film more independently - ''Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance'' is the result of this creative freedom.
After winning the Grand Prix at the
2004 Cannes Film Festival for the film ''
Oldboy '', a journalist asked "in your film, why is the vengeance repeating?". According to Park, he decided to make three consecutive films with revenge as the central theme. Often thought to be in favor of vengeance, Park has denied this, saying his films are about the utter futility of vengeance and how it wreaks havoc on the lives of everyone involved.
His so-called "vengeance trilogy" consists of ''
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance '', ''
Oldboy '' and ''
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance ''. It was not originally intended to be a trilogy. ''
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance '', cut to ''Lady Vengeance'', is being distributed by
Tartan Films for
American theatrical release in April 2006.
Filming for his next project, a "strange romance" about a mental patient who believes she is a combat cyborg, is slated to begin in March 2006.
Im Su-jeong has been cast as the female lead; Bi (Rain) has been cast as the male lead.
In addition to being a
Film Director and
Screenwriter , Park is also a
Film Critic with several published editions to his name. None have been translated into English as of yet.
Famed American director
Quentin Tarantino is an avowed fan of Park and has publicly disclosed on the show
Jimmy Kimmel Live! that as the head judge in the 2004
Cannes Film Fesitval, he personally pushed for Park's ''
Oldboy '' to be awarded the
Palme D'Or (the honor eventually went to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11). Oldboy garnered the
Grand Jury Prize , the second highest honor in the competition.
