Film · Around the world
born 1963 · South Korean
New Korean Cinema
Park Chan-wook is the most baroque stylist of the Korean new wave: a philosophy graduate who turned to film after seeing Hitchcock's Vertigo, and who makes elegant, cruelly funny films about revenge, guilt and desire. The Vengeance Trilogy made his international name, and Oldboy's Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004 — from a jury chaired by Quentin Tarantino — made him a brand. In 2026 he became the first Korean to preside over the Cannes jury.
A man imprisoned in a room for fifteen years without explanation is released, eats a live octopus, fights a corridor of thugs with a hammer, and learns why (2003)
Oldboy — Grand Prix at Cannes 2004 under Quentin Tarantino's jury; from a Japanese manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi.
A deaf factory worker's kidnap plot to pay for his sister's kidney transplant goes wrong for everyone involved (2002)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance — the first part of the Vengeance Trilogy.
A woman leaves prison after thirteen years for a child murder she did not commit, wearing red eyeshadow and carrying a hand-made gun (2005)
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance — the trilogy's close, with Lee Young-ae.
A pickpocket is planted as a Japanese heiress's maid to help a fake count swindle her, in three versions of the same events (2016)
The Handmaiden — from Sarah Waters's Fingersmith, relocated to Korea under Japanese rule; won the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language.
A soldier's death in a hut in the demilitarised zone is investigated by a Swiss-Korean officer, and the truth is friendship across the border (2000)
JSA: Joint Security Area — the film that made him commercially viable in Korea.
An insomniac detective falls for the widow he is investigating for her husband's fall from a mountain, and loses her to the incoming tide (2022)
Decision to Leave — won him Best Director at Cannes in 2022.
A priest becomes a vampire after a botched medical trial and takes up with his friend's wife, from a Zola novel (2009)
Thirst — Jury Prize at Cannes 2009, with Song Kang-ho.
A laid-off paper-mill executive sets about murdering the rival candidates for the job he wants, to keep his house and family (2025)
No Other Choice — from Donald E. Westlake's novel The Ax; premiered at Venice and was South Korea's Oscar submission.