Celebrating K Drama Chat turning four years old
Our reactions to watching the BTS concert live on Netflix and its deep connection to Korean culture, including the meaning behind “Arirang”
Why No Other Choice feels like a movie for our times, especially in light of job loss, automation, and AI-driven disruption
The fascinating 15+ year journey of the screenplay and how Park Chan-wook adapted a Western novel into a deeply Korean story
Lee Byung Hun’s portrayal of an “ordinary salaryman” pushed into desperation, and how his emotional range makes Yoo Man Soo both terrifying and sympathetic
Son Ye Jin’s nuanced performance as Mi Ri—a loving but resilient wife whose loyalty is pushed to its absolute limits
The symbolism of the paper industry and how work becomes identity, making job loss feel like the loss of self
The concept of shame (via Brené Brown) and how Yoo Man Soo embodies withdrawal, people-pleasing, and ultimately violence
The house as the story’s MacGuffin—representing pride, history, identity, and the one thing Man Soo refuses to lose
The progression of Man Soo’s moral collapse, from humiliation to rationalization to calculated violence
Mi Ri’s devastating moral dilemma and why she ultimately chooses to stay, raising questions about love, survival, and “no other choice”
The chilling ending: Man Soo alone in a fully automated factory, symbolizing the triumph of machines over people
The use of dark humor and absurdity to make an otherwise horrifying story both watchable and unsettlingly funny
Standout filmmaking choices, including tight framing, distant voyeuristic shots, and the striking final montage with Ri-one’s cello performance
Our favorite lines, the film’s provocative title, and what we think happens to this family after the story ends.
References
Some interesting details from No Other Choice that non-Koreans may have missed : r/movies
MARAIS: Le badinage, Livre IV - L'Achéron & François Joubert-Caillet
Park Chan-wook and the Funny Thing About Stomach-Churning Horror - The New York Times
'No Other Choice' Ending Explained: What Park Chan-wook Wants To Say About AI
K Drama Chat is a weekly podcast where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. K Drama Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora.
I enjoyed the movie and the acting of the whole cast is stellar! I wish we can also have an episode about The King's Warden, another great movie that's currently breaking records.
ReplyDeleteYes, not much elements on this movie, but I'm 100% sure the next episode (Dynamite Kiss) will make up for it 🤣!
Hello Ellen. I'm glad you enjoyed this movie as much as we did. I also heard about The King's Warden, which is starring Park Ji Hoon, who was so good in Weak Hero Class One. I would love to see this, whether in the theaters, or streaming when it becomes available.
DeleteWe're also looking forward to talking about Dynamite Kiss!
Hi Ellen. The King's Warden sounds great. It has left theaters in my area. I'll have to check it out on streaming!
DeleteYes, Dynamite Kiss has *all* the elements!
ReplyDeleteNo Other Choice sounds amazing, but since I couldn't even bring myself to listen to the descriptions of torture/murder on the podcast, I doubt I'd 'enjoy' it.
The plot is classic capital-T Tragedy, and it would make a great opera. (Love the cello soundtrack.)
Re the final comments, I know it was a slip of the tongue, but a dentist with ghost clients doesn't sound beyond the realm of possibility for a Kdrama. Maybe a forensic dentist? :)
I watched the BTS Netflix concert, loved the concept and the costuming, and while this latest dark, shouty album is not my style, I've added Mikrokosmos to my Kpop playlist.
Hi Doremi! I am loving Phantom Lawyer. It's totally my style of show!
DeleteAnd Mikrokosmos is my favorite BTS song! Yay!
I have been waiting for this episode on No Other Choice. I've watched it end of October last year when it was screened in Asia. It has the same vibe as Parasite, but for me the latter is more Korean. Excellent acting from our beloved Korean actors.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Parasite, I hope you do an episode on it. It's actually my gateway to Korean media. After they won the Oscars, I got curious and watched it. And there are so many things I didn't understand at first, but after several viewing, the story made sense.
Congratulations on being #2 on Feedspot. I'm also a listener of the Afternoona ladies before I found you guys. I'm more of a deep dive per episode kind of person.
Irma, thank you for listening and commenting. It was really intense watching No Other Choice so many times, and then analyzing it. I felt a bit of imposter syndrome because so many publications did official reviews of this movie, like the New York Times, and RogerEbert.com. Who are we to review this movie? But we loved doing it anyway. I got so much more out of this movie after watching it three times and then analyzing it for hours with Sung Hee!
DeleteListening to the episode, now that it's out, gave me another thought about why Ri-one started playing the cello at the end. I think supporting Ri-one playing the cello was the underlying motive for all of Mansu and probably Miri's actions. They gave up or were ready to give up pretty much everything else they had, including their house. But they were not going to sacrifice her cello lessons and when her teacher said she needed a more expensive instructor and instrument, they didn't argue. I will have to ask Ellen Sullivan if this qualifies as a MacGuffin for the story. So then, when Mansu gets a job again and their family's financial future looks secure, it is clear that Ri-one's cello playing is no longer in jeopardy. Maybe this is why she starts playing where her family can hear her.
ReplyDeleteI think all of their actions were in service to the entire family, but especially to their autistic daughter. They’re brilliant autistic daughter. I don’t know if that qualifies as a McGuffin, but it certainly was a motivator for the entire family. They feel protective of her proud of her and they know that she’s going to have to have their help for the rest of her life. I also think that it’s interesting that her repeating notable things that she has heard from her parents makes her very much like her father who was also very suggestible in his madness to what he heard from others like father like daughter. I would never have noticed this correlation if it weren’t for Joanna and Sung, he’s careful and thorough analysis of this show. I certainly didn’t see it both times that I saw the movie.
ReplyDeleteI just loved this movie because it shows as they noted that when things get tough we are all vulnerable to losing our humanity. As a society, we really need to guard against that, because without it our lives mean nothing.
Ellen, that's such a great point: depending on life's circumstances, we are vulnerable to losing our humanity. In the movie, it appears the father's murderous efforts have ultimately paid off, but it seems to be fool's gold. This is a very different family at the end of the film -- the wife is now literally in bed with a murderer (how long is he safe in that job anyway?), and the son seems destined for very bad things.
DeleteAnd I also missed the father's suggestibility mirroring his daughter's echolalia. Fascinating!
Ellen, wow, yes! The daughter was the McGuffin! The whole family was motivated by protecting the daughter, including the brother! Wow!
DeleteJeff and Ellen, yes, this movie makes us realize the things we are driven to do when desperate enough. And when it comes to family, what won't we do? it's a question for the ages!
The sweet family we saw at the beginning of the movie is very different at the end. How will they endure, especially the wife?
I saw this film when it came out, it was my favorite movie of the year, and I'm so appreciative that you covered it. I think it's one of those films you just have to SEE, because a plot description sounds fairly ludicrous. The filmmaking in particular is top-notch, and reminds me of Hitchcock, among others. The cast was phenomenal. It's a very dark comedy, successfully realized (if the main character had been a GOOD or even competent serial killer, it wouldn't have worked).
ReplyDeleteAs you discussed, the initial scenes show an idyllic family living the dream, in a gorgeous house. As the film goes on, the viewer begins to see cracks in the facade -- they do seem to be a loving couple, but later we learn about his earlier drinking problem and some abuse. The youngest child seems cute and quirky, but we learn she has some pretty serious challenges.
I was a bit surprised when you said the son was probably stealing cell phones to help out his family. That was not my takeaway at the time, but it's very possible I missed that element, and I've only seen it the one time. This was another crack in the facade -- the delinquent son was getting a host of sh*tty lessons from his father, who was essentially teaching him that ethics and personal responsibility were overrated and the important thing was never getting caught. The son seemed mildly guilty about dodging justice, but then the sight of dad in the greenhouse was the stuff of nightmares. The father and son were eventually "bonding" with cigarettes over some deep, dark secrets. I'm thinking this is not great for the psyche, and this kid is destined for MAJOR trouble as his life unfolds!
The last scene of our protagonist in his "dream job" continues to haunt me. As he celebrates his success, the filmmaker zooms out, giving us a sense of this tiny, lone human in a massive, automated paper factory. It certainly seems a hollow victory (we can imagine his job security is nil) and he's come a long way from the dutiful worker we see in the beginning of the film, concerned with job losses of the people he works side-by-side with.
A.I. looms large in this film, as it does in the current day. While no one has yet offered a plan of what to do about the inevitable human toil of potentially tens of millions of jobs disappearing almost overnight, we are told that there is "no other choice" -- if we don't control and dominate A.I. before rival nations, our country will suffer. Yes, A.I. requires massive amounts of energy and can decimate the environment (cue the film's footage of all those trees being destroyed), but this is not the time to ponder climate change and water shortages because we have No Other Choice. We are reminded that A.I. investment is now the one thing holding up our mighty economy -- who are you to question it -- do you want to wreck the nation's economy? We have NO OTHER CHOICE.
Jeff, thank you for your comments. We are haunted by the words NO OTHER CHOICE. We all have to learn to use AI to increase productivity. We have no other choice. We need to eliminate jobs to increase profitability. We have no other choice. We need to replace workers with robots. We have no other choice.
DeleteAll of this is chilling. Remember Wall E? Is that where we're headed?
Remember Marvel's Agents of Shield? Mac says, "the AIs ALWAYS go bad!"
The last scene of Man su alone in the factory is chilling. The scene of the machines tearing the trees is nerve-wracking.
Thanks for going on the journey with us.
I loved this film, and I have already seen it twice in Cinema. An instant favourite.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was going to say a lot, but the podcast was so good, there is not a lot to add. So, just few quick things, mainly disagreements.
* The title “No Other Choice” (or even it can’t be helped) is ironic imo, because all those who used this phrase had other choices. Mansu, while certainly a victim at the beginning, wasn’t that desperate.
The phrase is ultimately an excuse to justify actions.
I think his motives were a mixture of maintaining his life style, and his pride. Men, especially in Eastern societies, are expected to be the providers. To a great extent, even in the West, the man is expected to be the breadwinner.
Providing for the family is not a mere necessity to meet their needs, but also a matter of pride, self worth, and self esteem. There is no doubt whatsoever he loves his family and wants the best for them, but I believe there is also a personal aspect.
...and that is why I disagree with what Sung-hee added in the blog (not the podcast) that this was somehow triggered to help the daughter. She is just one element of the package called family imo.
I am an odd one when it comes to the daughter. I have seen so many interpretations about her. To me she was insignificant side character. A cute, and unusual child.
*I also disagree about the son. He is just delinquent. I couldn’t see any evidence that he stole those phones to help. There was nothing in the entire film that showed he had concern about the family. He was just stealing with his mate for his own benefit.
*The film, although over the top, is actually realistic. People, rarely, go after the real source of their misery. Instead, they go after some other victim. Mansu can’t beat the corporations, but he can kill another fellow job hunter.
*I found the 2nd killing the hardest to watch. That guy was pitiful.
* To me the last scene was the robot cutting the trees. I thought it had double meaning. The machine are replacing humans, and we are a bit like those trees.
*The glass shot is phenomenal.
*The loud music sequence is one of the best ever. Loved the song as well.
I am still not watching any Kdrama, but I have watched the graduation film (Incoherence) of Bong Joon Ho. It is a short (31mins) where you can see lots of his ideas that he later perfected and polished.
I am very happy to read that Heom Hye-ran has been finally cast as a lead in a new film. She has now finally gained that star quality after so many amazing recent performances.
Finally, Park Chan-Wook is a legend. I have seen 4 of his movies and gave 2 of them 5/5 even though I rarely give full score. And, I haven’t yet seen his most famous film (Old Boy).
His visuals are stunning. “A decision to leave” might not be a masterpiece, but its visuals are more impressive than this one. And the final sequence of that film is unforgettable!!. It also has fantastic theme song.
The Handmaiden is SOO beautiful to look at. I have seen it maybe 5 times. I never get tired from admiring those costumes and set designs!
Seven Seas, thank you for your comments!
DeleteYou know, maybe Sung Hee and I were wrong about the son. We *thought* he looked remorseful, but perhaps you and Jeff are right that he is a delinquent, made more so by his father and the father's bad morals and life lessons. I meant, the father did used to beat the son!
I have now seen No Other Choice three times and each time, I saw more, and I learned more. The acting, the dark humor, the music, the cinematography -- all of it brilliant.
I am reading Human Acts by Han Kong. It's haunting and very, very good.
I am also reading We'll Prescribe a Cat and it is wonderful and charming.
Wow, the depth of comments that people make on this blog is the reason that Joanna and I put as much as we can into these discussions.
ReplyDeleteA couple more thoughts, responding to the above comments:
Such a great point to draw the parallel between Ri-one's echolalia and Mansu's imitation and repetition of what he sees.
I agree that the son's motivation might not have been so altruistic to help his mother, but that was what Dongho told his father when he was caught. Maybe he did intend to help his mother, or maybe not. In any case, going forward, with the examples set by his parents, he will probably head down the wrong path in life.
The daughter, to me, is an enigma. I can not help thinking there is a deeper significance to her role in the story, but I can only guess what that is. Seven Seas, I know you don't agree, but the fact that she played her cello for the first time where her family could hear her, to me, had to mean something.
The title of the film, No Other Choice, is telling as well. Remember that the original story written by Donald E. Westlake and the subsequent 2005 film were both titled The Ax. So many aspects to this phrase, as you all have pointed out. Whole volumes could be written on this subject. In the end, what are our choices and how will we make them, or even how do we define what our choices are?
I can't stop hearing/seeing 'no other choice' in Kdramas now. That phrase is everywhere!
DeleteLooking forward to my Friday night fix of Kdramachat.
Doremi, yes! Now that we're aware of the phrase "no other choice," we hear it everywhere. It's in Dynamite Kiss!
Delete