Park Chan Wook

The Profile

Park Chan-wook is a South Korean film director and screenwriter known for the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance), The Handmaiden, Thirst, and Decision to Leave. He won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2004 for Oldboy and Best Director at Cannes 2022 for Decision to Leave.

Internationally acclaimed for visually precise, morally complex thrillers; hallmark works include Oldboy (Cannes Grand Prix, 2004) and Decision to Leave (Cannes Best Director, 2022). Frequently explores revenge, obsession, and ethical ambiguity.

Reviews praise Park Chan-wook’s genre-blending rigor and moral complexity, from the raw poetry of Oldboy to the restrained, Hitchcock-tinged Decision to Leave. Lady Vengeance is read as a cool meditation on retribution, while No Other Choice is hailed for social bite and choral ambition. Overall sentiment is admiring and engaged, with emphasis on style, ethics, and emotional impact.