This is what Director Park Chanwook said to the press when he arrived at Incheon International Airport, who won the Best Director Award for Decision to Leave at the 75th Festival de Cannes. The nickname 'Cannes Park,' given by his longtime friend Director Ryoo Seungwan, is a critical keyword to explain Director Park Chanwook.

Park Chanwook is the most invited Korean film director to Cannes Competition and the most trophy-winning director. Starting from Oldboy, which won Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004, Director Park Chanwook was invited to Cannes with THIRST, which won the Jury Prize in 2009, followed by The Handmaiden, which was invited to Cannes Competition in 2016. With Decision to Leave, he was invited to Cannes Competition 4th time in 2022. Also, including the Best Director for Decision to Leave, Director Park has won 3 times at the Festival de Cannes.

However, there is also a risk of limiting Director Park and his films in the category of 'art films'. For this reason, he particularly emphasized that Decision to Leave is a commercial film for the public ahead of its release. As he said, Director Park Chanwook is a 'commercial film' director. After debuting with The Moon is What the Sun Dreams of in 1992, Director Park Chanwook became a successful 'commercial film director' with Joint Security Area, which drew about 6 million viewers in 2000. Over the next 30 years since his debut, he has made 20 feature films and short films. Director Park's representative films, Oldboy(2003), Sympathy for Lady Vengeance(2005), and The Handmaiden(2016) gave the audience a new pleasure with commercial genres of revenge, action, and romance. However, his 'commercial films' are just extremely unconventional and beautiful.

Director Park Chanwook's new commercial film, Decision to Leave, is a meticulous mystery genre film and melodrama whose main character is a detective, and a man and a woman in the film, who should never meet, fall in love 'at last.' The film has been pre-sold to 192 countries around the world and is ready to meet global audiences. Marking the 30th anniversary of his directorial debut, Director Park Chanwook once again opened the horizon of a new commercial film through Decision to Leave.

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of your directorial debut. It must be very special for you to have won the Best Director at the 75th Festival de Cannes this year.

I feel like I got a gift to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my debut.
Especially, Chinese actor Tang Wei starred in Decision to Leave, while Broker, in which Song Kangho won the Best Actor, is a Korean film directed by Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu. I think it is very meaningful for Asian human resources and capital to exchange like that.

You made Decision to Leave during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Any difficulties while making the film?

I filmed it without much difficulty, but I couldn't relax even for a moment. Rather, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, I realized again how important it is to watch movies in theaters. During the Pandemic, I couldn't watch movies in theaters for a while, but I was very shocked when I saw a movie in the movie theater again. That's why I came to think again about 'watching a movie in a movie theater,' which I had taken for granted. I've felt a sense of calling to make a film that we can watch in a movie theater, and I've felt a stronger desire to make films we can watch in theaters more. Some people talk about the survival of films and the survival of movie theaters separately, but I don't think so. The essential meaning of 'watching a movie in a movie theater' matters most. Therefore, it is nice to hear that a '10 million-viewer' movie has come out in the Korean theater district after the Pandemic and that moviegoers are heading to movie theaters again.

Korean movies are constantly creating global issues. What do you think is the potential of Korean movies?

Hard to satisfy the Korean audience with sophisticated movie tastes.
For example, when making a crime thriller movie, the Korean audience is not satisfied if the filmmaker is focusing on only one genre. They demand that our lives be described comprehensively. In genre movies, laughter, horror, and emotion are all needed. Because we have to make movies that satisfy such a sophisticated audience, Korean movies seem to have always developed anew.

Introducing Decision to Leave, you said you wanted to make a 'classical and elegant movie.' And as you mentioned, the atmosphere of the film seems different from your previous films.

I wanted to make a pure movie. 'Being pure' means neither including political messages or any claims made by the director nor focusing on cinematically spectacular attractions or techniques. I wanted to make a movie that drew deep inspiration by making it concise with the minimum elements that make up a movie. I thought a classical movie style could look rather new in modern times.

You made Decision to Leave during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Any difficulties while making the film?

I filmed it without much difficulty, but I couldn't relax even for a moment. Rather, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, I realized again how important it is to watch movies in theaters. During the Pandemic, I couldn't watch movies in theaters for a while, but I was very shocked when I saw a movie in the movie theater again. That's why I came to think again about 'watching a movie in a movie theater,' which I had taken for granted. I've felt a sense of calling to make a film that we can watch in a movie theater, and I've felt a stronger desire to make films we can watch in theaters more. Some people talk about the survival of films and the survival of movie theaters separately, but I don't think so. The essential meaning of 'watching a movie in a movie theater' matters most. Therefore, it is nice to hear that a '10 million-viewer' movie has come out in the Korean theater district after the Pandemic and that moviegoers are heading to movie theaters again.

When Decision to Leave was premiered at Cannes, the British media 'Guardian' gave full marks and praised it, saying, "Director Park Chanwook has returned to Cannes with a fantastic noir romance movie." Why did you choose noir and romance, the most representative genre for a commercial film?

Personally, I love those genres. When I first read the Swedish crime mystery novel <Martin Beck> series in high school, I absolutely fell in love with it. The main character is a gentle detective who is thoughtful and considerate of the other person, and I wanted to make a movie with such a detective. The other is romance. I think I've always made 'romantic comedies'. (Laughs) When Scriptwriter Chung Seokyung, who wrote the script with me, said, "We will never make a melodrama," I decided, "Then I will make a great melodrama!" Korean singer Jung Hoonhee's song 'Fog' also became a motif of the film. It is a song that I've liked since childhood, and Song Changsik, a legendary Korean folk musician, sang the same song, too. Imagining a movie starting with the song by the female singer Jung Hoonhee and ending with the song by the male musician Song Changsik, I came to think of a melodrama in which a woman and a man are the main characters.

It is said that you cast Tang Wei and Park Haeil even before writing the script. First, tell us about the process of casting Tang Wei.

As soon as I watched Director Ang Lee's film, Lust, Caution, I was fascinated by Actor Tang Wei. After watching Director Kim Taeyong's Late Autumn and Director Ann Hui's The Golden Era, I made up my mind to work with Tang Wei. To cast Tang Wei, the female lead was set as a foreigner. However, since I didn't want Tang Wei to say no to me after the script was done (Laughs), I met her and told her the story of the movie verbally before completing the script. I explained the plot in Korean, and the translator interpreted it into Chinese for Tang Wei. It took about an hour, and I was very happy that she willingly decided to join me. Tang Wei is an actor who is thoughtful and has her own perspective on acting. She is a rare actor with lovely charms and a profound presence that is difficult to encounter. I wanted to include all of Tang Wei's characters in the movie.

Actor Park Haeil never appeared in your movies before. What made you decide to cast him?

Although it is my first time making a movie with him, I've known Actor Park Haeil personally for a long time. His representative films, such as Rules of Dating and Memories of Murder, are completely different characters from Park Haeil himself. Real Park Haeil is the guy with a pure soul. Rather than hiding something, he is a transparent person, and he is also funny in a way because he reveals everything even though what he thinks is somehow wacky. The image of Park Haeil I have seen for a long time was perfect for the detective in Decision to Leave. While filming, he expressed a gentlemanlike detective character more than I had imagined. Both Tang Wei and Park Haeil always surprised me. In a melodrama, the chemistry between the two main characters is more important than anything else. Acting is an interaction. Since the two actors are thoughtful and caring, they could work while impressing each other. Such feelings are also evident in the movie.

Decision to Leave is a very elaborate crime mystery and melodrama giving lingering feelings a lot. Compared to your previous work, the film is also characterized by a very restrained expression.

After I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, the film was given a 15 rating in Korea. I wanted to show the love of grown-ups. When I introduced it as a 'love of grown-ups,' people expected a lot of sensual or erotic scenes in the movie. So, I thought I should make it the other way around. (Laughs) I wanted to show subtle and hidden emotions rather than violent and stormy ones. To do so, I had to reduce some stimulating factors. Not every love is passionate and deadly. There's love that can't be expressed well and such love can be more affectionate and heartrending. I think love is the most effective emotion that reveals 'what kind of a human you are.'