The new film by Oldboy director Park Chan-wook played at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where it received a lengthy standing ovation – although the applause was more ‘muted’ than usual.
Decision to Leave marks the South Korean filmmaker’s first feature-length movie since the beautifully shot erotic thriller The Handmaiden, released in 2016.
But while the reception at the 2022 Cannes was as positive as the last, according to Variety’s Zack Sharf, the ‘reception was notably more muted’.
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The situation was only exacerbated by a technical fault, with Sharf writing: “While the camera the festival uses that normally shows on the creative team’s gracious reaction after the movie, and helps to keep the applause rolling, wasn’t working, the response was quiet even before the technical snafu.”
Nonetheless, if Decision to Leave is even half as good as Park’s previous movies then we’re still in for a treat.
The plot centres on a detective who falls for a mysterious widow who becomes the prime suspect in his latest murder investigation, leading many to compare it to Paul Verhoeven's 1992 thriller Basic Instinct.
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Early reviews of the movie – starring Blackhat’s Tang Wei and The Host’s Park Hae-il – have been positive so far, with The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw giving it five stars, writing: “It’s a gorgeously and grippingly made picture and Tang Wei is magnificent.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney added: “Crafted with unforced humour, ravishing visuals and commanding maturity, Decision to Leave intoxicates with its potent brew of love, emotional manipulation – or is it? – and obsession.”
Many have compared the film to Hitchcockian greats, including the BBC’s Nicholas Barber who said: “Essentially Park and his co-writer Chung Seo-kyung have made a cracking post-Hitchcock romantic thriller with everything that requires, from intimate interrogations to rooftop chases to people standing on clifftops as the waves crash on the beach below.”
Ahead of its screening at Cannes, streamer Mubi revealed it had picked up the distribution rights to Decision to Leave for numerous regions including North America, UK, Ireland, Turkey and India.
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Anyone who’s a fan of Park’s work, most notably his Vengeance trilogy, you’ll be excited to know that the film will reach theatres in the UK and US this autumn, followed by a release on Mubi.
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Topics: Film and TV