Line #21 Creator/ParkChanWook


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bts-park-chan-wook-05_6307.jpg]]
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3	Park Chan-wook (born August 23, 1963) is an acclaimed Korean filmmaker best known for his [[Film/Oldboy2003 film adaptation]] of ''Manga/{{Oldboy}}''. The film ''Film/JointSecurityArea'' instantly made him one of his homecountry's most beloved directors and he has since then made several more films that met with great commercial success and critical acclaim, no thanks to Creator/QuentinTarantino giving his work the ColbertBump.
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5	His style is marked by explicit violence and sexuality interwoven with tragedy akin to Creator/WilliamShakespeare (he has stated that Shakespeare is one of his influences) and ''truckloads'' of black humor. Not exactly something for the kids.
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7	!!Filmography:
8	[[index]]
9	* ''The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream'' (1992)
10	* ''Trio'' (1997)
11	* ''Judgment'' (1999; short)
12	* ''Film/JointSecurityArea'' (2000)
13	* ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance'' (2002)
14	* ''If You Were Me'' (2003; segment "Never Ending Peace and Love")
15	* ''Film/{{Oldboy\|2003}}'' (2003)
16	* ''Film/ThreeExtremes'' (2004; segment "Cut")
17	* ''Film/SympathyForLadyVengeance'' (2005)
18	* ''[[Film/ImACyborgButThatsOK I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK]]'' (2006)
19	* ''Film/{{Thirst\|2009}}'' (2009)
20	* ''Film/{{Stoker}}'' (2013) – his only English-language film to date
21	* ''Film/TheHandmaiden'' (2016)
22	* ''The Little Drummer Girl'' (2018) – TV adaptation of Creator/JohnLeCarre's book of the same name, which stars Creator/FlorencePugh as the titular girl.
23	* ''Film/DecisionToLeave'' (2022)
24	* ''The Sympathizer'' (2024) - TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel of the same name.
25	[[/index]]
26	----
27	!!Tropes common in his works:
28	* AntiHero: Especially present in the ''Vengeance Trilogy'', but not unheard of in his other works.
29	* BewareTheNiceOnes: A meta example. Park seems to be quiet and thoughtful himself and has emphasized his antipathy to any kind of violence on several occasions, still his movies deal with disturbing topics and don't shy from graphic depictions of cruelty.
30	* BittersweetEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: His movies tend to end either way.
31	* BlackComedy: Loads of it.
32	* CentralTheme: For the Vengeance Trilogy it's RevengeIsNotJustice; characters loose everything in the pursuit of payback.
33	%%* ColdbloodedTorture
34	* CreatorBacklash: He has stated several times that he is embarrassed about his first two features ''The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream'' and ''Trio''.
35	%%* DrivenToSuicide
36	* EmpathicEnvironment: In nearly every scene of every movie.
37	%%* {{Fanservice}}[=/=]FanDisservice
38	* FromBadToWorse: Especially (but not limited to) his revenge movies.
39	%%* GoryDiscretionShot
40	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The point of the ''Vengeance Trilogy'', obviously.
41	%%* KarmicDeath
42	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Perhaps due to his OldShame for ''The Moon Is...'' and ''Trio'', both are lacking in availability but can be found on Website/{{YouTube}}.
43	* ProductionPosse: He often collaborates with Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun and Choi Min-sik. Chung-hoon Chung has been his cinematographer since ''Oldboy''
44	* TheQuietOne: The man himself as well as some of his protagonists, especially Ryu in ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance'' (he's deaf-mute) and Sang-hyung in ''Film/{{Thirst\|2009}}''.
45	* {{Revenge}}: His ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Vengeance Trilogy]]'' thoroughly explores this theme from several angles.
46	* SiblingTeam: Park Chan-wook and his brother Park Chan-kyong (an artist himself) have collaborated on two shorts (''Night Fishing'' and ''Day Trip'') under the name of [[IncrediblyLamePun PARKing CHANce]].
47	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: One of the reasons why he made ''I'm a Cyborg'' was so his daughter would be able to see one of his films.
48	* ThematicSeries: ''Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance'', ''Oldboy'' and ''Sympathy for Lady Vengeance''
49	%%* {{Tragedy}}
50	* ViolenceIsDisturbing: '''Is it ever!'''

Context Creator / ParkChanWook