Eojjeol suga eopda

Ein Film über die Verzweiflung eines hingebungsvollen Angestellten der Papierindustrie, der urplötzlich arbeitslos wird – in den Händen von Park Chan-wook wird die Kritik an der Unmenschlichkeit des Kapitalismus zu einer so überraschenden wie visuell außergewöhnlichen Angelegenheit. Während der Familienvater seine Mitbewerber auf dem Arbeitsmarkt systematisch ausschaltet, schweift die Adaption von Donald Westlakes Roman „The Ax“ unberechenbar umher: als wildes Sozialdrama über die Zerreißprobe einer Familie in ökonomischer Not, das zwischen tiefschwarzer Satire, groteskem Horrorthriller und krassen Gewalteruptionen changiert. (Sascha Rettig)

When Man-su, a paper manufacturing specialist with a model nuclear family, is axed from his post after 25 years in the industry, he vows to find an equivalent position by the next quarter. Instead, the fall from grace seems unending: a year spent in interview limbo, group counselling for sacked middle-aged men, the impending foreclosure of his woodland home. As he progressively devolves into one of Park Chan-wook’s signature tortured talismans, Man-su devises a baffling plan to lure in and dispose of his foremost competitors, leaving him the last papermaker standing. With a greenhouse of gardening supplies, a bevy of annotated resumes and an army pistol, his strange and meticulous methods cut and fold flesh like paper. After adapting Sarah Waters’ 2005 Fingersmith into AH-GA-SSI in 2016, Park once again elevates and transposes a celebrated Western crime novel onto South Korean soil, this time with the 1997 American horror-thriller The Ax by Donald Westlake. The winding literary scheme of EOJJEOL SUGA EOPDA is fortified by Park’s steely gaze, which manages to mount blistering critiques of ecocide and industrialism, and crafts absurd, grisly comedic beats sure to make an indelible mark on the screen. (Saffron Maeve)

Park Chan-Wook (Auswahl): THE MOON IS... THE SUN’S DREAM (1992), TRIO (1997), JOINT SECURITY AREA (2000), SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (2002), OLD BOY (2003), LADY VENGEANCE (2005), I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OK (2006), THIRST (2009), STOKER (2013), THE HANDMAIDEN (2016), DECISION TO LEAVE (2022)