Lee Byung-hun nominated for lead performance as Korean film enters awards season competition
Park Chan-wook's jet-black social satire "No Other Choice" has landed three nominations at the 35th Gotham Awards, positioning the film prominently ahead of its North American campaign as Oscar season gets underway.
The Korean-language film earned nominations in best international feature, adapted screenplay, and outstanding lead performance for actor Lee Byung-hun. Park shares the screenplay nomination with co-writers Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee and Don McKellar.
Lee Byung-hun is the only Korean performer nominated in this year's acting categories. Nominees in the outstanding lead performance category, a gender-neutral field that combines male and female actors, include Ethan Hawke ("Blue Moon"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Die My Love"), Amanda Seyfried ("The Testament of Ann Lee"), and Josh O'Connor ("The Mastermind").
The last Korean actor nominated for a film performance at the Gothams was Youn Yuh-Jung, who was recognized in 2020 for "Minari." Youn went on to win the Academy Award for best supporting actress several months later.
"No Other Choice" is adapted from Donald Westlake's 1997 novel "The Ax" and follows a laid-off paper mill worker who eliminates his competitors in the job market. The cast includes Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin and supporting actors Lee Sung-min and Yeom Hye-ran. Park has described the film as a passion project that remained in development for more than two decades.
The Gothams, widely considered the opening salvo of major awards season, expanded their best feature category to 10 nominees this year. Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" led all films with six nominations, including best feature, director and adapted screenplay.
Past winners of the best feature category include "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022), "Nomadland" (2020), and "Moonlight" (2016), all of which subsequently won the Academy Award for best picture.
Park's previous work, "Decision to Leave" was nominated for best international feature at the 2022 Gotham Awards. Park, whose acclaimed filmography includes "Oldboy" (2003) and "The Handmaiden" (2016), has yet to receive an Academy Award nomination.
Distributor Neon will release "No Other Choice" in North American theaters on Dec. 25 as part of its awards season campaign.
Winners will be announced Dec. 1 at Cipriani Wall Street.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
