Chan-Wook – who goes by the name Director Park on set – is one of the most celebrated and popular filmmakers in Korea, his work known for its very precise framing and violent subject matter. His earliest films were not a huge success, and he initially supplemented his income as a film critic. It was 2000’s Joint Security Area that would help him break through, and by 2004 he’d won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for Oldboy. Director – and fan – Quentin Tarantino, as head judge, personally pushed for him to also be awarded the Palme d’Or.
Filmmaker Park Chan-Wook has created a singular body of work during his more than 20 years as a writer, director and producer of some of Korean cinema’s most innovative and original movies, crafting feverish scenarios that combine lyrical beauty with shattering acts of violence and operatic emotion. “Stoker” is a dark and disturbing thriller about a mysterious and isolated American family. Even the film’s title makes metaphorical allusion to evil, invoking the name of Dracula author Bram Stoker, whose groundbreaking novel is as much about an opportunist who preys on the innocent as it is the supernatural world of the vampire.
Now he brings his incredible talents for the first time to the States, directing a script by former “Prison Break” star Wentworth Miller. Stoker follows the story of India Stoker (Wasikowska), whose father dies in an auto accident. Soon after, her Uncle Charlie (Goode), who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Kidman). Soon after his arrival, she comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives, but instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless girl becomes increasingly infatuated with him.
Over the past two decades, Park Chan-Wook has established a rotating troupe of actors with whom he works regularly in Korea. He has developed an intensely collaborative method of working hand-in-hand with his favorite performers to flesh out and fully define the unusual and original characters that people his films. For his first American movie, he had to put together a new creative family of actors with the same kind of sensitivity, intelligence and talent.
“I am especially excited for audiences
to see this film for the performances by these wonderful actors,” says the
director. “They are each at different stages of their lives and careers, and
are rather different kinds of actors from each other. Seeing how they come
together so successfully is worth experiencing.”
Park’s extensive preparation makes it
easier for him to shoot quickly and precisely. “My style of filmmaking involves
very specific camera movements,” he explains. “I edit the film in my head well
in advance, so working in the conventional manner, with long masters and lots
of coverage, does not work for me.”
The film’s shooting schedule was abbreviated
compared to the customary pace in Korea, which also affected the way the camera
was used. “Having to capture the scenes so quickly made it difficult to use the
long elaborate camera movements I am known for,” Park says. “But this may have
a better effect on the film. When such shots are used only in the most
memorable way, it increases the tension.”
“Stoker” is a fitting addition to Park’s
acclaimed canon of work, according to producer Costigan. “Like all of Director
Park’s films, it is primal, but also poetic and human. It’s about overwhelming
emotion and its intersection with violence. He was able to craft Wentworth
Miller’s riveting script into something even scarier, surprising, beautiful and
lush, even funny at times. Everyone involved with the film feels very proud to
have been able to help director Park make a true ‘Park Chan-Wook film’ in
America.”
Startling family secrets are about to be
revealed when “Stoker” opens March 1 in cinemas from 20th Century
Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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