Decision to Leave

2022 film by Park Chan-wook From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Decision to Leave

Decision to Leave (Korean: 헤어질 결심; Hanja: 헤어질 決心; RR: Heeojil gyeolsim; lit. "Resolution to Break Up") is a 2022 South Korean neo-noir romantic mystery film directed, co-written and produced by Park Chan-wook. The film follows married detective Jang Hae-jun (Park Hae-il), whose investigation of a man's death leads him to the man's widow, Chinese immigrant Song Seo-rae (Tang Wei). Hae-jun's investigation of Seo-rae as a suspect gradually leads him to develop feelings towards her.[3]

Quick Facts Hangul, Hanja ...
Decision to Leave
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Theatrical release poster
Hangul
헤어질 결심
Hanja
헤어질 決心
Literal meaningResolution to Break Up
Directed byPark Chan-wook
Written by
Produced byPark Chan-wook
Starring
CinematographyKim Ji-yong
Edited byKim Sang-bum
Music byJo Yeong-wook
Production
company
Moho Film
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • 23 May 2022 (2022-05-23) (Cannes)
  • 29 June 2022 (2022-06-29) (South Korea)
Running time
139 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
Languages
  • Korean
  • Mandarin
Box officeUS$22.6 million[1][2]
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In April 2022, Decision to Leave was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival,[4][5] where Park Chan-wook won Best Director.[6] The film was released theatrically on 29 June 2022 in South Korea.[7] Mubi acquired the distribution rights for several territories, including North America, where it was released theatrically on 14 October 2022.[8] Its streaming premiere began in Mubi on 9 December 2022,[9] where it would later become the company's most streamed film.[10]

Decision to Leave received critical acclaim, being named one of the top five international films of 2022 by the National Board of Review.[11] It was selected as the South Korean entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[12] making the December shortlist.[13] Among the accolades and nominations it received are two BAFTA Award nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, for Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Direction, seven wins from 13 nominations at the 43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards and three wins from seven nominations at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Plot

Summarize
Perspective

Insomniac detective Jang Hae-jun works in Busan and only sees his wife, Jung-an, a nuclear power plant worker residing in Ipo, once a week. Hae-jun and his partner, Soo-wan, encounter a case where a retired immigration officer, Ki Do-soo, is found dead at the foot of a mountain he often climbed. They interview his much younger wife, Song Seo-rae, an emigrant from China who works as a caretaker for seniors. They suspect her because of her insufficient displays of grief, a scratch on her hand, bruises on her legs and torso, broken ribs, and a tattoo of Ki's initials in the manner that he also marked his belongings.

Hae-jun conducts further interviews with Seo-rae and conducts nightly stakeouts outside of Seo-rae's apartment building, becoming infatuated with her in the process. Seo-rae observes him outside her building, and witnesses one of his other investigations in turn. Seo-rae's Monday client says Seo-rae was with her on the day that Ki died, and camera footage is found showing Seo-rae outside her Monday client's home shortly before Ki's time of death. Questioned about her background, Seo-rae admits that in China she killed her terminally ill mother with fentanyl pills when requested to do so. Before dying, she told Seo-rae to go to Korea to climb the mountain her Korean grandfather, an independence fighter in Manchuria, had left her. Seo-rae gives Hae-jun letters written by Ki admitting to corrupt business dealings, including a letter sent to a subordinate that Hae-jun interprets as a suicide note. Hae-jun rules that the death was a suicide despite Soo-wan's doubts and informs Seo-rae that she is no longer a suspect.

Seo-rae and Hae-jun go on a date at a Buddhist temple, visit each other's homes, and become close. At his apartment, Seo-rae burns Hae-jun's photo evidence from her husband's case, reasoning that Hae-jun's insomnia is caused by his haunting cases. One day, substituting for Seo-rae at her Monday client, Hae-jun learns that Seo-rae and the client have the same model of cell phone, and that the client has dementia and does not know the day of the week. On the client's phone, he sees that the housebound woman apparently walked up 138 flights of stairs on the day of Ki's death. Hae-jun realizes Seo-rae switched her phone for her client's and then climbed the mountain to push Ki off. Confronting Seo-rae in her apartment, he concludes that she also forged the suicide note and, to her consternation, accuses her of getting close to him to destroy his evidence. Hae-jun says Seo-rae has destroyed his pride in his job and that, since meeting her, he has become "shattered"; nevertheless, he has covered up the evidence and instructs her to throw the incriminating phone into the sea before leaving.

Thirteen months later, Hae-jun has moved to Ipo to live with Jung-an after developing depression and more severe insomnia. At a fish market with Jung-an, he encounters Seo-rae with her new husband Im Ho-Shin, a business investor. The next day, Ho-Shin is found dead in his mansion's swimming pool. Hae-jun takes on the case and is convinced Seo-rae is the culprit. She admits only to draining the pool so that Hae-jun would not be disturbed by the blood. Sa Cheol-seong, a Chinese immigrant, soon confesses to killing Ho-Shin for defrauding his late mother of millions of dollars. Sa denies that Seo-rae played any role and reveals he had installed a tracker on Seo-rae's phone so he could find where Ho-Shin lived.

Hae-jun confronts Seo-rae at the mountain her grandfather left her. She reaches Hae-jun at the edge of the mountain and hugs him. Seo-rae reveals that she kept the phone with incriminating evidence from Ki's case and proposes that he use it as a way to "reinvestigate" her. They kiss passionately. Hae-jun returns home, where Jung-an suspects him of having worked with Seo-rae to murder Ho-shin, and leaves him.

The next day, Hae-jun learns from Sa that Seo-rae visited Sa's mother in the hospital on the day that she died. He concludes that Seo-rae slipped the mother the remaining fentanyl pills she had in her possession, knowing Sa would kill Ho-Shin as soon as his mother died. Hae-jun tracks Seo-rae's phone via the tracker Sa installed and chases her to a beach. Over the phone, she tells him that Ho-Shin had discovered a phone recording where Hae-jun told Seo-rae that he loved her, and that Ho-Shin had planned to expose their illicit relationship. Hae-jun does not recall telling Seo-rae that he loved her, though she says she began loving him as he stopped loving her. At the beach, he finds her empty car and the cell phone, which contains the recording of his instructions for Seo-rae to destroy the phone with evidence from Ki's case. Further out on the shore, Seo-rae digs a pit in the sand and gets in it as the tide rises, letting it drown and bury her. Hae-jun arrives at the beach and is unable to find Seo-rae, unaware that she is buried in the sand beneath him. He searches desperately for her and cries in anguish.

Cast

Production

The film is produced by Moho Film and is financed and distributed by CJ Entertainment. It began principal photography in October 2020.[20][21]

Release

Decision to Leave was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival to be held from 17 to 28 May 2022.[22] It screened for the first time at the Lumière Grand Theater on 23 May 2022 and was subsequently released theatrically in South Korea on 29 June 2022.[23] According to CJ E&M, the film was sold to 192 countries ahead of its premiere in competition at Cannes.[24][25]

In April 2022, streaming service Mubi acquired distribution rights to the film in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, India, and Turkey, with a theatrical release preceding its streaming debut.[26]

Decision to Leave held its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022,[27] and its US premiere at Fantastic Fest Film Festival took place in the same month.[28] It was released theatrically in the United States and United Kingdom on 14 October 2022,[29] and was released in Australia theatrically by Madman Films on 20 October.[30]

Reception

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Perspective

Box office

The film was released on 29 June 2022 on 1,374 screens.[2][31] It opened at first place on Korean box office with 114,592 admissions.[32][33] On 13 July, after two weeks of release, the film surpassed one million cumulative admissions.[34]

As of 7 January 2023, it is the tenth highest-grossing Korean film of 2022, with a gross of US$15,589,120 and 1,893,954 admissions.[2]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 239 reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "If Decision to Leave isn't quite on the same level as Park Chan-wook's masterpieces, this romantic thriller is still a remarkable achievement by any other metric."[35] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 44 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[36]

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, praising the director Park Chan-wook, wrote: "A world-class artist at the top of his game...all while navigating multilayered plots that continue to deliver surprises right up until the end. It's a luxury to put yourself as a viewer in such capable hands."[37]

Peter Howell of Toronto Star rated the film four out of four, and wrote: "Every frame is like a painting, with hints to character motivation and plot twists."[38]

Rafael Motamayor of Slashfilm rated the film seven out of ten, and wrote: "This [the film] is not as surprising or innovative as director Park's earlier work, but it is still a fascinating and exquisitely directed film about desire, regret, and love."[39]

Luke Goodsell of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called the film "a testament to Park's undimmed talent...Decision to Leave is one of his best".[30]

Wendy Ide gave it five stars out of five in The Observer, describing it as an "enthralling, serpentine crime drama" that possesses "dangerously handsome cinematography, as precise as it is playful, is full of layers and flipped mirror images.[40]

The Mountains and the Sea

Park Chan-wook has said that with Decision to Leave, he "wanted to film a Korean movie."[41] This is clear in that much of the movie is driven by imagery of either the sea or mountains, both very common elements on the Korean peninsula. The imagery is also made explicit by Seo-rae's character when she tells Hae-jun the following line from Confucius: "The wise man admires water, the kind man admires mountains." In Asian philosophy, the mountain symbolizes Confucius and upright virtuousness; meanwhile, water is the symbol of Lao Tzu and Taoism. The two elements, despite complementing each other, are also opposed to each other and unable to come together, like the symbols of Yin and Yang. However, ultimately, the sea has the ability to beat the mountains by eroding them over time. Seo-rae's character is symbolized by the sea. Despite her role in killing four other people (her and Sa's mothers and her two husbands) she is not captured by the detective. Notably, she kills her first husband atop a mountain and her second in a swimming pool. She then ultimately takes her own life at the end in the sea. Hae-jun, meanwhile, is the previously upright character symbolized by the mountains but now shattered. The two locations, Busan and Ipo, are also referenced as a sea and mountainous town, respectively. This imagery has been analyzed and debated online, including by both Korean and Chinese participants in the Korea Deconstructed series.[42]

Accolades

More information Award ceremony, Year ...
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination
Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Ref.
Academy Awards 2023 Best International Feature Film Decision to Leave Shortlisted [13]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists 2023 Best Non-English Language Film Decision to Leave Won [43]
Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2022 Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated [44]
Asian Film Awards 2023 Best Film Decision to Leave Nominated [45]
[46]
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best Actor Park Hae-il Nominated
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong Nominated
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Nominated
Best Production Design Ryu Seong-hui Won
Best Sound Kim Suk-won Nominated
Asian Journalists Association 2022 AJA Awards Park Hae-il Won [47]
Austin Film Critics Association 2023 Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated [48]
[49]
Best International Film Decision to Leave Won
Baeksang Arts Awards 2023 Grand Prize – Film Won [50]
[51]
Best Film Nominated
Best Director Park Chan-wook Won
Best Actor Park Hae-il Nominated
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
Technical Award Ryu Seong-hui (Art direction) Nominated
Cho Young-wook (Music) Nominated
Blue Dragon Film Awards 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Won [52]
[53]
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Director Park Chan-wook Won
Best Film Decision to Leave Won
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Popular Star Award Go Kyung-pyo Won
Best Art Direction Ryu Seong-hui Nominated
Best Cinematography and Lighting Kim Ji-yong, Shin Sang-yeol Nominated
Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best New Actress Kim Shin-young Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Go Kyung-pyo Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Lee Jung-hyun Nominated
Technical Award Kwak Jeong-ae Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics 2022 Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Won [54]
British Academy Film Awards 2023 Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated [55]
Best Film Not in the English Language Park Chan-wook, Ko Dae-seok Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Longlisted [56]
Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Longlisted
British Independent Film Awards 2022 Best International Independent Film Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated [57]
Buil Film Awards 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Won [58]
[59]
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong Won
Best Film Decision to Leave Won
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won
Art and Technology Ryu Seong-hui Nominated
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
Busan Film Critics Awards 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Won [60]
Cannes Film Festival 2022 Best Director Park Chan-wook Won [6]
Palme d'Or Decision to Leave Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association 2022 Best Cinematography Kim Ji-Yong Won [61]
[62]
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best Film Decision to Leave Nominated
Best Foreign Language Film Won
Chunsa Film Art Awards 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Won [63]
[64]
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Director Park Chan-wook Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
Technical Award Kim Ji-yong Nominated
Cine21 Awards 2022 Actor of the Year Park Hae-il Won [65]
Actress of the Year Tang Wei Won
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2023 Best Foreign Language Film Decision to Leave Nominated [66]
Critics Choice Awards
Asian Pacific Cinema & Television
2022 Director Award Park Chan-wook Won [67]
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association 2022 Best Foreign Language Film Decision to Leave Won [68]
Director's Cut Awards 2023 Best Director in film Park Chan-wook Won [69]
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Best Actress in film Tang Wei Won
Best Actor in film Park Hae-il Won
Best New Actor in film Seo Hyun-woo Won
Best New Actress in film Kim Shin-young Nominated [70]
Dublin Film Critics' Circle 2022 Best Director Park Chan-wook 8th place [71]
Best Actress Tang Wei 4th place
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong 4th place
Florida Film Critics Circle 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Runner-up [72]
[73]
Best Actress Tang Wei Runner-up
Best Director Park Chan-wook Won
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong Won
Best Foreign Language Film Decision to Leave Won
Best Original Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Best Picture Decision to Leave Runner-up
Georgia Film Critics Association 2023 Best Actor Park Hae-il Nominated [74]
Best Actress Tang Wei Nominated
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best International Film Decision to Leave Runner-Up
Best Picture Nominated
Golden Cinematography Awards 2022 Best Director Park Chan-wook Won [75]
Best Actor Park Hae-il Won
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Golden Globe Awards 2023 Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language Decision to Leave Nominated [76]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2022 Best International Feature Nominated [77]
Grand Bell Awards 2022 Best Actor Park Hae-il Won [78]
Best Film Decision to Leave Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Best Actress Tang Wei Nominated [79]
Best Art Direction Ryu Seong-hui Nominated
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-young Nominated
Best Costume Design Kwak Jeong-ae Nominated
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best Film Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best Lighting Shin Sang-yeol Nominated
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated [80]
Best International Film Decision to Leave Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Creative Arts Awards 2023 Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated [81]
Houston Film Critics Society 2023 Best Foreign Language Feature Decision to Leave Nominated [82]
Jerusalem Film Festival 2022 Best International Film Decision to Leave Nominated [83]
Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best Actress Tang Wei Won [84]
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-young Won
Best Director Park Chan-wook Won
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won
Best Picture Decision to Leave Won
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Korean Association of Film 10 selections of Kim Hyun-seung Decision to Leave Won
Korean Film Producers Association Award Best Film Won [85]
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Won
Best Actress Tang Wei Won
Best Supporting Actress Kim Shin-young Won
Best Music and light Jo Yeong-wook, Shin Sang-yeol Won
LACMA Art + Film Gala Art+Film Gala Park Chan-wook Won [86]
London Film Critics' Circle 2023 Director of the Year Park Chan-wook Nominated [87]
[88]
Film of the Year Decision to Leave Nominated
Foreign Language Film of the Year Won
Technical Achievement Award Kim Ji-yong Nominated
Miskolc International Film Festival 2022 Emeric Pressburger Prize Decision to Leave Nominated [89]
National Board of Review 2022 Top Five Foreign Language Films Won [90]
National Society of Film Critics 2023 Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong 3rd place [91]
Best Director Park Chan-wook Runner-up
Best Foreign Language Film Decision to Leave 3rd place
New Mexico Critics Awards 2022 Best Supporting Actress Tang Wei Won [92]
Online Film Critics Society 2023 Best Film Not in the English Language Decision to Leave Won [93]
Oslo Films from the South Festival 2022 Silver Mirror Nominated [94]
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2023 Best International Feature Film Nominated [95]
San Diego Film Critics Society 2023 Best International Film Nominated [96]
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle 2023 Best International Feature Film Won [97]
Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong Nominated
Satellite Awards 2022 Best Motion Picture – International Decision to Leave Nominated [98]
Seattle Film Critics Society 2023 Best Cinematography Kim Ji-yong Nominated [99]
Best Film Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best Film Not in the English Language Decision to Leave Won
Best Picture Nominated
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association 2022 Best International Film Decision to Leave Won [100]
Best Original Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
Sunset Circle Awards 2022 Best Actress Tang Wei Nominated [101]
Best Director Park Chan-wook Nominated
Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Nominated
Best Screenplay Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong Nominated
Best Film Decision to Leave Nominated
Best International Feature Runner-up [102]
Toronto Film Critics Association 2023 Best International Feature Film Runner-up [103]
Valladolid International Film Festival 2022 José Salcedo Award for Best Editing Kim Sang-bum Won [104]
Golden Spike (Best Picture) Decision to Leave Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 2022 Best International/Foreign Language Film Won [105]
Women in Film Korea Festival 2022 Best Screenplay Jeong Seo-kyeong Won [106]
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End-of-year lists

More information Publisher, Year ...
Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement
Publisher Year Listicle Placement Ref.
Polygon 2022 The Best Movies of 2022 2nd [107]
IndieWire 2022 The 25 Best Movies of 2022 5th [108]
The New York Times 2022 Best Movies of 2022 8th [109]
The Guardian 2022 Best Movies of 2022 in the US 9th [110]
The Independent 2022 The Best Films of 2022, Ranked 12th [111]
Empire 2022 The Best Movies of 2022 17th [112]
The Hollywood Reporter 2022 Critics Pick the Best Films of 2022 2nd [113]
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References

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