Park Chan-wook's 'Decision To Leave' fails to win the predicted US Golden Globes

Director Park Chan-wook's film 'Decision to Break Up' failed to win the trophy for Best Picture in a Non-English Language at the Golden Globe Awards in the United States. The Oscar race is expected to continue in the future.

The 80th Golden Globe Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA on the 11th (Korean time). The Golden Globes is an awards ceremony hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and held every year in Los Angeles, USA. It is considered a representative awards ceremony held in the United States along with the Academy Awards.

Director Park Chan-wook's 'Decision to Break Up' is along with 'No More on the Western Front' (Germany), 'Argentina, 1985' (Argentina), 'Close' (Belgium, France, Netherlands), and 'RRR: Rise Lower Revolt' (India). It was nominated for the Best Non-English Language Film Award and competed for the trophy.

Previously, director Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' became the first Korean film to win the award in that category in 2020, so interest in 'Decision to Break Up' was also high. However, as a result of the announcement, 'Argentina, 1985' won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture in a Non-English Language Language.

In fact, overseas media outlets believed that ‘All Is Wrong on the Western Front’ or ‘RRR: Rise, Lower Revolt’ were highly likely to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture in a Non-English Language. Foreign media considered 'Decision to Break Up' as third place rather than a strong candidate for the award. Foreign media's predictions were only half correct. 'Decision to Break Up' failed to win the award, and 'Argentina, 1985', which was less mentioned among the nominees, was honored with the award.

'Decision to Break Up' is a story that begins when detective Hae-jun (played by Park Hae-il), who is investigating a mysterious death in the mountains, meets the deceased's wife, Seo-rae (played by Tang Wei), and feels both suspicion and interest. Director Park Chan-wook won the Best Director Award at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival last year for 'Decision to Break Up'.

It was then invited to leading overseas film festivals such as the New York Film Festival, the U.S. Fantastic Fest, and the Toronto International Film Festival. The New York Times selected ‘Decision to Break Up’ as one of the top 10 movies of 2022. In addition, foreign media such as the LA Times, Indie Wire, and Rolling Stone praised the film.

Although it failed to win the Golden Globe, the Oscar race for 'Decision to Break Up' will continue. It was selected as a preliminary candidate for the International Feature Film Award at the 95th Academy Awards, which will be held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA on March 12.

'Argentina, 1985' (Argentina), 'All Is All Happening on the Western Front' (Germany), and 'Clos' (Belgium, France, Netherlands), which also competed as Golden Globe nominees in this category, as well as 'Corsage' (Austria) and 'Close' '(Belgium, France, Netherlands), 'Return to Seoul' (Cambodia), 'Holy Spider' (Denmark), 'Saint-Omer' (France), 'Hello, Cinema Paradise' (India), 'Silent Girl' ( Ireland), 'Bardo, a lie chronicle mixed with a little truth' (Mexico), 'The Blue Kaftan' (Morocco), 'Joyland' (Pakistan), 'EO' (Poland), 'Cairo Conspiracy' (Sweden) Named alongside.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which hosts the Oscars, will announce the final nominees for all categories on January 24. At this time, the nominees for the International Feature Film Award will be narrowed down to five films. Although it failed to win the Golden Globe, attention is focused on whether 'Decision to Break Up' will be included in the final nominations for the Oscar International Feature Film Award.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr