[1] His films, which often blend crime, mystery and thriller with other genres, have gained notoriety for their cinematography, framing, black humor and often brutal subject matters.

Oldboy in particular is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, and helped establish Park as a well-known director outside his native country.

[a] Most of Park's works following The Vengeance Trilogy were also commercial and critical successes both in South Korea and internationally, such as Thirst (2009), The Handmaiden (2016), which earned Park the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and Decision to Leave (2022), which won the Best Director award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

[18] In 2000, Park directed Joint Security Area, which was a great success both commercially and critically, even surpassing Kang Je-gyu's Shiri as the then most-watched film ever made in South Korea.

As the head judge at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, he personally pushed for Park's Oldboy to be awarded the Palme d'Or (the honour eventually went to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11).

[24][full citation needed] In 2006, Park was the member of official section jury at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival.

[30] In 2014, Park directed a short film commissioned by luxury brand Ermenegildo Zegna, co-written by himself, Ayako Fujitani, Chung Chung-hoon and Michael Werwie, scored by Clint Mansell, and starring Jack Huston and Daniel Wu.

[36] In January 2018, it was stated that Park would direct a TV miniseries adaptation of The Little Drummer Girl, a novel by John le Carré.

It aired on BBC One in October of that year and stars Michael Shannon, Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård.

[38] Park had first discussed adapting the book in 2009, when he received approval from Costa-Gavras who owned the rights and directed a previous rendition of the novel.

[41][full citation needed][42] In October 2020, the title of the film was revealed as Decision to Leave, with the story described as a murder mystery romance.

[51] Park Chan-wook's films have gained notoriety for their cinematography and framing, black humor and often brutal subject matter.

[2][3] In a May 2004 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Park listed Sophocles, Shakespeare, Kafka, Dostoevsky, Balzac and Kurt Vonnegut as influences on his career.

[15] His list of 61 favorite films for LaCinetek includes multiple entries of works by Luchino Visconti, Abel Ferrara, Michelangelo Antonioni, Mikio Naruse and Alfred Hitchcock.

[54] Their relationship dates back to when Park, then a college student, joined the directing department led by editor-in-chief Kim Sang-bum.

Since the film Joint Security Area (1998), Editor Kim Sang-bum has edited all of Park Chan-wook's works, except for Stoker (2013), up until The Handmaiden.

[59] He has frequently collaborated with screenwriter Jeong Seo-kyeong on several projects, such as Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, Thirst, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave.

Some of Korea's most well-known stars, such as Choi Min-sik and Song Kang-ho, have been integral parts of his casting selection.

[14] Park was introduced to his future wife, Kim Eun-hee, by a mutual friend when she was a student at Ewha Womans University.

[13] At the 15th Marrakech International Film Festival, Park paid tribute to his wife Kim Eun-hee for her support throughout his career.