Bong Joon Ho
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Bong Joon-ho (, ; Hanja: 奉俊昊; born September 14, 1969) is a South Korean film director, producer and screenwriter. The recipient of four
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, his filmography is characterised by emphasis on social themes,
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
-mixing,
black humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
with his directorial debut film, the black comedy '' Barking Dogs Never Bite'' (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller ''
Memories of Murder ''Memories of Murder'' () is a 2003 South Korean crime thriller film co-written and directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is loosely based on the true story of Korea's first confirmed serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, ...
'' (2003), the monster film '' The Host'' (2006), the science fiction action film '' Snowpiercer'' (2013), and the black comedy thriller ''
Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
'' (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with ''Parasite'' also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history. All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions, although both ''Snowpiercer'' and ''
Okja ''Okja'' (; ) is a 2017 science-fantasy action-adventure film directed by Bong Joon-ho with a screenplay by Bong and Jon Ronson from a story by Bong. The film is about a young girl who raised a genetically modified "super pig" (the titular Okja) ...
'' (2017) are mostly in the English language. Two of his films have screened in competition at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
''—Okja'' in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and ''Parasite'' in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, which was a first for a South Korean film. ''Parasite'' also became the first South Korean film to receive
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, and Best Original Screenplay, making ''Parasite'' the first film not in English to win Best Picture. In 2017, Bong was included on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century. In 2020, Bong was included in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''s annual list of
100 Most Influential People ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...
and Bloomberg 50.


Early life

Bong Joon Ho was born in
Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and is the youngest of four children. His father, Bong Sang-gyun, was a first-generation
graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...
,
industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
er, and professor of art at
Yeungnam University Yeungnam University is a private research university located in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, South Korea. The university's predecessors, Taegu College and Chunggu College, were founded in Daegu in 1947 and 1950 respectively. In 1967, the two ...
and the head of the art department at the National Film Institute; his mother, Park So-young, was a full-time housewife. His father retired from Seoul Institute of Technology as a professor of design in 2007 and died in 2017. Bong's maternal grandfather,
Park Taewon Park Taewon (Hangul: 박태원 December 7, 1909July 10, 1986) was a modern South Korean writer who moved to North Korea. Life Park Taewon was born in Seoul, Korea on December 7, 1909. Park Taewon's pennames include Mongbo and Gubo. Park gradua ...
, was an esteemed author during the Japanese colonial period, best known for his work ''A Day in the Life of Kubo the Novelist'' and his defection to
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
in 1950. His older brother, Bong Joon-soo, is an English professor at the
Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...
; his older sister, Bong Ji-hee, teaches fashion styling at
Anyang University Anyang University is a private university in Korea. Courses consist of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and research programs. The main campus is located in Anyang City, south of Seoul in Gyeonggi province and the second campus is located ...
. Currently, Bong's son, Bong Hyo-Min, is also a film director. While Bong was in elementary school, the family relocated to
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, taking up residence in Jamsil-dong by the Han River. In 1988, Bong enrolled in Yonsei University, majoring in sociology. College campuses such as Yonsei's were then hotbeds for the South Korean democracy movement; Bong was an active participant of student demonstrations, frequently subjected to
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
early in his college years. He served a two-year term in the military in accordance with South Korea's
compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
before returning to college in 1992. Bong later co-founded a film club named "Yellow Door" with students from neighboring universities. As a member of the club, Bong made his first films, including a stop motion short titled ''Looking for Paradise'' and
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
short titled ''Baeksaekin (White Man)''. He graduated from Yonsei University in 1995. In the early 1990s, Bong completed a two-year program at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. While there, he made many 16 mm short films. His graduation films, ''Incoherence'' and ''Memories in My Frame'', were invited to screen at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival. Bong also collaborated on several works with his classmates, which included working as
cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
on the highly acclaimed short ''2001 Imagine'' (1994), directed by his friend Jang Joon-hwan. Aside from cinematography, Bong was also a
lighting technician Electrical lighting technicians (ELT), or simply lighting tech, are involved with rigging stage and location sets and controlling artificial, electric lights for art and entertainment venues (theatre or live music venues) or in video, television, o ...
on two shorts—''The Love of a Grape Seed'' and ''Sounds From Heaven and Earth''—in 1994. Eventually, he suffered severe hardships for more than ten years while working on
film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
. In his early stages as a film director, Bong received a meager salary of US$1,900 per year (as 4,500,000 won, or US$3,800, every two years). It was hard for him to make a living and he barely made enough to buy rice, so he had to borrow rice from his university's alumni.


Career

After graduating, he spent the next five years contributing in various capacities to works by other directors. He received a partial screenplay credit on the
anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...
''Seven Reasons Why Beer is Better Than a Lover'' (1996); both screenplay and assistant director credits on Park Ki-yong's debut ''Motel Cactus'' (1997); and is one of four writers (along with Jang Joon-hwan) credited for the screenplay of ''Phantom: The Submarine'' (1999).


Early directing work

Shortly afterwards, Bong began shooting his first feature '' Barking Dogs Never Bite'' (2000) under producer Cha Seung-jae, who had overseen the production of both ''Motel Cactus'' and ''Phantom: The Submarine''. The film, about a low-ranking university lecturer who abducts a neighbor's dog, was shot in the same apartment complex where Bong lived after his marriage. At the time of its release in February 2000, it received little commercial interest but some positive critical reviews. It was invited to the competition section of Spain's San Sebastián International Film Festival, and won awards at the
Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...
and Hong Kong International Film Festival. Slowly building international word of mouth also helped the film financially; over two years after its local release, the film reached its financial break-even point due to sales to overseas territories. Bong's second film, ''
Memories of Murder ''Memories of Murder'' () is a 2003 South Korean crime thriller film co-written and directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is loosely based on the true story of Korea's first confirmed serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, ...
'' (2003), a much larger project, was adapted from a stage play centered on a real-life serial killer who terrorized a rural town in the 1980s and was never caught (although a suspect confessed to the crime in 2019). Production of the film was a difficult process (the film set a local record for the number of locations it used). It was released in April 2003 and proved a critical and popular success. Word of mouth drove the film to sell over five million tickets (rescuing Cha Seung-jae's production company Sidus from near-bankruptcy), and a string of local honors followed, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for
Song Kang-Ho Song Kang-ho (born January 17, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Song made his film debut in ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), and came to national prominence with a series of critically acclaimed performances, including ''No. 3'' (1997) ...
) and Best Lighting prizes at the
Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...
in 2003. Although passed over by the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
and
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
, the film eventually received its international premiere, again at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it picked up three awards including Best Director. The film also received an unusually strong critical reception on its release in foreign territories, such as France and the U.S. Following this, Bong took some time to contribute short films to two anthology film projects. ''Influenza'' (2004) is a 30-minute work acted out entirely in front of real
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
cameras stationed throughout Seoul. The film, which charts a desperate man's turn to violent crime over the space of five years, was commissioned by the
Jeonju International Film Festival Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF, Korean: 전주국제영화제, Hanja: 全州國際映畵祭) is an Asian film festival. It was launched in 2000 as a non-competitive film festival with partial competition. It introduces independent a ...
, together with works by Japanese director Sogo Ishii and Hong Kong-based
Yu Lik-wai Yu Lik-wai (; born 12 August 1966), sometimes credited as Nelson Yu, is a Hong Kong cinematography, cinematographer, film director, and occasional film producer. Born in Hong Kong, Yu Lik-wai was educated at Belgium's INSAS (Institut National Supe ...
. ''Twentidentity'', meanwhile, is a 20-part anthology film made by alumni of the Korean Academy of Film Arts, on the occasion of the school's 20th anniversary. Bong's contribution is ''Sink & Rise'' (2003), a work set alongside the Han River.


International success

'' The Host'' (2006) marked a step up in scale in Bong's career, and indeed for the
Korean film The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, ...
industry as a whole. The big-budget ($12 million) work centered on a fictional monster that rises up out of the Han River to wreak havoc on the people of Seoul—and on one family in particular. Featuring many of the actors who had appeared in his previous films, the film was the focus of strong audience interest even before it started shooting, but there were many doubts raised about whether a Korean production could rise to the challenge of creating a full-fledged, believable digital monster. After initially contacting New Zealand's Weta Digital—the company responsible for the CGI in ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''—scheduling conflicts led Bong to San Francisco-based The Orphanage, who took on the majority of the effects work. After rushing to meet deadlines, the film received a rapturous premiere in the
Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...
section of the
2006 Cannes Film Festival The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official selection Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the ...
. Although local audiences were slightly more critical of ''The Host'' than attendees at Cannes, the film was nonetheless a major summer hit. With theater owners calling for more and more prints, the film enjoyed South Korea's widest release ever (on over a third of the nation's 1,800 screens) and set a new box office record with 13 million tickets sold. ''The Host'' was quickly sold around the world, and US studio
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...
bought the remake rights. Bong, along with French film directors
Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
and Leos Carax, directed a segment of ''
Tokyo! ''Tokyo!'' is a 2008 anthology film containing three segments written by three non-Japanese directors, all of which were filmed in Tokyo, Japan. Michel Gondry directed "Interior Design", Leos Carax directed "Merde", and Bong Joon-ho directed "Sha ...
'' (2008), a triptych feature telling three separate tales of the city. Bong's segment is about a man who has lived for a decade as a ''
Hikikomori , also known as acute social withdrawal, is total withdrawal from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement. ''Hikikomori'' refers to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves. ''Hikikomori'' ha ...
''—the term used in Japan for people unable to adjust to society who do not leave their homes—and what happens when he falls in love with a pizza delivery girl. Bong's fourth feature film ''
Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
'' (2009) is the story of a doting mother who struggles to save her disabled son from a murder accusation. It premiered in the ''
Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...
'' section at the
2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...
to much acclaim, particularly for actress Kim Hye-ja; she went on to win the
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress was an award given annually by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It was first introduced in 1975 to reward the best performance by a leading actress. In 2022, it was announced ...
. ''Mother'' repeated its critical success locally and in the international film festival circuit. The film appeared on many film critics' "best-of" lists of 2010. In 2011, Bong contributed to ''3.11 A Sense of Home'', another anthology film, each segment being 3 minutes and 11 seconds in duration, addressing the theme of home. The films were made by 21 filmmakers in response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, 2011. The film screened on the first anniversary of the disaster. In Bong's short film ''Iki'', a teenage girl finds a toddler, seemingly dead, on a beach. That same year, Bong served as a jury member for the
27th Sundance Film Festival The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival opened with five screenings, one from each c ...
. He was also the head of the jury for the Caméra d'Or section of the
2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...
and 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival.


American co-productions

Bong's first English-language film, '' Snowpiercer'', was released in 2013. It is based on the graphic novel ''
Le Transperceneige ''Snowpiercer'' ( French: ''Le Transperceneige'', ) is a post-apocalyptic, climate fiction graphic novel first published in French by Casterman and created by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. The graphic novel was first published in 1982 und ...
'' (1982) by
Jacques Lob Jacques Lob (19 August 1932 – 24 May 1990) was a French comic book creator, known for several comics creations, including '' Superdupont''. Biography Jacques Lob began his career as an illustrator of humorous cartoons that were published in va ...
and
Jean-Marc Rochette Jean-Marc Rochette (born 23 April 1956) is a French painter, illustrator and comics creator. He is best known and recognized for the comic book series '' Edmond le Cochon'' and '' Le Transperceneige'', as well as for his illustrations of the lit ...
, and set largely on a futuristic train where those on board are separated according to their
social status Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Stat ...
. The film premiered at
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
on July 29, 2013, in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, before screening at the
Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Cho ...
as the closing film on September 7, 2013, the Berlin International Film Festival as part of Berlin's Forum Sidebar on February 7, 2014, opening the LA Film Festival on June 11, 2014, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 22, 2014. Upon release in cinemas, ''Snowpiercer'' was met with near-universal praise and strong ticket sales, both in South Korea and abroad. On the film
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 253 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Snowpiercer'' offers an audaciously ambitious action spectacular for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 84 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". As of April 2014, it is the tenth highest-grossing domestic film in South Korea, with 9,350,141 admissions. The film also holds the domestic record for the fastest movie (domestic and foreign) to reach four million admissions, which it achieved in its fifth day after the premiere, and another record for the highest weekend figure (from Friday to Sunday) for a Korean film, with 2.26 million viewers. In addition to receiving several awards and nominations, ''Snowpiercer'' appeared on several critics' lists of the ten best films of 2014. In 2015, Bong's next film, ''
Okja ''Okja'' (; ) is a 2017 science-fantasy action-adventure film directed by Bong Joon-ho with a screenplay by Bong and Jon Ronson from a story by Bong. The film is about a young girl who raised a genetically modified "super pig" (the titular Okja) ...
'', was announced. On April 30, 2015, screenwriter Jon Ronson announced on his Twitter account that he was writing the second draft of Bong's screenplay for the film.
Darius Khondji Darius Khondji ( fa, داریوش خنجی; born 21 October 1955) is an Iranian-French cinematographer. Khondji has worked with a number of high-profile directors, including David Fincher, Woody Allen, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Gus Van Sant, Roman Po ...
joined the film as cinematographer in February 2016. Filming for the project began in April 2016. It premiered at the
2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar was the President of the Jury for the festival and Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and ...
, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and sparked controversy due to it being produced by
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. The film was met with boos, mixed with applause, during a press screening at the film festival, once the Netflix logo appeared on screen and again during a technical glitch; the film was projected in the incorrect aspect ratio for its first seven minutes. The festival later issued an apology to the filmmakers. However, despite the studio's negative response, the film itself received a four-minute standing ovation following its actual premiere. The film was later released on Netflix on June 28, 2017, and received positive reviews. On the film
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 235 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.54/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Okja'' sees Bong Joon Ho continuing to create defiantly eclectic entertainment – and still hitting more than enough of his narrative targets in the midst of a tricky tonal juggling act." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic
A. O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
wrote: "''Okja'' is a miracle of imagination and technique, and ''Okja'' insists, with abundant mischief and absolute sincerity, that she possesses a soul."


''Parasite'' (2019)

In 2019, Bong directed the South Korean film ''
Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
'', a black comedy thriller about a poor family that infiltrates a wealthy household by gaining employment as staff. The film premiered at the
2019 Cannes Film Festival The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2019. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu served as jury president. The Palme d'Or went to the South Korean film ''Parasite'', directed by Bong Joon-ho; Bong became t ...
, where it won the Palme d'Or, becoming the first Korean film to receive the award and the first film to do so with a unanimous vote since ''
Blue Is the Warmest Colour ''Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (french: link=yes, La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2; ) is a 2013 romance film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film foll ...
'' at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...
. On June 16, 2019, the film won the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival where it was in competition alongside eleven other features from countries such as
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
, Brazil and Spain, and Australian entrants
Mirrah Foulkes Mirrah Foulkes is an Australian director, screenwriter, and film and television actress. She was raised on the Sunshine Coast, in South East Queensland, Australia. She has appeared in films such as '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010), ''Sleeping Beauty' ...
(for '' Judy and Punch'') and Ben Lawrence (for ''
Hearts and Bones ''Hearts and Bones'' is the sixth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in 1983 by Warner Bros. Records. Background The album was originally intended to be called ''Think Too Much'', but Mo Ostin, president ...
''). ''Parasite'' was released in South Korea by
CJ Entertainment CJ Entertainment (Hangul: CJ 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film production and distribution company under CJ ENM. The company operates as a film production company, film publishing house, investment and exhibition. History During early 1 ...
on May 30, 2019, and in the United States by
Neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
on October 11, 2019. It received unanimous critical acclaim and earned $266 million at the worldwide box office, becoming Bong's highest-grossing release. On the film
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
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, the film has an approval rating of 99% based on 451 reviews, with a weighted average of 9.37/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An urgent, brilliantly layered look at timely social themes, ''Parasite'' finds writer-director Bong Joon Ho in near-total command of his craft." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 96 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Regarding motivation of the film's creation, Bong hoped that he would live a comfortable life, however he was disappointed several times in reality. He wanted to express the anxiety, sadness, and deep fear that came from reality of life via his film. Throughout the 2019–2020
film awards season Film awards season is an annual time period between November and February every year, in the United States, where a majority of significant film award events take place. In October ballots are sent out to voters, to collect nominations for the first ...
, Bong and the film received numerous accolades. Bong received the Hollywood Filmmaker Award at the 23rd Hollywood Film Awards and
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director is one of the awards given to film directors working in the film industry by the Critics Choice Association at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. It was first given out to Mel Gibson for '' ...
(tied with
Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honour ...
for ''
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
'') at the
25th Critics' Choice Awards The 25th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 12, 2020, at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2019. The ceremony was broadcast on The CW and T ...
. He was also nominated for
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
and
Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
(shared with
Han Jin-won Han Jin-won (, born 1986) is a South Korean screenwriter. He is best known for his work on ''Parasite'' as writer, which earned him critical appraisal and recognition including an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 92nd Academy Awa ...
) at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, with the film itself winning
Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. This was the first
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
nomination (and win) for any South Korean film. ''Parasite'' also became the first non-English-language film to win the top prize at the 70th American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards when film editor
Yang Jin-mo Yang Jin-mo () is a South Korean film editor. He is best known internationally for his work on multiple Academy Award winner ''Parasite'' as editor, which earned him critical appraisal and recognition including an American Cinema Editors Award for ...
won Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic. At the
26th Screen Actors Guild Awards The 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2019, were presented on January 19, 2020 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was broadcast l ...
, the cast of ''Parasite'' won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, making history as the first foreign-language film to win in the category. At the 73rd British Academy Film Awards, ''Parasite'' was nominated in four categories, winning two awards— Best Original Screenplay and
Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, r ...
. ''Parasite'' was later submitted as the South Korean entry for Best International Feature Film for the 92nd Academy Awards, making the December shortlist. It eventually became the first South Korean film to receive an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination in any category, receiving a total of six nominations and winning four awards— Best Picture,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. This was also the first time a non-English language film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and the first time Asian writers won Academy Awards for screenwriting. While accepting the Academy Award for Best Director, Bong expressed his deep respect and appreciation for fellow nominees
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
, who inspired his work, and
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
, who supported and praised his earlier films. He also mentioned a quote from Scorsese—"The most personal is the most creative"—that also inspired him, which prompted the audience to give Scorsese an enthusiastic standing ovation. Scorsese later wrote and sent a heartfelt letter to Bong after ''Parasite''s Oscar success. ''Parasite''s Best Picture win was well received by film critics, who hailed it as a major step forward for popular appreciation of international film and for restoring the legitimacy of the Academy. "The academy gave best picture to the actual best picture", wrote
Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang (born January 3, 1983) is an American film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He previously worked for ''Variety''. Early life Justin Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in 2004. Chan ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', who continued that the film awards body was "startled ... into recognizing that no country's cinema has a monopoly on greatness". Conversely, U.S. president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
lambasted ''Parasite''s win at a campaign rally in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
on February 20, 2020, questioning why a foreign film won Best Picture; his comments were widely condemned as " xenophobic" and "
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
". Distribution company
Neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
responded by
tweeting Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, ...
: "Understandable, he can't read." In January 2020, an
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
six-hour limited series based on the film, with Bong and Adam McKay serving as executive producers, currently in early development, was announced as an upcoming project. Bong has stated that the series, also titled ''Parasite'', will explore stories "that happen in between the sequences in the film". In February 2020, Mark Ruffalo was rumored to star while
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
was confirmed to being cast as the female lead. In September 2021, Bong served as jury president of the 78th Venice International Film Festival.


Upcoming projects

In February 2021, Bong said that he had been working on two scripts after completing ''Parasite'', one in English and one in Korean, and that he had finished one of the two. He said that the Korean film "is located in Seoul and has unique elements of horror and action" and that the English film is "a drama film based on a true event that happened in 2016." Bong is preparing for a Korean animation as one of his next films. This animation was conceived since 2018 and said it is a Korean project that is a drama genre involving deep-sea creatures and humans. In January 2022, it was revealed Bong's next film would be ''
Mickey 17 ''Mickey 17'' is an upcoming American science fiction film written, directed, and co-produced by Bong Joon-ho, based on the 2022 novel ''Mickey7'' by Edward Ashton. It stars Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ru ...
'', an adaptation of Edward Ashton's novel ''Mickey7''. Bong was given an advance manuscript of the novel in late 2021. The film, which was written, co-produced and directed by Bong, will be distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...
and will star
Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. Known for starring in both big-budget and independent films, Pattinson has ranked among the world's highest-paid actors. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the 1 ...
, Bong's first collaborations with both. In May 2022,
Naomi Ackie Naomi Ackie (born 22 August 1991) is an English actress. She made her television debut as Jen in the ''Doctor Who'' episode " Face the Raven" (2015). For her role as Bonnie on the television dark comedy-drama series ''The End of the F***ing World ...
,
Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...
, and Mark Ruffalo joined the cast and the film is entered in pre-production at
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
. In July 2022, Steven Yeun joined the cast. Production commenced on August 1, 2022.


Inspirations and style

As a child, Bong watched '' Black Orpheus'' (1959), which made a big impact on him, on Korean television. While he was in film school, Bong watched the ''Qatsi'' trilogy (1982–2002). His main inspirations are from
Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...
—his favorite films of del Toro's are ''
The Devil's Backbone ''The Devil's Backbone'' ( es, El espinazo del diablo) is a 2001 gothic horror film directed by Guillermo del Toro, and written by del Toro, David Muñoz, and Antonio Trashorras. The film is set in Spain, 1939, during the final year of the ...
'' (2001) and ''
Pan's Labyrinth ''Pan's Labyrinth'' ( es, El laberinto del fauno, lit=The Labyrinth of the Faun, links=no) is a 2006 dark fantasy horror film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro. A Spanish-Mexican(78% Spanish production, 22% Mexican productio ...
'' (2006)—and Nagisa Ōshima, describing Oshima as "one of the most controversial masters". Bong also studied the films of
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
and cited him as one of his major influences during his acceptance speech for the
Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibi ...
when he won for ''
Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
'' (2019). His process when working with actors is to make them feel comfortable and gives them a high amount of freedom when performing, even allowing them to improvise. Bong has commented that he doesn't like the term 'Directing Actors' as he feels that "acting is the actor's job and it's something I don't feel like I can direct". The most defining trademark of Bong's films are their sudden tone shifts (sometimes within scenes) between drama, darkness, and black or slapstick humor. During a TIFF Master Class at the
2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...
, Bong claimed: "I'm never really conscious of the tone shifts or the comedy that I apply, I never think 'oh, the tone shifts at this point or it's funny at this point.' I'm never conscious of it during the filmmaking or screenwriting process." Bong also uses real filming locations or specially built sets in all his films as opposed to green screens, even to the extent of filming in Seoul's sewers for '' The Host'' (2006); ''
Memories of Murder ''Memories of Murder'' () is a 2003 South Korean crime thriller film co-written and directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is loosely based on the true story of Korea's first confirmed serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, ...
'' (2003) set a local record for the number of locations it used. In an interview promoting '' Snowpiercer'' (2013), actor Ed Harris described Bong's shooting process as "cutting while filming". Harris also said that "if I was doing a scene and it was a couple of pages long, he would never shoot the whole thing one way. He'd shoot a few lines, like the first beat of the scene, and then he would turn the camera around and get my part for that part of the scene. Then he would change the angle a little bit". He additionally noted that "the editor was sitting right there on the stage, right below the set with a big tent, actually getting the footage as they were filming. Fellow actor
Daniel Henshall Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Early life and education Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...
echoed Harris' sentiment calling Bong "precise" and "very sure of what he wants". Henshall continued by saying: "He only shoots what he's going to use in the edit. Doesn't do any coverage. I've never worked like that before. You're trimming the fat before you've shot it, which is very brave, because when you get into the edit, if something's missing you haven't got it. He's been planning it for four years that meticulously."


Personal life

Bong was a member of the now-defunct New Progressive Party. He has also voiced support for its predecessor, the Democratic Labor Party. Bong has been married to screenwriter Jung Sun-young since 1995. Their son, Hyo-min, is also a filmmaker and directed the web movie ''Wedding Ceremony'' (2017). Bong was named No. 1 Favorite Film Director among the most respected figures of college students nationwide from 2009 to 2019 in Korea.


Filmography


Awards and nominations


See also

*
Cinema of Korea The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, ...


References


External links

*
Bong Joon-ho
on
KMDb The Korean Movie Database (KMDb) is a South Korean online database of information related to Korean movies, animation, actors, television shows, production crew personnel and other film-related information. KMDb launched in February 2006 by Ko ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bong, Joon Ho 1969 births Living people Best Directing Academy Award winners Best Director Paeksang Arts Award (film) winners Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award New Progressive Party (South Korea) South Korean progressives South Korean socialists People from Daegu Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award South Korean film directors South Korean film producers South Korean screenwriters Writers Guild of America Award winners Yonsei University alumni Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts category:Grand Prize Paeksang Arts Award (Film) winners