한국국제교류재단

Acclaimed for its gritty and meticulous portrayal of the modern capitalist landscape, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” touched a universal chord and became the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or, the most prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival. Coming at the centennial of Korean cinema, it was yet another groundbreaking achievement for the auteur with an ingenious mind.

Bong Joon-ho’s seventh feature film “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the highest prize awarded at Cannes.

As if to celebrate the centennial of Korean cinema this year, director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” clinched the Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. “Very opportune,” as Song Kang-ho’s character Ki-taek says in the movie.

“Parasite” captivated film distributors worldwide. It compiled pre-sales in 192 countries during the May festival period, the highest number ever for a Korean film. After the festival, the movie debuted at French theaters and moviegoers flocked to this year’s top winner. “Parasite” topped the box office, pushing back Hollywood blockbusters “Men in Black: International” and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” into second and third place, respectively.

Of the two posters made for the French release, one was particularly eye-catching in that it showed an image of the character Mr. Park whispering to his wife. In unusually large fonts for a French movie poster, the tagline “Si tu me spoiles la fin, je te tue!” (If you ruin the ending for me, I’ll kill you!) was conspicuously printed like a speech bubble. The witty concept was based on the premise that word of mouth had already spread among French audiences to be wary of spoilers.

Long-harbored Dream
Over the past 20 years or so, winning the Palme d’Or has been the holy grail of Korean filmmakers, as they became familiar faces at Cannes. Korean cinema evolved and flourished during this time, displaying an abundant array of themes, settings and techniques.

Lee Doo-yong was the first Korean director to attend the festival with “Spinning the Tales of Cruelty Towards Women” (1983) in the Un Certain Regard category, while Im Kwon-taek became the first Korean director to be invited to the main competition with “Chunhyang” (2000).

Dubbed the “nation’s director,” Im was invited a second time to Cannes and took home the Best Director award for “Chihwaseon” (Painted Fire, 2002), signaling to the world that Korean filmmaking had arrived. Thereafter, further Cannes accolades raised the global stature of Korean films. Park Chan-wook took home the Grand Prix for “Old Boy” (2003), while Lee Chang-dong earned the Best Screenplay Award for “Poetry” (2010). Not to be left out, Im Sang-soo was invited to the main competition with “The Housemaid” (2010), a remake of Kim Ki-young’s legendary work of the same title from 1960, and “The Taste of Money” (2012).

Bong said in his acceptance speech that he had dreamed of becoming a movie director ever since middle school. He made his first short film “Baeksaekin” (White Man, 1994) in college as part of his film club project. It became his ticket to the Korean Academy of Film Arts, where he made the short “Incoherence” (1994), for which he began to gain recognition when it was invited to screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival. He slowly expanded his field of expertise working on “Motel Cactus” (1997) as a member of the directing team and participating in the screenplay of “Phantom the Submarine” (1999).

New Phase in Korean Cinema
Bong’s debut feature “Barking Dogs Never Bite,” released in 2000, marked a new phase in Korean cinema at the dawn of the new millennium. With a mix of cinematic and non-cinematic elements, the movie harbors an unpredictable energy that diverges from previous Korean films. Bong demonstrated amazing imaginative prowess in his uninhibited command of the art form. At that time, he said his favorite Korean film director was Kim Ki-young and that he owned more than 10 videotapes of his movies. Kim was known for horror films that focused on the psychology of female characters.

Bong said he didn’t go to the theaters much when he was a child. Instead he watched TV — a lot of movies and the AFKN (American Forces Korea Network). Bong further noted that he learned the concept of directing by watching the Japanese anime series “Future Boy Conan.” Whenever his spirits were low while at the Korean Academy of Film Arts, he would spend the whole day watching the entire 14-hour series, he said.

Once deemed a disrupter or outlier, Bong has become a formidable force in Korean cinema. The industry has seen a generational shift; at the forefront are directors like Bong, who attended college when student movements were receding and devoured all types of films, from animation to B-grade, through TV and video rental shops rather than theaters. So, naturally, Bong’s artistic sensibilities are distinct from his predecessors. He joined the ranks of so-called “film buff directors” alongside Park Chan-wook, director of “Joint Security Area,” Kim Jee-woon, who directed “The Foul King,” and Ryoo Seung-wan, director of “Die Bad,” all released in 2000, the same year as Bong’s “Barking Dogs Never Bite.”

Bong’s monster movie “The Host” (2006) was invited to the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 59th Cannes Film Festival, while his anthology “Tokyo!” (2008), directed with Michel Gondry and Leos Carax, and the thriller “Mother” (2009) were invited to compete in the Un Certain Regard category at the 61st and 62nd edition of the festival, respectively. His first entry in the main competition was Netflix-produced “Okja” (2017), which premiered at the 70th edition. Finally, when attending the festival for the fifth time, he picked up its most prestigious award.

“Memories of Murder” (2003), based on an actual serial murder case, was sought out for the Korean cinema section of many international film festivals, including the Bogota International Film Festival.

“Mother” (2009), which depicts a mother’s desperate efforts to save her son who is framed in a murder case, was invited to compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

“The Host” (2006), which attracted more than 13 million viewers worldwide, is Bong Joon-ho’s biggest box office success. It was invited to the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 59th Cannes Film Festival.

“Parasite” (2019) is emblematic of Bong Joon-ho’s filmmaking, known for meticulous attention to detail, clash of disparate elements, and portrayals of the downside of capitalism.

Meticulous Detail, Offbeat Humor
Bong’s two trademarks that characterize his films are his fastidious attention to detail, which has earned him the nickname “Bongtail,” and what the French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma defined as “L’art du piksari” (“The aesthetics of piksari”; piksari is Korean slang for a voice crack when singing), referring to Bong’s style of injecting an unexpected dose of humor through an apparently clumsy mishap.

For his second feature, “Memories of Murder” (2003), a crime drama that brought him into prominence, Bong doggedly sought to achieve a faithful recreation of Korea in the 1980s, the film’s setting. His suggestions to the art director exceeded the norm for scene design.

Props such as old cigarettes and cars were merely the basics; lewd graffiti on the wall at a checkpoint or an out-of-place snack package in a shaman’s house were some of the visual elements that served not only to re the look and feel of the era, but drove the story forward as well. Bong also encased most scenes with dark hues to express the period’s oppressive, gloomy atmosphere; the only bold colors in the movie were blue blades of an electric fan and the victims’ red underwear.

Bong’s execution of details is considered masterly, all the more because they are not immediately apparent but subtly rendered.

In “Memories of Murder,” the police chief slips and tumbles down a rice paddy embankment where the on-site investigation of the crime scene is being conducted; in “The Host,” the monster suddenly stumbles and slips on stairs when it is chasing people. Bong has a predilection for infusing such incongruous elements that seem at odds but lend an offbeat charm that spices up his films. In his review of “Parasite,” David Ehrlich, senior film critic for the film industry and review website IndieWire, wrote, “The giddy, brilliant, and totally unclassifiable ‘Parasite’ proves that Bong Joon-ho has become a genre unto himself.” That encapsulates the very essence of the movie as a hard-to-define genre that charts an unpredictable course, a definitive piece of work from a director who strove to become a perfectionist to portray a society that is far from perfect.

Searing Portrait of Society
Another distinctive feature of Bong’s films, as in “Parasite,” is their thought-provoking study of elements of Korean society, such as family love and social stratification. The apartment complex in “Barking Dogs Never Bite,” the unresolved serial murder case in “Memories of Murder” that took place in southern Gyeonggi Province, the Han River in “The Host” and maternal love portrayed in “Mother” are scenes and sentiments that symbolize Korean society.

Of “The Host,” Bong said that the movie is essentially a story about the emotional and mental growth of the main character, Gang-du. When he finally composes himself, it comes at a horrific cost to his daughter’s life. The absence or utter incompetence of the public authorities is a ubiquitous fixture in Bong’s films. In “The Host,” the social underdogs are forced to take matters into their own hands due to government inaction. Of this, Bong once said in an interview, “It’s like the underdogs are running a relay race of looking out for each other.” Taking a step further, “Mother” features a mother who is driven to become a “monster.” Dismayed at the nonchalant attitude of police officers who treat a girl’s death as just another case, the mother frantically sets out to prove her son’s innocence on her own.

Bong serves up another gritty portrayal of Korean society through the jobless down-and-out family of four in “Parasite.” After the eldest son lands a high-paying private tutoring job, a of cunning schemes gets other family members employed in the wealthy household. The worlds of the rich and poor converge in this way, but as time passes, a somber foreboding takes over. The symbiosis between the two families at opposite ends of the social ladder is but an elusive dream. The film’s bittersweet depiction of the capitalist world we live in cuts across races and nations, and is what earned Bong the top honor at Cannes.

From his feature debut with “Barking Dogs Never Bite” to “Parasite,” Bong has carved out a singular presence in the Korean film industry. His remarkable trajectory of change and evolvement over the last two decades has overlapped with what the public expects and desires from movies. Undoubtedly, Bong Joon-ho remains one of the hottest names in Korean cinema.