Interview with Bong Joon-Ho

In 10 years with four films to his credit, Korean director Bon Joon-Ho has established himself in the world of international cinematography. He was acclaimed by critics for The Host (2006), and was invited to participate in Cannes with Tokyo! in 2008, and again in 2009 with Mother, presented in Un Certain Regard. This year he is presiding over the Jury of the Caméra d’Or.

 

Is this the first time you have presided over a Festival Jury? How do you feel about it?

I have some prior experience as a jury member but this is the first time I will be presiding. So I am feeling some pressure, for sure. But it is just as enjoyable, watching the films. And this time, there will be 24 of them!

How are you going to work with the rest of the Jury? 

Each jury member has his or her own taste and point of view and of course we will respect that. So far, we have only seen a few movies and as we come out of each screening, we share our opinions freely. It’s not really a full review session, just a free and natural exchange of viewpoints, in a congenial atmosphere. But in the end, we will have to choose one film, so there could be some battles and some blood spilt at that point!

Can you tell us about your earliest cinema memories?

Actually, my first experience as a director was in 1993, eighteen years ago, when I made a 16 mm short film at university, with my film club members. It was a “location shooting” and it was pouring rain. My head was spinning; I had so many things on my mind. I can still remember the atmosphere and the smell of the rain that day. Everyone on the crew was so calm and silent. A very deep silence, for hours, just watching the rain fall. I still remember this.

 

And what about your earliest memory of watching films?

I may have been five or six; I was in the theatre with my parents. I cannot remember the title or the director of the movie but it was some kind of National Geographic documentary about African animals. The only sequence I remember was about a strange tree with alcoholic fruits. Monkeys and giraffes ate the fruit and got drunk and some monkeys were falling to the ground. And I also remember going to “Sound of Music” with my sister. I can’t remember the film but I remember going into the theatre in broad daylight and as it lasted 3 hours, it was very dark when I came out. I was struck by this darkness as a child. It was a strange and powerful feeling.

 

Among the directors you admire, which ones are still with you?

When I was a Kid, I saw a very old French movie on Korean television. It was The Wages of Fear by Henri Georges Clouzot. It was a kind of a cinematic trauma for me. Ever since, I have been collecting its various French, British, American versions on DVD and Blue-ray. I’m quite obsessed with it. Even though it is a very dark film, I always watch it when I’m depressed. I also love the Korean master Kim Ki-Young and the Japanese director Shohei Imamura. And also a lot of American and French crime movies from the 1970’s, Claude Chabrol’s Bloody Wedding for example.

 

You have a reputation as someone who is able to mix genres and atmospheres. Do you agree with this assessment?

I’ve never consciously mixed genres and atmospheres. It just naturally comes together that way for me. I don’t know why exactly, it’s part of my instinct. I’ve always loved cinema and I did a lot of film studies in university, analyzing many American and European classics and auteur films. So my brain is full of many images from films, but in my flesh and blood, a more instinctive way of expressing things in film takes hold.

 

You have come to Cannes before, for The Host (in the Directors’ Fortnight), Tokyo (with Gondry, and Carax in Un Certain Regard) and Mother (in Un Certain Regard). Could you tell us about a particular memory or story about your first visits to Cannes?
 

The very first experience was in 2006 at the Directors’ Fortnight for the premiere screening of The Host. Olivier Père introduced me. It was a very young audience. You never know how people are going to receive a film but this time I felt they were positive and just ready to enjoy the movie. So I relaxed and joined the audience to enjoy my movie too. It was a powerful experience.

 

The new wave of South-Korean cinema, of which you are a representative, has become immensely popular on the international scene. How do you explain this craze? What makes your cinema different?

I cannot really explain it because I’m part of the Korean industry and culture, so my point of view is not objective. But I’m also intrigued by it. What happened to us after the year 2000? Many directors like Kim Ki-duk, Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang Dong or Park Chan-Wook exploded onto the international film scene. Our country had changed. In 1993, military dictatorship was over and censorship disappeared. A young generation of artists like me appeared. This is a somewhat mechanical explanation of the context, but there is something else. Korean people are very sensitive and emotional and I think Korean films are also very extreme and emotional, very different from Japanese or other Asian cinema.

Do you have any plans for after the Festival?

I’m in preproduction for my next project. The story is based on a French science fiction comic book novel called “Le Transperceneige” (Snowpiercing). The story takes place in a train, in the future, and the whole world is covered by ice and snow. There are no more humans, no animals outside. The only survivors were those who boarded the train. And they are fighting to kill each other!

 

V.V.E