Masterclass - Bong Joon Ho © Mathilde Gardel / FDC
Rendez-vous with… Bong Joon Ho
During an exceptional Rendez-Vous, Bong Joon Ho spoke to 20 Minutes journalist Caroline Vié about his career. An interview tinged with humour with the Korean director of Parasite, awarded the last Palme d’or in 2019.
His earliest memories of the cinema
His mother didn't let him hang around in cinemas too often because he was sensitive to germs and bacteria. As a young boy, a scene from a documentary made an impression on him: monkeys eating fruit steeped in alcohol, toppling over one after the other.
His influences
Henri-Georges Clouzot to start with, followed by Claude Chabrol later on, and Alfred Hitchcock, naturally. He saw Psycho (1960) on the television at the age of nine, which scarred him for life.
During his teen years, Korean television was censored, and it was only many years later as a university student that he grasped that Dog Day Afternoon by Sidney Lumet was about Al Pacino's gay relationship with his husband. In terms of the new generation of filmmakers, Bong Joon Ho is very much a fan of Alain Guiraudie and his Stranger by the Lake (2012) and Staying Vertical (2016).
His family
His family in no way resembles the characters in his films! For Parasite, his mother lives in a tower block, and was relieved she doesn't have a basement!
“Mother has been off limits between my own mother and myself for twelve years now. We haven’t discussed the film since the preview.”
His escapism
When Truffaut was working, he liked being around books. Bong Joon Ho also enjoys dusting off his old books or watching a few iconic scenes from his favourite films – his answer to antidepressants.
“It’s a tactile thing. I like getting out my DVDs and blu-rays…”
The Parasite series
The director is involved in the project as a producer, collaborating with the screenwriter Adam McKay. The concept for the series is the same as for the film, although the narrative is set in the States.
His relationship with the audience
"My stories always start with an obsession of mine, not from a desire to appeal to audiences. The most important audience to me is myself. Because I'm a movie buff, and I want to make the type of films I would want to watch."
His future plans
Plans for an animated film are under-way, the starting point for which is an adaptation of the French science book "Abysses – Une histoire des grands fonds".
Korea's independent scene
Bong Joon Ho urges people to delve into the emerging generation of Korean film, such as director Yoon Dan-bi, the multi-award-winning filmmaker behind Moving On (2020).
