BONG Joon-ho is the hottest commodity currently in the Korean movie industry. He possesses macroscopic perspectives as well as microscopic sets of techniques and the vision of an artist as well as a nose for business. His debut film, <Barking Dogs Never Bite> (2001), showed the director’s unique sensibility but was not a commercial success. His talent was showcased in full force with his second feature film, <Memories of Murder> (2003), a suspense thriller abou...More

BONG Joon-ho is the hottest commodity currently in the Korean movie industry. He possesses macroscopic perspectives as well as microscopic sets of techniques and the vision of an artist as well as a nose for business. His debut film, <Barking Dogs Never Bite> (2001), showed the director’s unique sensibility but was not a commercial success. His talent was showcased in full force with his second feature film, <Memories of Murder> (2003), a suspense thriller about serial murders of the 1980s that also captured the air of the Korean society going through the last years of military dictatorship. His third feature film, <The Host> (2006), sold 13 million tickets in Korea alone, the biggest box office success in Korea before <Avatar> came out. Of course, <The Host> still holds the record of being the highest grossing Korean film, and many believe the feat will be difficult to emulate. After the success of <The Host>, he released to critical acclaim yet again, <Mother> (2009), which cast KIM Hye-ja, who is considered to be the quintessential Korean mother figure, and WON Bin, who is known for his image of a young boy. BONG also participated in an omnibus film, <Tokyo!> (2008), along with Leos CARAX and Michel GONDRY. BONG’s long-awaited adaptation of the French graphic novel <Snowpiercer> finally alighted on screens in the summer of 2013. Shot in English language, internationally produced, ambitious and sporting a hefty USD 40 million price tag, the film impressed critics and audiences, handily recouping its budget as it sold all around the world and became one of the biggest Korean hits of the year. BONG then debuted as a producer on the naval thriller <Haemoo>, the directorial debut of his former assistant director and co-writer (on <Memories of Murder>) SHIM Sung-bo. Returning to the director’s chair, BONG teamed up with global content producer Netflix and Hollywood production company Plan B Entertainment to make the English and Korean language bio-engineering thriller <Okja>, which features Jake GYLLENHAAL at the head of an international cast. With a record budget for a Korean film, the feature was released in 2017 and also competed in Cannes, becoming one of the tentpoles of the streaming company. After that, BONG operated his long-awaited comeback to Korea with a project cloaked in secrecy. Presented in Cannes in 2019, <PARASITE> picked up the much-coveted Palme d’Or, a first for a Korean film, which came just in time to crown a Korean industry that was about to celebrate centenary. The media hype surrounding the award-winning film back home helped it become one of the biggest commercial successes of the year, reaching just over 10 million admissions. It also broke many records in foreign markets such as France and even the North American territory, where it scored the best per-venue average revenue for a foreign-language film ever, on top of becoming 2019’s most successful foreign film.Less