Bong Joon-ho

Award won Role or nomination

1. 1969 age 0

   Born

2. 2003 age 34

   CreditMemories of Murderdirector

   CreditMemories of Murderscreenwriter

3. 2006 age 37

   CreditThe Hostdirector

   CreditThe Hostscreenwriter

4. 2013 age 44

   CreditSnowpiercerdirector

   CreditSnowpiercerscreenwriter

5. 2017 age 48

   CreditOkjadirector

   CreditOkjaproducer

   CreditOkjascreenwriter

6. 2019 age 50

   CreditParasitedirector

   CreditParasiteproducer

   CreditParasitescreenwriter

7. 2025 age 56

   CreditMickey 17director

   CreditMickey 17producer

   CreditMickey 17screenwriter

• SKSong Kang-ho4 titles
• JJJung Jae-il3 titles
• YJYang Jin-mo3 titles
• MLMi-gyeong Lee3 titles
• BHByun Hee-bong3 titles
• SYSteven Yeun2 titles
• PLPaul Lazar2 titles
• TSTilda Swinton2 titles
• CWChoi Woo-shik2 titles
• HKHong Kyung-pyo2 titles

• Sci-fi gives you the advantage of being able to say what you want pretty directly. Like, in Snowpiercer, that scene where Ed Harris has a long monologue in the engine car. Parasite has the landscape stone. The movie has symbols, but I wanted to focus more on the mundane atmosphere, on the stories of our neighbors.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

• A lot of people say it’s a universal story because it’s about the gap between rich and poor, but I don’t think that’s all the answer. I think this film has done so well because it appeals in a very cinematic way, as a film in itself. I really want to take time to look back at what that cinematic appeal was.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

• I grew up in a middle-class family. Even in terms of real estate, the house that I grew up in is in the middle – between the semi-basement home and the rich house you see in the film. I was really close with friends and relatives from both classes.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

• My main job is not promoting a film, it’s writing scripts, and, of course, I’m doing that right now, in hotel rooms and on flights, but it hasn’t been easy. So there’s a duality with this entire process. Of course, it’s great and exciting, but I’m also desperate to return to my main job as soon as possible.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

• I don’t think I’m pessimistic at every point, but I want to be honest in the face of the reality that stands in front of us. With Parasite, my thinking was that mankind’s achieved such great development — like the mobile devices we see in front of us but if we think about the past 30 years, has the gap between rich and poor dissipated? Not really. I have a son myself, do I think things are going to improve in his generation? I don’t really think that either. That is the source of a lot of fear, actually. So I wanted to be honest with that fear and sadness and really deliver that.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

• This is something that applies to all countries, yes. Of course, there can be understanding and sympathy and communication between different classes, but I do think that it is very plausible things could turn out the way they do in the film. We are all aware of this gap between rich and poor and this is very sad and frightening, but what is fundamentally even more frightening is the fear I mentioned earlier, that this won’t be resolved in the future, in our children’s generation. That’s something we all feel, and it’s very hard to get rid of.

  Bong Joon-ho, CC BY-SA 4.0

Nationalities

South Korea

Languages

Korean, English

Years active

1999–

Notable works

Memories of Murder, Snowpiercer, Okja, Parasite, The Host

Education

Yonsei University, bachelor's degree