{"id":5721,"date":"2019-10-07T09:38:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T16:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janaoncamera.com\/?p=5721"},"modified":"2021-04-06T11:46:38","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T18:46:38","slug":"parasite-interview-with-south-korean-director-bong-joon-ho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janaoncamera.com\/br\/parasite-interview-with-south-korean-director-bong-joon-ho\/","title":{"rendered":"PARASITE | Interview with South Korean director Bong Joon Ho"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a successful run on the film festival circuit, including winning the coveted Palm d\u2019Or at Cannes earlier this year, the pitch-black modern fairytale and downright scary PARASITE<\/strong> is hitting theaters on October 11.<\/p>\n

PARASITE<\/strong> follows the Park Family, the picture of aspirational wealth, and the\u00a0Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide \u201cindispensable\u201d luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a\u00a0parasitic\u00a0interloper threatens the Kims\u2019 newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>

South Korean director Bong Joon Ho (Courtesy: NEON)<\/p><\/div>\n

PARASITE<\/strong> is directed by South Korean director South Korean director Bong Joon Ho\u00a0who brings his singular mastery home to Korea this time around. He doesn\u2019t see his dark comedy, in which a working-class family finagles its way into service jobs handled by others for a well-to-do family, as particularly politically charged or a commentary about social injustice. The South Korean filmmaker sees it, along with his previous acclaimed films including \u201cOkja,\u201d \u201cMother\u201d and \u201cSnowpiercer,\u201d simply as genre films, which are dictated by story and characters.<\/p>\n

I was able to participate in a roundtable where Bong spoke about PARASITE, with the help of a translator, Sharon Choi. Bong spoke about the inspiration to make this film, about peaches, the casting process, and more.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to make this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – Like all artists, I draw inspiration from personal experiences. When I was in college, I worked as a tutor, which is very common for Korean college students. It didn\u2019t happen all the time, but sometimes I\u2019d tutor for very rich families. One time, I was fired after two months because they were very particular. Usually, it\u2019s not easy to look at the private spaces of a family home but, for this family, the boy I tutored gave me a tour of the entire house. He was showing off his house. So, I got a chance to look at every corner of this rich house and I have a lot of vivid memories of that time. It was kind of like I was spying on the private lives of complete strangers. They had a private sauna on the second floor like I have in the house in the movie. At the time, I was quite shocked a sauna in the house, unbelievable! The boy was very proud of it.<\/p>\n

Your films break genre rules. Is that something you think about while writing your movies or does that just happen through your writing process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – It\u2019s closer to the latter. When I\u2019m writing the script, I\u2019m busy just thinking about the situation and the characters, and as I write more and more, it almost feels like I\u2019m not writing the story, the story is dragging me along.\u00a0A lot of people comment on how I shift tones and mix genres, and I\u2019m grateful for those comments but, to be honest, when I\u2019m writing or shooting, I\u2019m never aware of it. It\u2019s not something I intend.\u00a0If someone forced me to maintain a singular tone throughout the two hours of one film, that would be more difficult for me. This mixture of shifts feels more natural.<\/p>\n

This film reveals the class structure that is specific to Korea, but it also seems like these differences are universal. Was that intentional?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – At first, I was amazed at the response from international audiences because I thought this film was full of Korean details. Also, the actors\u2019 performances are filled with Korean nuances. So, at first, I wondered whether international audiences would be able to sympathize with the story. But ever since we screened the film at Cannes, it seemed that people reacted very similarly to even the smallest details, and even I didn\u2019t understand why. After Cannes, I was at the Sydney Film Festival, Telluride and Toronto, and the reaction was all the same. Maybe there are no borders between countries anymore because we all live in the same country of capitalism.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>

South Korean actress Park So-Dam (Courtesy: NEON)<\/p><\/div>\n

The peaches play an important role on the movie. Why did you pick the peach and not another fruit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – I\u2019m allergic to shellfish, but it would be very difficult to pick a piece of shellfish out of your bag. So, with a little bit of peach fuzz it can be very discreet. It\u2019s secretive and the other person you never really know what you are doing. Even when we shot that the scene, we\u2019ve made sure the fuzz was reflected on the sunlight and I think it creates a subtle atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Tell us a little bit about your casting process? Which was the easiest and the hardest roles to cast?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – Even before I wrote the script, I had actors in mind for the poor father, the poor son and the original housekeeper. While I was writing the screenplay, I imagined their performances, their speaking style, and their facial expressions. So, that was helpful. When I was casting the poor daughter, I realized Park So Dam (plays \u201cKi-Jung Kim\u201d) resembled Choi Woo Shik (plays \u201cKi-Woo Kim\u201d), the actor playing the poor son. I reached out to her when I was nearly finished the script. The film opens with their faces side-by-side. The most challenging role to cast was the rich housewife. Western audiences may not know it but hasn\u2019t really played a role like this before. She\u2019s known for playing beautiful and sexy characters. So, Korean audiences initially were surprised when they saw her in this. It was a new side of her.<\/p>\n

Since this is your fourth film with Song Kang Ho, what appeals to you about his everyman quality?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – I consider myself a genre filmmaker and I always create genre films. A lot of my films break these genre conventions but also go back and forth between reality and these genre elements. It\u2019s almost like they\u2019re walking on a tightrope. That\u2019s possible because of Song Kang Ho. No matter how genre a specific scene or moment gets, once they\u2019re filtered through this actor, they all end up feeling realistic and he manages to persuade the audience.\u00a0In other Korean films, Song Kang Ho has played the super charismatic heroes but, in my films for some reason, he always plays the idiot-loser, who falls into these very extreme situations. The layers and charming aspects of this actor suits the narratives I create.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(Courtesy: NEON)<\/p><\/div>\n

How was it filming that flood sequence? How long did it take to shoot that sequence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – We actually found a real neighborhood and asked the residents to sacrifice their homes for this film. \u201cThis is art\u2014filmmaking! You people must be very supportive.\u201d Just kidding. We built the set in a swimming pool. Actually, it\u2019s a big water tank used for special effects. We built the whole neighborhood and shot it there. The last two days, we made the water look dirty with facial mud packs. It looked dirty but it was good for the actors\u2019 skin. Two nights, because we really prepared a lot. Also, how high the water comes at each stage of the sequence, and how the toilet spews water and its contents, we tested the pressure and everything. We prepared so much to shoot that sequence. Beyond that sequence, I drew storyboards for the entire film. I don\u2019t shoot coverage. I just shoot as I plan for the storyboard stage from the camera angles we\u2019ve already tested. We ended up using all the shots that we filmed. We didn\u2019t waste much.<\/p>\n

What are you like on set?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – On sets, actors are what\u2019s most important. I really focus on trying to make them comfortable. I and the all my crew members have storyboards, and we just shoot according to the storyboard that we\u2019ve planned so there\u2019s no reason to scream or fight with each other. There\u2019s only one thing that I\u2019m very strict about catering! I always ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s for lunch today?\u201d<\/p>\n

What impact do you hope a film like PARASITE will have on audiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – I don\u2019t create films to make the world a better place. I\u2019m a filmmaker that really pursues the beauty of cinema in itself. Of course, if a film is able to have a good impact on the world, that\u2019s great, but it never starts with that specific goal when I plan or design a project. In our daily lives, when we\u2019re just chatting with our friends, we talk about what we ate today, how our love life is going, and, naturally, we talk about Trump or the mortgage crisis. Our daily lives are very mixed with politics, in general, so I always focus on the beauty of cinema and the daily lives of specific individuals. That\u2019s where my interests lie. Already in there is the political commentary; it\u2019s already seeped into those elements. For me, it would be awkward to separate the two.<\/p>\n

\"Actors<\/a>

Actors Lee Sun-Kuyn and Cho Yeo-Jeong (Courtesy: NEON)<\/p><\/div>\n

If a Hollywood studio offered you $400 million to make your next movie, what would you make?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong -When \u201cThe Host\u201d was screened in Cannes and Toronto in 2006, a lot of U.S. agencies contacted me. My agent changed after \u201cSnowpiercer,\u201d but my previous agent, who was an amazing guy, brought me a lot of offers to direct franchises and big blockbuster films. But, personally, I have a lot of fears. Until now, I\u2019ve been very lucky as a filmmaker because I\u2019ve always managed to have final cut. There hasn\u2019t been a theatrical version and a director\u2019s cut of my films. It\u2019s always been my vision. But I\u2019ve heard that the bigger the budget, the less creative control you have, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ve always feared. I would never be able to work like that. I\u2019d rather shoot smaller budget films and have all the creative control I can get.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bong – I usually let ideas brew and mature over a long period. PARASITE<\/strong> began in 2013. I\u2019m currently preparing two projects. I started one of them two or three years ago and I\u2019m just working on them, regardless of what happens with PARASITE<\/strong>. They\u2019re smaller films, on the scale of PARASITE<\/strong> and \u201cMother.\u201d One is in Korean and the other is in English. The Korean project, I\u2019ve thought about for a very long time – since 2001. I need to shoot it ASAP or I\u2019ll get sick.<\/p>\n