Bong Joon-ho

The Virtuoso Master Director from South Korea

All over the world, the films of South Korean director Bong Joon-ho have helped the development of cinema in his home country to extraordinary impact. In 2020, his film "Parasite" won no less than four of the most important "Oscars" in Hollywood: for Best International Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and, above all, Best Film. After films like "Snowpiercer", "Mother", "The Host" and "Memories of Murder", Bong, born in 1969, put the (provisional) crown on his remarkable career. Stylistically, the director makes virtuoso use of classic genres such as horror, thriller, family film and science fiction, which he deconstructs artfully at the same time. Above all, his films are deeply rooted in the social reality, culture and history of South Korea: "In his studies at the end of the 1980s, Bong Joon-ho experienced the birth of South Korean democracy out of student protests and street battles; tear gas and Molotov cocktails were part of the fight," wrote Tobias Kniebe in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". "All his films are characterised by a clear awareness of power and class structures and the workings of capitalism, which can rise to the level of tangible dystopias in his science fiction works."

Stylistically, the director makes virtuoso use of classic genres such as horror, thriller, family film and science fiction, which he deconstructs artfully at the same time. Above all, his films are deeply rooted in the social reality, culture and history of South Korea: "In his studies at the end of the 1980s, Bong Joon-ho experienced the birth of South Korean democracy out of student protests and street battles; tear gas and Molotov cocktails were part of the fight," wrote Tobias Kniebe in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". "All his films are characterised by a clear awareness of power and class structures and the workings of capitalism, which can rise to the level of tangible dystopias in his science fiction works."

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