Bong Joon-ho
Encyclopedia
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korea
n film director
and screenwriter
.
in 1969 and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school, perhaps influenced by an artistic family (his father was a designer and his grandfather was a noted author.) He majored in sociology in Yonsei University
in the late 1980s and was a member of the film club there. He liked Edward Yang
, Hou Hsiao-hsien
and Imamura Shohei at the time. In the early 1990s, he completed a two-year program at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. While there, he made many 16mm short films and his graduation work Memory in the Frame and Incoherence was invited to screen at the Vancouver and Hong Kong international film festivals.
In 1994 he directed the short film White People. His first feature film Barking Dogs Never Bite
, part comedy and part cruel social satire, in 2000 had a low box office record but he became widely known in his home country for the next film Memories of Murder
, based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, in 2003. He attained both commercial success and critical acclaim through this film. The Host
in 2006 was seen by a record ten million people in the country and was well received by the Cannes Festival. An amusing anecdote is told of him about The Host. In high school, he saw an unusual creature hanging down from a Han River bridge in Seoul and decided to make a monster film.
In 2008, he participated in the omnibus movie Tokyo ! (segment "Shaking Tokyo") with Michel Gondry
and Leos Carax
.
His most recent film is Mother
, the story of a mother who struggles to save her son from a murder accusation, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard
section at Cannes Film Festival
in 2009. He is planning to direct Le Transperceneige, an adaption of Jean-Marc Rochette
and Jacques Loeb's graphic novel of the same name.
In 2011, Bong was announceded as a member of World Dramatic Jury for 27th Sundance Film Festival. He has been announced as the head of the jury for the Caméra d'Or
section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
.
Oporto International Film Festival
Best Director, for The Host
2006
Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia
Best Special Effects and Orient Express Award for Best Asian Film, to
The Host
2003
Sansebastian International Film Festival
Silver Shell for Best Director, Altadis New Director Award, and FIPRESCI Award, to Memories of Murder
Torino Film Festival
Best Screenplay Award, Audience Award, for Memories of Murder
Tokyo International Film Festival
Asian Film Award, for Memories of Murder
2001
Hong Kong International Film Festival
FIPRESCI Award for young Asian filmmakers, to Barking Dogs Never Bite
Slamdance Film Festival
Best Editing, for Barking Dogs Never Bite
plays
Song Kang-ho
plays
Bae Doo-na
plays
Park Hae-il
plays
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Biography
He was born in DaeguDaegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...
in 1969 and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school, perhaps influenced by an artistic family (his father was a designer and his grandfather was a noted author.) He majored in sociology in Yonsei University
Yonsei University
Yonsei University is a Christian private research university, located in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1885, it is one of the oldest universities in South Korea, the top private comprehensive universities in South Korea, and is widely regarded as one of the top three comprehensive...
in the late 1980s and was a member of the film club there. He liked Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
, Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
and Imamura Shohei at the time. In the early 1990s, he completed a two-year program at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. While there, he made many 16mm short films and his graduation work Memory in the Frame and Incoherence was invited to screen at the Vancouver and Hong Kong international film festivals.
In 1994 he directed the short film White People. His first feature film Barking Dogs Never Bite
Barking Dogs Never Bite
Barking Dogs Never Bite is a South Korean dark comedy film released in 2000. The films original Korean title is a satirical take on A Dog of Flanders, a European pet story that is very popular in parts of Asia...
, part comedy and part cruel social satire, in 2000 had a low box office record but he became widely known in his home country for the next film Memories of Murder
Memories of Murder
Memories of Murder is a 2003 South Korean crime-drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province...
, based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, in 2003. He attained both commercial success and critical acclaim through this film. The Host
The Host (film)
The Host is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun....
in 2006 was seen by a record ten million people in the country and was well received by the Cannes Festival. An amusing anecdote is told of him about The Host. In high school, he saw an unusual creature hanging down from a Han River bridge in Seoul and decided to make a monster film.
In 2008, he participated in the omnibus movie Tokyo ! (segment "Shaking Tokyo") with Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
and Leos Carax
Leos Carax
Leos Carax is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl , and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge and the controversial Pola X...
.
His most recent film is Mother
Mother (2009 film)
Mother is a 2009 South Korean drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin.-Plot:Kim Hye-ja, a veteran Korean actress, plays an unnamed widow living alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while doing unlicensed acupuncture...
, the story of a mother who struggles to save her son from a murder accusation, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
in 2009. He is planning to direct Le Transperceneige, an adaption of Jean-Marc Rochette
Jean-Marc Rochette
Jean-Marc Rochette is a French painter, illustrator and comics creator.He is best known and recognized for the comic book series Edmond le Cochon and Le Transperceneige, as well as for his illustrations of the literary classic Candide ou l'optimisme by Voltaire, and Homer's Odyssey.- Biography...
and Jacques Loeb's graphic novel of the same name.
In 2011, Bong was announceded as a member of World Dramatic Jury for 27th Sundance Film Festival. He has been announced as the head of the jury for the Caméra d'Or
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
2011 Cannes Film Festival
The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...
.
Director
- Barking Dogs Never BiteBarking Dogs Never BiteBarking Dogs Never Bite is a South Korean dark comedy film released in 2000. The films original Korean title is a satirical take on A Dog of Flanders, a European pet story that is very popular in parts of Asia...
(2000) - Memories of MurderMemories of MurderMemories of Murder is a 2003 South Korean crime-drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province...
(2003) - Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers - Influenza (segment) (2004)
- The HostThe Host (film)The Host is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun....
(2006) - Tokyo! (segment "Shaking Tokyo") (2008)
- MotherMother (2009 film)Mother is a 2009 South Korean drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin.-Plot:Kim Hye-ja, a veteran Korean actress, plays an unnamed widow living alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while doing unlicensed acupuncture...
(2009) - Le Transperceneige (2012)
Writer
- Phantom: The Submarine (1999)
- Barking Dogs Never BiteBarking Dogs Never BiteBarking Dogs Never Bite is a South Korean dark comedy film released in 2000. The films original Korean title is a satirical take on A Dog of Flanders, a European pet story that is very popular in parts of Asia...
(2000) - Memories of MurderMemories of MurderMemories of Murder is a 2003 South Korean crime-drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province...
(2003) - Antarctic JournalAntarctic JournalAntarctic Journal is the feature film debut by South Korean director Yim Pil-sung. The movie mixes elements of psychological thriller and classical horror films while showing the hardships met by a modern antarctic expedition trying to reach the pole of inaccessibility...
(2005) - The HostThe Host (film)The Host is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun....
(2006) - MotherMother (2009 film)Mother is a 2009 South Korean drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin.-Plot:Kim Hye-ja, a veteran Korean actress, plays an unnamed widow living alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while doing unlicensed acupuncture...
(2009) - Le Transperceneige (2012)
Awards
2007Oporto International Film Festival
Best Director, for The Host
2006
Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia
Best Special Effects and Orient Express Award for Best Asian Film, to
The Host
2003
Sansebastian International Film Festival
Silver Shell for Best Director, Altadis New Director Award, and FIPRESCI Award, to Memories of Murder
Torino Film Festival
Best Screenplay Award, Audience Award, for Memories of Murder
Tokyo International Film Festival
Asian Film Award, for Memories of Murder
2001
Hong Kong International Film Festival
FIPRESCI Award for young Asian filmmakers, to Barking Dogs Never Bite
Slamdance Film Festival
Best Editing, for Barking Dogs Never Bite
Recurring Cast in Bong Joon-ho's Films
Byeon Hee-bongByeon Hee-bong
Byeon Hee-bong is a South Korean actor who is best known for his role in the smash hit The Host for which he won awards at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and Blue Dragon Film Awards. Byeon became a cult TV star in the 1970s for portraying eccentric men that can't quite fit in with mainstream...
plays
- The janitor in Barking Dogs Never Bite
- Sergeant Koo Hee-bong in Memories of Murder
- Park Hee-bong The Host
Song Kang-ho
Song Kang-ho
Song Kang-ho is a leading South Korean film actor.- Career:Song Kang-ho never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Kimhae High School...
plays
- Detective Park Doo-man in Memories of Murder
- Park Gang-doo in The Host
Bae Doo-na
Bae Doo-na
Bae Doona is a South Korean actress and photographer. She is best known outside Korea for her role as the protagonist's political activist girlfriend, Cha Yeong-mi, in Park Chan-wook's film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and as archer Park Nam-ju in The Host .- Biography :Bae was born on October 11,...
plays
- Park Hyeon-nam in Barking Dogs Never Bite
- Park Nam-joo in The Host
Park Hae-il
Park Hae-il
Park Hae-il is a South Korean actor.-Career:Park Hae-il began appearing in theatre productions ever since childhood, and he first established himself on stage rather than on the screen. In 2000 he was awarded the Best New Actor award in the theatre category of the Baeksang Art Awards for his role...
plays
- Park Hyeon-gyu in Memories of Murder
- Park Nam-il in The Host