Renegades | Bong Joon Ho on Filming the Human Condition

The Academy Award winner gives his film recommendations and insights into Mickey 17.

Welcome to Renegades, Gold House’s editorial series spotlighting Asian Pacific leaders and creatives who are carving their own paths and defying stereotypes along the way. This week, we caught up with Academy Award winner, filmmaker, and A100 Honoree Bong Joon Ho. A visionary in the cinematic landscape, Bong Joon Ho recognizes the power of storytelling. Whether they address the macabre or socio-political dynamics, his filmography deepens into genre, character, and heart to create a true auteur vision. His latest film Mickey 17 premieres in theaters March 7.

What did you want to be when you grew up and how does that compare to where you are now?

I’ve wanted to become a film director since I was in middle school, and I have become a film director. The only job on the side I wanted to have was being a cartoonist. I kind of feel like I’ve achieved that dream as well because I get to draw storyboards, so I’m technically a failed cartoonist, but I like to think I’m doing something similar when I’m storyboarding.

Are there any early influences in your life that you feel have shaped your perspective as a filmmaker today? Were there mentors or important individuals that helped you get to where you are now?

I loved film masters that really knew how to deal with anxiety and horror. It’s not that there was anything wrong in my childhood: I grew up in a very great childhood, but maybe that’s why I was drawn to these darker subjects. I loved films by the French master, Henri-Georges Clouzot and the violent movies of Sam Peckinpah, and I watched his movies on TV—probably the censored versions—but I also loved Brian De Palma films. I was drawn to these kinds of filmmakers.

You’ve encouraged audiences to look past subtitles and watch films even if they don’t speak the language it’s presented in. What are your favorite films that you’d recommend to audiences, regardless of what language they’re in? 

There are so many films I would love to mention, but because I was just talking about fear and anxiety, in that context I would love to recommend a film by a Japanese master: Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It was recently remastered into 4K, and there was recently a Blu-ray release in the UK and US. It’s kind of the pinnacle of what a film can do with fear and anxiety of not only Japan but mankind all over the world. Please enjoy it with subtitles by yourself at night.

Your filmography is both rich and diverse. How have your experiences differed when working on subject matter that is very specifically Korean (Memories of Murder, Parasite) compared to more mainstream projects (Snowpiercer, Mickey 17)?

In terms of the actual filmmaking mechanism, nothing is different at its core. It’s kind of the same in whichever country and whichever language you work in. In terms of the story, I think eventually all the stories arrive at the same place. Stories about the human condition, the environment that people find themselves in, regardless of whether it’s an English-language sci-fi film or a very Korean film based on a true story like Memories of Murder. They all arrive at this place of talking about the human condition, regardless of the superficial differences in the making of them.

What inspired you to write Mickey 17? Can you share more about why you chose this as your next project to write and direct?

When I first received the novel by Edward Ashton, it actually took me months to read the novel page by page. In the beginning, I just got a summarized treatment from the studio and Plan B [Entertainment] that was ten pages, and I immediately fell in love with the concept of human printing and the human condition. It’s such an unfortunate thing to happen to a person, to be printed out, and the fact that in this story we get a printed person saving other creatures I thought was so fascinating.

In the film, there’s this line that Mickey says: “They saved me now I save them.” The fact that he’s sort of saving these creatures that he doesn’t even really know and these unknown living beings I thought was very interesting and fascinating, so I immediately fell in love with the idea. It’s a man who is constantly killed and goes through all these deaths on a daily basis, so the one who dies ends up saving someone else. There’s irony in that, and I thought it held a lot of emotions in that very human tale.

Thank you for reading Renegades!