Award-winning director Bong unveils eerie family tragicomedy

Director Bong Joon-ho speaks during a press conference for his upcoming film “Parasite” at the Westin Chosun Seoul, Monday. The Cannes Film Festival recently announced the film was selected for the 2019 competition. / Yonhap

By Park Jin-hai

Bong Joon-ho, director of the internationally acclaimed films like “Snowpiercer,” “The Host” and “Okja,” has returned with his new movie “Parasite.”

The much-anticipated film, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun and Choi Woo-sik, tells the story of two families with extremely different social backgrounds ― a poor jobless household and a wealthy upper-class one.

It is Bong's seventh feature film and first Korean-language movie in 10 years.

Expectations for the new film are running particularly high, after the Cannes Film Festival announced its selection of the film for its 2019 competition, Thursday. This is Bong's second time to compete for the Palme d'Or award. The director's 2017 film “Okja” was previously selected.

Bong, known for his freewheeling cinematic imagination and creativity, tells the story of modern Korean society's class system in the new film.

“Although there is no physical line that divides the living space of the haves and the have-nots, in reality, there is a tacit division between the two classes,” the 49-year-old screenwriter and director said during a press conference at the Westin Chosun Seoul, Monday. “Living in the starkly different living boundary, there is nearly no chance for the rich to happen to meet the poor and vice versa. Through Ki-woo, the invisible line gets eliminated and it begins the story that follows.”

The story starts when the son of the impoverished family, played by Choi, fabricates his educational background and visits the rich family's home for a job interview to work as a tutor for the family's children.

“As the symbiosis or coexistence of human relations crumbles, one has no other choice but to live as a parasite in order to survive. In this sad reality, the poor family's struggle for survival could feel like tragicomedy,” Bong said.

The director first came up with the ideal in 2013 and developed the story.

“The initial title for the film was Decalcomania. Like the art technique, I wanted to tell the story of two families, each comprised of four members, but showing a stark contrast,” he said.

Veteran actor Song Kang-ho, who is working with the director for the fourth time, will play Ki-taek, the good-natured but jobless father of the poor family. He described his character as like a mollusk. “This ordinary man accepts the situation and reacts in his own ways like a mollusk, sometimes taking extraordinary actions. But, he is not a strange person who is lacking common sense. Rather he is an ordinary father who lives a hard life for his family. With all of his bad luck, he happened to face this incident,” Song said.

The actor, who is fondly called the “persona” of director Bong, said audiences can witness the development of Bong's cinematic world. “Each time I work with the director, I feel I owe him for his endless imagination and poignant perspectives. Personally, the scenario this time reminded me of Bong's 2003 Memories of Murder,” Song said. “When his past works like The Host and Snowpiercer entertained viewers of that particular genre, Bong's new film is more close to Memories of Murder. Through the film, viewers can witness the advancement of Bong's world and the development of Korean film as well.”

Regarding the film's premiere at Cannes, Bong expressed both expectations and concerns. “I think the international audiences at the film festival may not understand every detail of this film, because the story is specific to Korean society. But at the same time, I also feel it shares some common ground, telling the stories of two families at the extreme end of the haves and the have-nots.”

The director hopes his film will “provoke many questions and thoughts in audiences” after they walk out of the theaters.

“Parasite” will premiere during the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 14, and will be released here later that month.