Bong Joon Ho
Highest Rated: 99% Parasite (2019)
Lowest Rated: 76% Tokyo! (2008)
Birthday: Sep 14, 1969
Birthplace: Daegu, South Korea
One of South Korea's most acclaimed 21st century film-makers, writer, producer and director Bong Joon-ho broke box-office records in his homeland with crime drama "Memories of Murder" (2003) and monster movie "The Host" (2006) before making his mark on English-language cinema with the spectacular sci-fi fantasy "Snowpiercer" (2013). Born in Daegu, South Korea in 1969, Bong grew up in an artistic family where he immersed himself in the films of Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Shohei Imamura and after studying for a sociology degree at Yonsei University, attended a two-year course at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. Following his graduation, he received a screenplay credit on the omnibus film "Seven Reasons Why Beer Is Better Than A Lover" (1996), served as assistant director on the intimate four-part drama "Motel Cactus" (1997) and co-wrote action thriller "Phantom: The Submarine" (1999). Having previously honed his craft on short films "White Man" (1994), "Memories In My Frame" (1994) and "Ji-ri-myeol-lyeol" (1994), Bong eventually made his feature-length directorial debut with the self-penned "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (2000), a dark comedy about a university lecturer who abducts a neighbor's pet, which became a slow-burning word-of-mouth success. Adapted from Kim Kwang-rim's stage play about a real-life elusive serial killer who terrorised a rural town in the 1980s, "Memories of Murder" (2003) saw Bong write and direct the biggest Korean box-office draw of the year, with its success later credited as saving one of its production companies, Sidus Pictures, from bankruptcy. Bong then contributed to the 20-part omnibus film "Twentidentity" (2003) with "Sink and Rise," a precursor to his next feature-length effort set alongside the Han River, and the "Digital Short Films By Three Directors" (2004) series with "Influenza," a half-hour tale of a desperate man's descent into violent crime shot entirely on CCTV. After adding to his list of screenwriting credits with "Antarctic Journal" (2005), a psychological thriller about an expedition to reach the pole of inaccessibility, Bong achieved his international breakthrough with "The Host" (2006), a relatively big-budget blockbuster about a monster which wreaks havoc on a dysfunctional family that also became the highest-grossing film in South Korean history. Bong then added actor to his list of many talents with a small part as a teacher in socially-awkward comedy "Crush and Blush" (2008) and joined Michel Gondry and Leos Carax as director in the "Tokyo!" (2008) triptych with "Shaking Tokyo," the heartwarming story of a recluse who falls in love with a pizza delivery girl. Bong's next full-length effort, "Mother" (2009), a gripping forensic-procedural drama based on a doting mother's struggle to prove her murder suspect son's innocence, was in a different style from its predecessors but still attracted Korean audiences in droves. Following a cameo in sci-fi anthology "Doomsday Book" (2012), Bong embraced English-language cinema for the first time with the post-apocalyptic fantasy "Snowpiercer" (2013), an adaptation of French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, for which he garnered near universal acclaim for his typically boundary-pushing style.
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Bong Joon Ho
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mickey 17 |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2025 |
89% | No Score Yet | Yellow Door: '90s Lo-fi Film Club | Self | - | 2023 |
99% |
|
Parasite |
Director, Screenwriter |
$53.4M | 2019 |
87% |
|
Okja |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2017 |
77% |
|
Haemoo |
Writer, Executive Producer |
- | 2014 |
94% |
|
Snowpiercer |
Director, Screenwriter |
$4.6M | 2013 |
96% |
|
Mother |
Director, Screenwriter |
$547.3K | 2009 |
76% |
|
Tokyo! |
Director, Screenwriter |
$351.1K | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Crush and Blush | Private institute student (Character) | - | 2008 |
93% |
|
The Host |
Director, Writer |
$2.2M | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Antarctic Journal | Screenwriter | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Influenza | Director | - | 2004 |
95% |
|
Memories of Murder |
Director, Screenwriter |
$14.1K | 2003 |
88% |
|
Barking Dogs Never Bite |
Director, Writer |
- | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Phantom, the Submarine | Screenwriter | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Motel Cactus | Writer | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Incoherence |
Director, Writer, Film Editor |
- | 1994 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2019 |