Bong Joon-ho

In this Korean name, the family name is Bong.
  • Bong Joon-ho
  • 봉준호
Bong in June 2017
Born (1969-09-14) 14 September 1969 (age 55)
Daegu, South Korea
OccupationFilmmaker
Spouse
Jung Sun-young
​
(m. 1995)​
Children1
RelativesPark Taewon (grandfather)
Korean name
Hangul
봉준호
Hanja
奉俊昊
Revised RomanizationBong Junho
McCune–ReischauerPong Chunho

Bong Joon-ho (Korean: 봉준호, Korean pronunciation: [poːŋ tɕuːnho → poːŋdʑunɦo]; born 14 September 1969) is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his work is characterised by emphasis on social and class themes, genre-mixing, dark comedy, and sudden tone shifts.[1]

He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), the monster film The Host (2006), the science fiction action film Snowpiercer (2013), which served as Bong's English language debut, and the acclaimed black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history.[2]

All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions, although Snowpiercer, Okja (2017) and the upcoming Mickey 17 (2025) mostly use the English language. Two of his films have screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival—Okja in 2017 and Parasite in 2019; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, which was a first for a South Korean film.[3][4] Considered an Academy Award's favorite contention, Parasite became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film in the award's history not in English to win Best Picture.[5][6] In 2017, Bong was included on Metacritic's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century.[7] In 2020, Bong was included in Time's annual list of 100 Most Influential People[8] and Bloomberg 50.[9]

  1. ^ Paquet, Darcy (February 28, 2008). "The Bong Joon Ho Page". Koreanfilm.org. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "Box Office: All Time". Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Debruge, Peter (May 25, 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' Wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes". Variety. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Pulver, Andrew (May 25, 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite wins Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  5. ^ Ordona, Michael (February 10, 2020). "Why Bong Joon Ho actually won three Oscars this year, not four". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Buchanan, Kyle; Barnes, Brooks (February 9, 2020). "'Parasite' Earns Best-Picture Oscar, First for a Movie Not in English". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Dietz, Jason (July 19, 2017). "25 Best Film Directors of the 21st Century (So Far): Bong Joon-ho". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Time 100 Most Influential People: 2020". Time. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  9. ^ "The Bloomberg 50". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2020.