Bong Joon-ho, alongside his cast and crew members, made history at the 2020 Oscars. The film Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, became the first non-American film to win Best Picture in Oscar history. It also became the first Oscar-winning film for South Korea. Audiences raved about the film’s intricate and shocking storyline. Despite not being in English, the film transcended boundaries with its story of a lower-class family infiltrating the lives of a wealthy family but things don’t go as planned.
This isn’t the first highly recognized film by the Korean writer and director, Bong Joon-ho. If you become enthralled by the film Parasite, there are ten more films that will keep you on your toes. Here’s a must-watch list of Bong Joon-ho film works.
Antarctic Journal (2005)
Antarctic Journal wasn’t a film directed by Bong Joon-ho but instead written by him and other writers. The 2005 South Korean film is a psychological thriller and horror film. The film revolves around a group of explorers as they try to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility.
Captain Choi Do-hyung (Song Kang-ho)is the captain leading a team of six men to the most remote point in the Antarctic. They discover a journal from 80 years prior, belonging to a British expedition. Kim Min-jae (Yoo Ji-tae) is tasked with examining the book and starts to find eery similarities between him and its writer.
Sea Fog (Haemoo) (2014)
Sea Fog is another film that was written by Bong Joon-ho and Shim Sung-bo. The film was an adaptation of an existing play by the name Haemoo (2007). The film and play are based on a real-life occurrence. a fishing vessel and its crew don’t catch as much fish as they were hoping for. In order to make some money, they decide to smuggle illegal Chinese immigrants into Korea.
As soon as their voyage begins they are met with unfavorable weather conditions that pose a threat and are being chased by the South Korean Maritime Police. In order to erase possible suspicion, they hide the immigrants in the fishing tank that can be fatal in the chaos.
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
Barking Dogs Never Bite was directed by Bong Joon-ho in 2000. The dark comedy-drama film is meant as a satirical take of a popular tale in East Asia called A Dog of Flanders. The film was Bon Joon-Ho’s directorial debut. The film’s plot is quite dark for audiences.
An unemployed college professor named Ko Yun-ju (Lee Sung-jae) is having hardships earning enough money for him and his pregnant wife. Easily irritated, he becomes distraught by the barking of the dogs in his building. He resorts to kidnapping them and ultimately killing some. A young maintenance worker for the building, Park Hyun-nam (Bae Doona) sees his heinous acts and tries to save the day and gain some recognition.
Incoherence (1994)
Incoherence was a student film written and directed by Bong Joon-ho bit still receives high praise amongst his other works. The short film was divided into four parts. The first three parts focus on three individual men, while the fourth ties together the three characters in a full circle.
The short film revolves around three seemingly unrelated men as they commit minor crimes before the televised discourse on the social disorder in Korea. Viewers follow the minor petty acts of a college professor, a jogger, and a drunkard. The end result teaches a lesson on social commentary and satire.
Tokyo! (2008)
The 2008 film structure is an interesting one. Three non-Japanese directors each film a segment of the movie. It is divided into three parts, “Interior Design”, “Merde” and “Shaking Tokyo”. Bong Joon-ho was tasked with directing “Shaking Tokyo”.
“Shaking Tokyo” revolves around a shut-in or hikikomori starring actor Teruyuki Kagawa. He hasn’t left his apartment in decades and only uses his phone to order delivery. When he orders pizza, as he usually does on Saturdays, he falls in love with the delivery girl when an earthquake hits. After some time, he becomes aware that the girl has become a hikikomori herself and must make a decision to find her.
Memories Of Murder (2003)
Memories of Murder is a must watch on the list of Bong Joon-ho films. The film is based on a play of the same name and real-life events that occurred in South Korea in 1986. In 1986, Korea experienced its first case of serial murders. Two local detectives, Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) and Cho Yong-koo (Kim Roi-ha) are lead investigators when two women are found murdered in a ditch.
They use an odd investigative technique using eye contact to determine suspects. A Seoul detective joins them and soon they start to clash on investigative techniques. They must work together to find the killer before he strikes again. The film received a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mother (2009)
Mother received wide critical acclaim with a 96% rating. It’s among one of Bong Joon-ho’s popular works. The drama film centers around Mother (Kim Hye-ja) and her intellectually disabled son, Yoon Do-joon (Won Bin). A girl is found dangling from a rooftop in town after being murdered. Do-joon is found as a viable suspect and is sent to prison for the murder after being coerced to sign a confession.
The mother believes her son to be innocent of the crimes against him. She then starts her own investigation into the young girl’s murder and does what she must to protect her son. In her investigation, she learns information she did not expect to find.
The Host (2006)
The Host is another popular film directed by Bong Joon-ho. The film was a success when it premiered seeing as fans were in high anticipation after the success of his previous film Memories of Murder. The film’s premise starts with a military pathologist ordering his assistant to dump formaldehyde down the drain leading to the Han River.
Years later, strange occurrences start to appear. On a normal day, a giant creature emerges from the river and wreaks havoc and kidnaps Gang-du’s(Song Kang-ho) young daughter. He must now find a way to save her. Bong Joon-ho explained he got the inspiration for the film from a newspaper article about a deformed fish found in the Han River.
Okja (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes critics described the film as, “Okja sees Bong Joon-ho continuing to create defiantly eclectic entertainment – and still hitting more than enough of his narrative targets in the midst of a tricky tonal juggling act.” Okja received a wide response for its storyline. The film’s plot is based around the Mirando Corporation breeding a “super pig”.
The pigs are sent to various parts of the world and once fully bred, one pig will be named the winner. A young girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun)and her grandfather raise Okja, a super pig, in South Korea. Okja is named the winner and is taken from Mija. Mija distraught goes after the pig and encounter the ALF, the Animal Liberation Front. She sees the atrocious plan the Mirando Corporation has for Okja and she must save
Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer is the number one must-watch film after seeing Parasite. It received critical acclaim for its storyline, vision, direction and for its performances. It was named one of the top ten films in 2014. It was also the first film to be made in English for Bong Joon-ho. Besides Parasite, Snowpiercer deserves just as much recognition for its notable work.
The film contains many of the same elements seen in Parasite. In order to stop global warming, humans use climate engineering. It backfires and causes mass death and a new ice age in the year 2014. What’s left of the human race travel in circumnavigation train that circles endlessly around the world.
By the year 2031, the people on the train have been segregated by class; the rich and the poor. The poor are subjected to the heinous conditions and overpopulation at the back of the train, while the rich live in luxury at the front. Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) leads the lower-class into a revolt and along the way finds out the horrendous and life-changing truth about the train and its elite.
