‘Parasite’s’ Bong Joon-ho celebrated 6 Oscar noms with — of course — ice cream
How did Bong Joon-ho celebrate six historic Oscar nominations on Monday for his hit thriller “Parasite”?
First, he woke up early in Los Angeles and searched for a Wi-fi signal, much like the protagonists of his acclaimed Korean classwarfare tale. Then he livestreamed the good news, delighted to see Korean American actor John Cho cohosting the nominations with Issa Rae. Lastly, and very importantly, he revealed a few hours later, he treated himself to a reward of celebratory ice cream.
A toasting menu suggestion for the filmmaker and his devoted #Bonghive: Peaches for the competition. Ramdon for all!
Calling later Monday and speaking with assistance from his translator, Bong said he still feels like he’s dreaming. He is nominated thrice for “Parasite” (“Gisaenchung” in Korean) in the directing, original screenplay (with co-writer Han Jin-won) and best picture categories (alongside producer Kwak Sin-ae).
“Parasite,” starring longtime Bong muse Song Kang-ho, Jang Hye-jin, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Lee Sun-gyun, Cho Yeo-jeong and Lee Jeong-eun, is up for three more Oscars including best international feature.
The nominations mark Bong’s first Academy Award nods in a two-decade feature directing career, and are the first Oscar nominations ever for a film from South Korea. Earlier this month,
“Parasite” became the first Korean film to win a Golden Globe award, taking the foreign-language film statuette.
Sharing insights from his dazzling awards tour so far as well as some cinephile love for the fellow filmmakers he’s met along the way, Bong looked forward to his “Parasite” team joining him in L.A. ahead of the Feb. 9 Academy Awards. “It will be the Avengers assembling!”
Q: Congratulations! How do you feel after getting those six Oscar nominations?
A: It’s very hectic! This is the first time that we’re going through this, and of course more experienced teams are helping us, but all the Korean team members were all very happy but at the same time perplexed. It feels like if I take the wrong step I’ll wake up from my dream and find that we’re still a day before the kickoff of (making) “Parasite.”
Q: You premiered in Cannes last May and won the Palme d’or, but the past few months have been particularly busy for you, screening “Parasite” and collecting awards and honors leading up to today’s Oscar announcements. Where were you when you heard the news and what were you doing?
A: I was in my apartment lying on the couch. I woke up to the alarm, connected my ipad to the Wi-fi like in the opening of “Parasite,” and went on Youtube to watch the livestream. They announced it so fast. I noticed that John Cho was one of the announcers. He’s a great actor and I met him many years ago. He’s an amazing guy.
Recently, I really enjoyed his film “Searching,” and because I know him it was good to see a friendly face. With all the nominations for “Parasite” they have to announce several Korean names, and I felt like his pronunciation was relatively exact, so for a second I thought, “Maybe the Oscars are being considerate!” Either way, it was great.
Q: We’ve seen you at every stop along this awards tour bonding with your fellow filmmakers. Saturday at the L.A. Film Critics Awards, for example, you were the first person on your feet for “Pain and Glory” director Pedro Almodóvar. Even after bringing your previous films stateside, do you feel with “Parasite” that you’ve been embraced by Hollywood and the global filmmaking community to an even greater degree?
A: I didn’t realize I was the first person to get up; I obviously thought everyone would give a standing ovation! He’s such a great respected filmmaker, and I’ve always loved his films. His earlier work like “Matador,” “All About My Mother,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” I’ve always been inspired by his films and it’s been a great honor to be with him throughout this journey from Cannes to now the Oscars. If I remember correctly he won the best screenplay Academy Award once, so it’s been a great honor to be with him during this process.
This is a very rare and precious event to happen to Asian and Korean film, and I think for me what’s really important is that before all these nominations the film did really well at the box office once it was released in North America. So to receive all these nominations amongst a great box office is what truly makes me happy.
Q: It’s a historic moment for Korean cinema, which has never before had a film nominated for an Oscar. Is that a realization that hit you in a profound way this morning?
A: I never create films to represent my country. That’s never my desire. My pursuit is always my personal obsessions I have with cinema. But this is a great thing to happen to the Korean film industry. The Korean press is going crazy, and there are so many articles pouring out right now. I hope this serves as an inspiration for young filmmakers in Korea. I think it’s great that a film I created for personal reasons ends up contributing to the entire industry.
Q: Throughout this tour we’ve seen Song Kang-ho and