Q&A: The Host's Bong Joon-ho
The Korean director talks about what went into bringing the best monster movie in years to the American screen.
By Glenn Kenny
If you've been following the reviews of The Host, [read mine here] you know that it's one of the best-received monster movies to come down the pike in a very long time. It's sure to raise the profile of its 36-year-old writer/director Bong Joon-ho. He is already admired by aficionados of the new Korean cinema for his previous film, Memories of Murder, an unusual serial killer picture. I interviewed Ho last fall, as The Host was making a splash on the international festival circuit and at the Korean box office.
On the reception of The Host and its impact on its reception in Korea:
"We went to Cannes. It was received very well and various media from America viewed it, gave it good reviews. [That] definitely helped with the Korean box office. That became news in Korea. As for the North American release, many critics and journalists have given it good reviews and that's great. The normal audiences, the regular audiences, are a different matter altogether. It is very hard to predict, and I've got to say I'm very curious."
On how he crafts his stories:
"I like to bring these very Korean historical events and crash them against conventional genres, American genres. For instance, Memories of Murders takes on a thriller genre, dealing with a serial killer. With The Host, you're dealing with a monster. These American genre elements come together with these real Korean events; they crash together and maybe you might say they even betray the genre or break it. I quite enjoy doing that. I think that's the very essence of what I do in my movies. The opening sequence of The Host, where they're pouring the formaldehyde into the Han River, it's an actual event from six years ago in Korea."
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