[Limelight] Don't Be Afraid, Take on the Challenge

Oscar 'Turned Upside Down' Director Bong Joon-ho, Life Philosophy Learned from Failure

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jong-gil] Director Bong Joon-ho's (51) first work was a 20-minute animation titled 'Looking for Paradise.' He created it while active in the film club 'Noranmun.' The main character was a gorilla doll. Director Bong used a Hitachi camcorder he bought with part-time job earnings to move the gorilla doll frame by frame using stop-motion animation (a technique where one frame is shot at a time). However, after the work, he gave up on his dream of becoming an animator. He explained the reason in 'The Moment of Debut (2014),' written for the Korean Film Directors' Guild, as follows.

"I painstakingly shot for three days, but when played back, it was only 10 seconds long. It was truly futile and painful. Of course, I later realized that a director doesn't do everything alone. On the day we finished shooting, I threw the gorilla doll and shouted, 'Hey, why don't you try moving on your own just once!'"

Even the key figure who won four Academy Awards (Oscars) for 'Parasite' went through hard times. After graduating from the Korean Academy of Film Arts in 1995, Director Bong was practically unemployed. He wanted to gain experience on the Chungmuro scene, but things did not go as planned. He failed the assistant director interview for Director Jang Sun-woo's 'The Flower Petal (1996).' He couldn't even apply for staff recruitment for Director Park Kwang-su's 'A Beautiful Youth, Jeon Tae-il (1995)' due to lack of connections. Director Bong recalled, "My classmate from the film academy, Im Jae-hong, who worked as a lighting technician for 'Jirimyeollyeol (1994),' got into the assistant director team for 'The Flower Petal,' which was even more disappointing for me."

He joined the assistant director team for 'Killing Kim Dae-jung,' which was being prepared by senior Director Park Jong-won, and participated in synopsis work. However, 'Killing Kim Dae-jung' was never produced after many twists and turns. Director Bong entered Chungmuro as an assistant director for 'Seven Reasons Why Beer is Better Than a Lover (1996).' However, this film is considered one of the biggest flops in Korean film history. The omnibus film, involving directors Kim Yoo-jin, Jang Hyun-soo, Jung Ji-young, Park Cheol-soo, Park Jong-won, Jang Gil-soo, and Kang Woo-seok, is one they all prefer not to include in their filmographies. Director Bong clearly remembers that time.

"In December 1995, less than a year after being unemployed, I had the thrilling moment of clapping the slate on set for the first time. But because of the film itself, even though I was an assistant director, I didn't want to go to the set. In other words, I became a Chungmuro staff member for the first time, but I was ashamed to be working on such a film. When it was released later, I didn't even watch it in theaters but on video."

Director Bong worked as the first assistant director on Director Park Ki-yong's 'Motel Cactus (1997)' alongside his film academy classmate Director Jang Joon-hwan. At that time, Director Park Ki-yong dreamed of independently producing and directing like American indie films under the banner of 'escaping Chungmuro.' His friend Cha Seung-jae took charge of production, and Director Bong established ties with Uno Film (now Sidus). He stayed there for five years, writing the screenplay for 'Phantom: The Submarine (1999)' and directing 'Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000).' The first shoot was a scene of Hyun-nam (Bae Doo-na) walking with an umbrella in Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu.

"It rained. Looking back, it also rained on the first day of shooting 'White Man (1993).' Both my first short film and feature film had rain on their first shooting day. For 'White Man,' about 20 staff members were preparing to shoot in an apartment complex in Bongcheon-dong when it started raining, so we spent the whole day watching the rain endlessly in the underground parking lot before wrapping up. When my very first shoot with many staff ended like that, I felt quite gloomy, wondering if this was the ominous prologue of my unlucky film career."

'Barking Dogs Never Bite' was a total failure. It attracted only 57,469 viewers in Seoul. The critical response was also lukewarm. Director Bong recalled, "Honestly, the shock was quite big at that time. I thought I had prepared diligently and worked hard step by step, but the result was beyond my control."

While he was sinking into despair, his friend Director Ryu Seung-wan hit the jackpot with 'Die Bad or Die Good (2000).' It received praise at the Jeonju International Film Festival as 'the arrival of Korea's Tarantino' and 'a revolution in Korean independent film.' At the end of that year, he also won many awards, including the Blue Dragon Film Awards' Best New Director. Director Bong confessed, "Seeing the contrasting results with 'Barking Dogs Never Bite' plunged me into depression."

"That was probably the time when I worried most about my future. I had walked this path silently, rejecting various offers to debut without going through the assistant director route, but I was deeply conflicted, wondering if I had made a completely wrong choice. As the apprenticeship system was becoming meaningless, I wondered if I should boldly push forward like Seung-wan with an independent guerrilla style, or if I was feeling too disillusioned with the Chungmuro system after one failure. I went back and forth several times a day."

He was able to overcome his deepening worries only after deciding to direct 'Memories of Murder (2003).' He resolved to devote all his energy to his work instead of wasting it on unnecessary worries.

It took Director Bong 4 years and 2 months from graduating the film academy to shooting 'Barking Dogs Never Bite.' Many take over ten years to make their debut work. Considering this reality, his path was relatively smooth. However, the struggle feels long and hard to everyone. He confessed, "Honestly, there was nothing to give up on for me."

"Unlike other directors who quit their jobs and jumped into the film industry, I never had any other thoughts since I started club activities. It was only about films. After deciding to become a film director, I just went straight ahead."

The fruits Director Bong achieved with the mindset of 'not getting distracted and just doing as much as others do' are truly tremendous. Especially with 'Parasite,' which became the first non-English film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It overcame both the barrier of subtitles and conservative traditions in Hollywood, the center of the global film industry. Director Bong emphasizes, "At any moment, you must walk the path you are on without doubting it."

"Fear that you might have made the wrong choice and the frustration that makes it hard to take even one step will often overwhelm you, but since you have already taken that step, you just have to silently do your best in everything. Only that is the answer."