Song Kang-Ho 송강호 [“Broker”, “Emergency Declaration”]

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June 2, 2019

 

Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” Surpasses 2.3 Million Moviegoers In 3 Days

Source: Soompi by S. Cho

 

 

“Parasite” continues to reign over the Korean box office!

 

According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on June 2, “Parasite” maintained its spot at the top of the box office after 1,126,568 moviegoers were recorded on June 1.

 

After its premiere on May 30, the film achieved over 2.3 million moviegoers in only three days.

 

The film recently won Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival and continues to see success in Korea.

 

“Parasite” tells the story of unemployed man Gi Taek (played by Song Kang Ho), who gets involved with a wealthy family when his eldest son Gi Woo (played by Choi Woo Shik) starts tutoring their daughter.

 

Congratulations to the cast and crew of “Parasite”!

 

Source (1)

[rubie]

May 31, 2019

 

'Working with Bong is challenging yet delightful,’ says Darcy Paquet
 

Source: The DONG-A Ilbo

 

 

Sound of laughter had continued at the Lumiere Theatre in Cannes, France where Korean director Bong Joon-ho's movie “Parasite” played on May 21. Waves of laughter, the first of which brought on by a scene in which the oldest son Ki-woo, played by Choi Woo-shik, of Ki-taek played by Song Kang-ho tried to find a good spot for WiFi signal in their semi-basement, had lasted throughout the whole movie. Not even a single person out of 2,000 viewers left seat. This shows that non-Koreans were easily able to relate to Korean cultural nuances in the movie, which is largely attributed to U.S. film critic Darcy Paquet who translated “Parasite.”

 

“It is great to see the importance of translation newly recognized thanks to an outstanding movie,” Paquet said during an interview on Thursday at a café in Jongno, Seoul. He first came to South Korea in 1997 as an English lecturer at Korea University and learned the Korean language on his own. He is now married to his beloved Korean wife. 

 

Although he had worked on the translation of almost 100 movies during the past 20 years, the film critic and translator says Korean to English translation is a “difficult task whose flaws are so easily noticeable.” It took him 10 days to translate the script draft of “Parasite” as the movie was quite packed with lines. Paquet and director Bong had stayed up two nights editing the final version.

 

Paquet has been behind the translation of all of Bong’s films since “Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000),” except “Okja (2017).” The South Korean director always asks for “short but impactful translation.” He even chose the name Do-joon for a character played by Won Bin in his 2009 movie “Mother” to keep it short in English. The director also requested extra attention to the translation of words, including plan and symbol, which repeatedly appear in the Palme d'Or winning movie.

Kyu-Jin Shin newjin@donga.com

[rubie]

June 3, 2019

 

'Parasite' smashes S. Korean box office

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The Cannes-crowned "Parasite" smashed the weekend box office in South Korea, surpassing a cumulative 3 million admissions on the fourth day of its run, data showed Monday.

 

Released Thursday, the flick sold 2.78 million tickets from Friday to Sunday for a total of 3.36 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

 

Directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Song Kang-ho, the family satire won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first South Korean title to grab the highest honor at the prominent film festival.

 

Unlike unpopular award-winning films in the past, "Parasite" seems to appeal to Korean viewers, with its unexpected plot and a mixture of suspense, horror and humor.

 

Walt Disney's live-action film "Aladdin" retained the second spot with an additional 737,000 viewers over the Friday-Sunday period, totaling 2.15 million admissions.

 

Hollywood monster film "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" soared to third place after attracting 181,000 moviegoers during the weekend.

 

Local crime thriller "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil," former No. 1, dropped to fourth, garnering an additional 159,000 tickets to its total of 3.28 million. 

 

The Cannes-winning "Parasite" smashes the South Korean box office as local theaters fill their screens with the high-demand movie on June 2, 2019. (Yonhap)

 

brk@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

June 3, 2019

 

'Parasite' to be screened with English subtitles for foreign audiences 

 

Source: The Korea Times

"Parasite," the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, will be screened with English subtitles at South Korean cinemas for foreign audiences starting this week, operators said Monday.

 

CGV, the country's largest multiplex operator, owned by retail giant CJ Group, will screen the black comedy with English subtitles from Monday at its theaters in Yongsan, Yeouido, Shinchon and four other locations in Seoul, as well as two in Gyeonggi Province.

 

"We decided to offer the English-subtitled version of the movie as a way to meet demand from foreign movie fans," said an official from CGV.

 

Another multiplex chain, Megabox, will also screen "Parasite" with English subtitles once a day at three of its theaters -- at COEX convention center and Shinchon in Seoul and Incheon's Songdo.

 

The movie, directed by Bong Joon-ho, has dominated the box office since its release in South Korean theaters Thursday.

 

The film added 2,788,972 admissions over the weekend for a cumulative total of 3.36 million, according to the Korean Film Council. (Yonhap)

'Parasite' attracts 3 million viewers in four days 

 

 

The Cannes-crowned "Parasite" smashed the weekend box office in South Korea, surpassing a cumulative 3 million admissions on the fourth day of its run, data showed Monday.

 

Released Thursday, the flick sold 2.78 million tickets from Friday to Sunday for a total of 3.36 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

 

Directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Song Kang-ho, the family satire won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first South Korean title to grab the highest honor at the prominent film festival.

 

Unlike unpopular award-winning films in the past, "Parasite" seems to appeal to Korean viewers, with its unexpected plot and a mixture of suspense, horror and humor.

 

Walt Disney's live-action film "Aladdin" retained the second spot with an additional 737,000 viewers over the Friday-Sunday period, totaling 2.15 million admissions.

 

Hollywood monster film "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" soared to third place after attracting 181,000 moviegoers during the weekend.

 

Local crime thriller "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil," former No. 1, dropped to fourth, garnering an additional 159,000 tickets to its total of 3.28 million. (Yonhap)

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Posting this here because there's no Soompi thread for 'Parasite' and because Darcy Paquet is a self-confessed SKH fanboy ~

 

June 3, 2019

 

Yonhap Interview

Subtitle translator in spotlight after Parasite's Cannes victory

By Kim Boram

 

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- Bong Joon-ho, the director of "Parasite," has said foreigners may find it difficult to fully understand the film because of its details and nuances that are specific to Koreans.

 

But the film provoked laughter from the audience all the way through its running time when it premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival last month and took home the top honor, the Palme d'Or.

 

Behind this great reception is Darcy Paquet, an U.S. film critic who translated the film's dialog for the English subtitles.

 

"I know some 95 percent of ... movie is from filmmakers and actors and everything," he said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul on Thursday.

 

"But because it's my translation on the screen, I feel I can take a little bit of credit -- 5 percent credit," he added, laughing. He said he saw the film seven times in order to translate it.

 

Captured from his Facebook account, this image shows Darcy Pacquet. (Yonhap)

 

The Massachusetts native has been working with Bong in providing English subtitles for his movies since 2000, three years after first coming to South Korea. He was introduced to Bong to revise the English subtitles of the director's first feature, "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (2000).

 

"Somebody else did the translation but I was introduced to the director at that time and we sat down together and we did some polishing of the subtitles together," he said. "That's when I met him for the first time. I've been his fan since the very beginning."

 

Since then, he has worked on the subtitles for nearly all of Bong's films except for the U.S.-made "Okja" (2017). He worked on rendering the screenplay of "Snowpiercer" (2013) into English before sending it to Hollywood production companies.

 

Paquet, who lives with his Korean wife in Seoul, said the director wanted the English-translated dialog to sound natural for English-speaking audiences. So they talked a lot to find the best English expressions for certain situations.

 

In "Parasite," translating the word "jjapaguri," a mixture of Chapaghetti, instant black bean noodles, and Neoguri, spicy Korean udon-like noodles, was the trickiest part.

 

Foreigners don't know the brand names of the instant noodles, but he focused on the fact that they know the words like "ramyeon" and "udon."

 

"So I put them together and made 'ramdon'," he laughed. "It sounds ridiculous but luckily it comes in the conversation first and then one of the characters says, 'What the hell is ramdon?' and right after then, as she's cooking it, we see it on the screen."

 

Paquet became highly sought-after by the Korean media following the film's success at Cannes. He is busy but happy with the media attention both on him and his subtitling work for other reasons.

 

"Usually there's been less focus on expats living in Korea," he said. "There is an audience very interested in Korean films, and they can get a lot out of watching Korean films with English subtitles."

 

He said it is a "dream" of foreigners here to have one theater that always shows subtitled Korean movies, which have improved a lot over the past 20 years and have their own color of storytelling and emotion.

 

 

brk@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

May 31, 2019

 

SONG Kang-ho to Receive Excellence Award in Locarno

First Asian to Be Honored at Prestigious Swiss Festival

 

by Pierce Conran KOFIC

 

 

SONG Kang-ho is set to be honored at this year’s 72nd Locarno International Film Festival, where he will become the first person from Asia to receive the festival’s Excellence Award.

 

Currently on screens in BONG Joon-ho’s PARASITE, which walked away from the Cannes Film Festival with the Palme d’Or last weekend, the first time a Korean film has ever taken the top prize at the event, SONG is one of the most beloved and acclaimed actors in the Korean film industry. He is known for his collaborations with top filmmakers such as BONG (Memories Of Murder, 2003; The Host, 2006), PARK Chan-wook (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, 2002; Thirst, 2009) and KIM Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, And The Weird, 2008; The Age of Shadows, 2016).

 

Beyond that, he has appeared in numerous chart-topping films, including Swiri (1999), The Attorney (2013) and A Taxi Driver (2017), as well as acclaimed classics like LEE Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine (2007) in a career that has so far spanned 23 years, having kicked off in Hong Sangsoo’s debut The Day A Pig Fell Into A Well in 1996.

 

New Locarno artistic director Lili HINSTIN described SONG as a “peerless interpreter of the variety and intensity of emotions generated by Korean cinema.” In previous years, the Excellence Award has been given to world cinema luminaries such as John MALKOVICH, Juliette BINOCHE, Ethan HAWKE and Isabelle HUPPERT.

 

This year’s Locarno International Film Festival will take place from August 7 to 17.

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June 4, 2019

 

‘Parasite’ takes No. 1 with 2.7 million ticket sales: ‘Aladdin’ drops to 2nd while ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Gangster’ fall down list

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

Director Bong Joon-ho’s Palme-d’Or-winning film “Parasite” landed No. 1 on the local box office for the weekend, with moviegoers curious to find out aspects of the film that impressed the juries and the international audience at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. [CJ ENTERTAINMENT]

Other films had to make way as the Palme-d’Or-winning “Parasite” shot to the No. 1 spot from the day of its release last week, staying at the top throughout the weekend.

 

Over 2.7 million moviegoers have already seen Director Bong Joon-ho’s tragicomedy on 1,947 screens this weekend, according to charts from the Korean Film Council.

 

The film is about two opposite families - one rich, one poor - who are unlikely to ever cross paths, but happen to meet through Ki-woo, the eldest son in the poor family. He starts tutoring the daughter of the rich family and eventually gets his whole family working for them. 

 

Although there are no real “villains” in the story, audiences are buzzing over the shocking ending and local social media is flooded with theories about the metaphors and hidden meanings that Bong put in his film. 

 

Spoiler

 

Meanwhile, the live-action version of “Aladdin” shuffled down to second place with 737,000 moviegoers watching the film on 994 screens. Although predictable, Disney fans still seem to enjoy Will Smith’s sassy version of Genie and the feminist tweaks the company blended into the story. 

 

The film is about a young street rat, Aladdin, who comes across a magic lamp containing Genie, who grants him three wishes that he uses to impress princess Jasmine. The musical film will have audiences wishing for a sing-along version as well.

 

“Godzilla: King of Monsters” debuted in third place with a mere 181,000 moviegoers watching the film on 620 screens. The monster-packed film failed to impress the local audience despite the star-studded cast, including Millie Bobby Brown from the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things,” Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins and more.

 

The film describes when an age of gigantic monsters roam the Earth, destroying everything they see. Humanity lies in danger until a glimmer of hope is found by cryptozoological agency Monarch, which discovers a frequency that lets humans and monsters communicate.

 

Ma Dong-seok’s crime-action film “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” slowly slid down to fourth. The film sold an estimated 160,000 admissions at 620 screens. Featuring as a gangster boss in the story, Ma still becomes the hero, determined to catch a serial killer who had the guts to stab him.

 

Horror film “0.0MHZ” debuted in fifth place, selling 63,000 tickets at 409 screens. Featuring singer-turned-actors Jung Eun-ji from K-pop girl group Apink and Lee Sung-yeol from boy band Infinite, they are part of a club that goes into a haunted house to summon a ghost. Yet it seems that the local audiences were not that impressed by the plot. 

 

 

“[After all this fuss is over], I just want to be forgotten again,” director Bong said during a press interview last week. After winning the acclaimed award, he said that now he feels a bit overwhelmed by all the attention. Nevertheless, it looks like “Parasite” will be in cinemas for quite some time, as the hype surrounding the film continues to grow, both thanks to word-of-mouth recommendation and the prestigious honor of the Palme d’Or. 

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

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June 4, 2019

 

(News Focus) 'Parasite' tipped for Oscar nomination

 

By Kim Boram

 

SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- With the U.S. release of the Cannes-winning "Parasite" set for the height of Oscar season, anticipation is running high for the film to become Korea's first-ever Oscar nominee.

 

The film's U.S. distributor, Neon, recently set the title's release for Oct. 11 in an apparent move to position the flick as a major contender in the international film category of the 92nd Academy Awards.

 

Many U.S. film production firms and distributors prefer October for Oscar preparations as the fall season gives enough room to build buzz before the award ceremony, which usually takes place in February.

 

"Parasite" is director Bong Joon-ho's seventh feature film following his English-language films "Snowpiercer" (2013) and "Okja" (2017). The new flick revolves around two families, one rich and one poor, who become entangled, leading to a series of unexpected violent mishaps.

 

As a non-English film, "Parasite" is regarded as one of the strongest hopefuls for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, previously titled Best Foreign Language Film.

 

The film, which has received critical acclaim for its well-rounded plot and mixture of various genres and won the highest honor at Cannes, also caters to commercial tastes as it topped the South Korean box office with a cumulative 3.7 million admissions as of Monday.

 

Before the U.S. release, "Parasite" will hit screens in France later this week, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and Australia. Movie fans in Russia and Thailand can see the film next month, while it will be released in the Czech Republic and Poland in September.

 

However, there is still a long way to go for the movie to reach the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, next year.

 

It has to be first selected as South Korea's representative film for the 92nd Academy Awards as the prize goes to the submitting country as a whole, not to a specific individual.

 

After the state-run Korean Film Council picks one best film to submit to the academy around September, the chosen film will compete against a number of movies from around the globe to make the shortlist of five movies.

 

Since 1962 when South Korea made its first attempt, no film has been nominated to the academy's international prize section, while four Japanese movies have won the honor.

 

This year, Lee Chang-dong's "Burning," which was in the 2018 Cannes official competition selection, was the South Korean delegate but failed to make it to the final list.

 

Director Bong, who worked with U.S. filmmakers for "Snowpiercer" and "Okja," knows the hurdles.

 

"It's hard. It's like, you have to pass the local qualifiers first and then you have to be the top five on the international stage," he said in a recent interview in Seoul.

 

But U.S. media are positive about the film's chance of winning an Oscar nomination, saying that the South Korean auteur's dark comedy received universal praise after its debut at Cannes.

 

The New York Times said the film is the strongest candidate for the Oscar's international feature category and can vie for directing and screenplay trophies as well.

 

"No Korean film has been nominated for the international Oscar before, but 'Parasite' is so strong it could even blow past that category to factor into directing and screenplay races, if upstart distributor Neon plays its cards right," the U.S. daily said in its recent report. "An urgent story of class struggle told in the most sensationally entertaining way, 'Parasite' is Bong at his best, and the academy must take note."

 

Local film critics agree that the probability of nomination is high considering the fact that last year's Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Shoplifters" was one of the five nominees at this year's Academy Awards.

 

"I want to note the fact that Cannes' jury unanimously picked 'Parasite' for the Palme d'Or. It has enjoyed a widely positive reception from the jury and movie fans," Yoon Sung-eun, a film critic, said. "It may be too early to comment on the possibility of 'Parasite' winning an award at the Academy Awards at this time, but we can expect its nomination."

 

brk@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

June 5, 2019

 

‘Parasite’ gets global release dates
 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

After taking home the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, “Parasite” will make its way to theaters around the world throughout the year, film distribution company CJ ENM announced on Tuesday. 

 

According to the company, the film is slated to premiere in France today, and will be released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan this month. 

In July, moviegoers in Russia and Thailand will have a chance to see the film and it will be screened in the Czech Republic and Poland in September. 

 

The film is scheduled to hit the North American box office on Oct. 11. A number of U.S. media outlets, including The New York Times, have predicted that there is a possibility that the film will be nominated for an Academy Award. If so, it would be a first for a Korean film. 

 

“Parasite” has already set a record by selling its distribution rights to 192 countries, and there are already talks about local remakes. 

 

“Presales of the film’s distribution rights have been so successful that it will be like the film is taking a trip around the world,” said a representative from the distribution company. “It’s a great opportunity to show the world the charms of local film and enhance our status [amongst international film industries].” 

 

In celebration of the film’s success, local movie theater chain Megabox announced that it began screening the film with English subtitles once a day at three Seoul locations - Coex, Sinchon, and Songdo - from Monday. More information about the screening of the film with subtitles can be found on the company’s website.

 

By Lee Jae-lim

 

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June 5, 2019

 

Settings in 'Parasite' highlight sharp contrast between rich, poor

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- With Cannes-crowned "Parasite" crushing the South Korean box office, the film's major settings of two very different houses and their behind-the-scene stories have caught the eyes of audiences here.

 

The movie, directed by eclectic auteur Bong Joon-ho, is a tale of two families, one rich and one poor, who become entangled, leading to a series of unexpected violent mishaps. It starts by depicting the miserable life of Ki-taek (played by Song Kang-ho)'s family, living in a ramshackle, slummy semi-basement, with a strip of window through which the family can see a drunken man urinating against their house.

 

Later, the story moves to the airy, spacious, pristine modernist mansion as Ki-taek's son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), gets a job tutoring the teenage daughter of wealthy Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun), the CEO of an IT firm.

 

The director said he and his staff built the houses from the get-go to embody his main concept of class hierarchy and polarization.

 

The setting was designed and constructed by Bong's art team with all the care and attention to detail that he uses to write his characters. It has a wide open, clear glass facing the well-maintained garden, but also features a spate of hiding spots and corners that block characters' sight of each other.

 

"When I was writing the screenplay, the movement of the characters in the setting was already in my head," Bong said. "From one spot of the house, you can hear a person on the other side, but he or she can't see you. This structure was the most important."

 

Also, Mr. Park's architect-designed house had to look opulent and gaudy, in contrast to the poverty-stricken appearance of Ki-taek's.

 

The movie's art director, Lee Ha-jun, said he filled the house with expensive, high-end furniture, home appliances and props, and decorated with luxurious, lavish wallpaper and drawings from cellar to rafter. Even the trees in the garden were carefully chosen by the design team.

 

"In order to show the clear contrast to the semi-basement village, I used staid, composed colors and materials to build the house and stuffed it with furniture and drawings," Lee said.

 

The detail amazed Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the president of the jury at Cannes, who asked Bong how he had found such a perfect house, according to Bong.

 

Ki-taek's house, on the other hand, was part of the stage setting of a shantytown built in a studio in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul. Lee and his staff installed old-fashioned tiles, doors, window frames and other features to make it look squalid and grotty.

 

"When we were building the setting, it rained so much and so often that painting and tiles kept coming off the wall due to humidity," the art director said. "We fixed them again and again, and it helped the village look even more worn-out."

 

brk@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

June 6, 2019

 

[REVIEW] In ‘Parasite,’ one family lives off another’s bounty: Bong Joon-ho dissects class issues, but female perspective is lacking

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Warning: spoilers follow. 

 

“For overseas theatergoers, it may be hard for them to comprehend the film 100 percent because there are specific details that may only draw empathy from Korean audiences,” director Bong Joon-ho said during a press conference held in April before the premiere of his latest film, “Parasite,” at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

 

Yet was the film really “too local” for international audience to understand? It tells the story of two families - one rich, one poor - that become close in an unusual way. Bong singles out social hierarchy as a problem that people living under capitalist society will never be free of. The eerie similarity between the film’s beginning and its ending seems to further assert the director’s point: a rich family living in a mansion, and a secret resident hiding underground, latching onto the family for his survival without their knowledge. 

 

Nothing has essentially changed. At the start it was a Korean family, but in the end it was a German family that was living in the house, implying that the situation was not limited to Korea, but to all types of societies under capitalism.

 

After seeing the film, the meaning of the title becomes clear. There can be no symbiotic relationships between people living under capitalism unless they strictly adhere to certain standards, rules and boundaries. In the film, such “boundaries” are explained through “lines” that the rich family’s patriarch - identified only by his surname Park - emphasizes persistently throughout the film. 

 

“I like him because he gets tantalizingly close to crossing the line, but he doesn’t, in the end,” says Park when he talks about his newly-hired personal driver, Ki-taek, who’s the father of the poor family. 

 

Yet the first person to cross the line is from neither of the two families. It’s actually Min-hyuk, a friend of Ki-woo, the poor family’s son. He pays a surprise visit into Ki-woo’s underground basement home without an invitation to give them a suseok, a scholar’s rock, that the family would have no use for. Then he suggests that Ki-woo take over his part-time English tutoring job for a rich family’s daughter. This is the beginning of how two families start to cross paths and lines before a tragedy rips both of them apart at the end. 

 

Spoiler

 

From the minute Ki-woo steps into the mansion, he deceives the rich family about his educational status by using forged documents from a prestigious university, when in reality he does not go to any college. Gradually, the entire poor family manages to start working for the rich family through a series of lies: Ki-jung, Ki-woo’s younger sister, becomes an art tutor for the youngest child; Ki-taek becomes Park’s personal driver; and Chung-sook, the mother, takes over the housekeeper job. The entire family depends on the other family for their livelihood.

 

They scurry around madly trying to clear everything before Park’s family comes back into the house. When they are forced to hide beneath a table when Park’s family returns, they must listen to and hear the family’s most private and intimate moments. Their actions remind the audience of cockroaches that hide the moment a light switch is flicked - parasites.

 

A crucial factor in the story is smell. When the characters cross lines with one another, it’s not only done by their actions. The rich family notices that the poor family it employs shares the same smell, which the father in particular notes with a tinge of disgust. The poor family can’t get rid of its smell - it’s something that will always set the two families apart unless the poor family manages to move out of its basement apartment. 

 

There are numerous other metaphors that Bong put into the story to make his point. Theories about the film’s elements written by local moviegoers are currently flooding social media as they attempt to interpret Bong’s intentions. 

 

Yet the director’s treatment of female characters is often frustrating. Yeon-gyo, the upper-class mother, adamantly sticks to the typical stereotype of the “rich madam” that local films and dramas continue to reproduce: clueless and helpless, the good wife who obeys her husband and may be afraid of him. It may have been that the director realistically tried to portray the patriarchal family system, but it’s a disappointing perspective that’s been reflected countless times in Korean media.

 

At the end of the film, Bong killed off Ki-jung, the smartest and toughest member of the poor family. Ki-jung was different from the other members of her family because she set her own rules and standards for the Parks to follow. For instance, although Yeon-gyo tried to sneak a peek at her lessons, she firmly laid down a rule that no one was allowed to observe her during class time. She isn’t swept away or overwhelmed by their wealth. Unlike the others who were awed, she holds her ground from the beginning and played her role in the family’s scam with confidence from the get-go.

 

So why did she have to die? I was both horrified and annoyed that the film killed off such an interesting character with a voice and personality of her own. In fact, it was almost comical to see that the female characters were either typical stereotypes of women living under a patriarchal system or an interesting one who had to die. 

 

On the other hand, the men - Ki-woo and Ki-taek - are portrayed as characters with human dignity and individual desires to the very end, which pushes the audience to sympathize with them, although they have done terrible things. 

 

I understand that the director was more focused on examining the realities of Korean class issues, but I still lament that Bong failed to take advantage of the skills of his female actors or the interesting characters that he created.

 

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

[rubie]

Source: CJ Entertainment

 

 

June 6, 2019

 

'Parasite' tops 5 million in attendance

 

SEOUL, June 6 (Yonhap) -- The Cannes-winning Korean film "Parasite" surpassed 5 million admissions on Thursday, the eighth day of its run in local theaters, data showed.

 

The latest from Bong Joon-ho hit the milestone at about 1 p.m., according to the data from the Korean Film Council.

 

The family satire starring Song Kang-ho revolves around a poor family that becomes involved in a string of mishaps after the son gets a job as a tutor for a wealthy family residing in an opulent, gaudy mansion.

 

The top prize winner at this year's Cannes Film Festival has been dominating the box office since it opened on May 30. It passed the 1 million mark on the second day of its release, 2 million on the third day, 3 million on the fourth day and 4 million on the sixth day.

 

It already broke even when it hit a cumulative 3.7 million admissions.

sshim@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

Source: Soompi

 

[rubie]

June 9, 2019

 

'Parasite' likely to be remade into U.S. drama series

 

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- Following the previous globally acclaimed film "Snowpiercer," director Bong Joon-ho's latest, Cannes-winning "Parasite" is presumed to become his second flick to be dramatized in the United States.

 

Winning the top Palme d'Or prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the film was sold to film distributors in 192 foreign countries, becoming the most exported South Korean film title ever.

 

With its piercing depiction of economic class division universally appealing to international cinephiles, "Parasite" has reportedly drawn proposals for being remade outside of Korea.

 

The director Bong has hinted at the possibility himself, saying during a recent media interview, "I am getting questions from the U.S. for the dramatization of 'Parasite.'

 

"It will be very interesting to turn it into a drama series where untold stories of each character can be further explored," Bong said.

 

If made into a TV series, "Parasite" will become his second flick to be dramatized in the U.S.

 

His previous film, "Snowpiercer," based on a French graphic novel, is being dramatized in the U.S. and will hit the small screen on TBS next spring, a number of American media reports have said.

 

The drama project began in 2015 but faced a major delay before TBS, not TNT as initially planned, was selected as its broadcaster.

 

The new series will star Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs and Alison Wright, among others.

 

Experts predicted that "Parasite" is also likely to be reproduced given the global acclaim and fame it has widely garnered.

 

This photo provided by CJ Entertainment shows a scene from Bong Joon-ho's Cannes-winning film "Parasite." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

[rubie]

June 10, 2019

 

Palme d'Or-winning 'Parasite' on its way to topping 7 million admissions

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- The Cannes-winning Korean film "Parasite" has surpassed an accumulated 6.5 million admissions in South Korea and is on its way to topping the 7 million milestone, data showed Sunday.

 

On Saturday alone, the tragicomedy film drew 637,677 moviegoers to local movie theaters, dominating the box-office No. 1 position every day since its official release on May 30, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.

 

As of Saturday, accumulated admissions had reached 6.51 million, and the film is predicted to surely reach the 7 million mark in the very near future.

 

As of early Sunday morning, however, the film came in second after the American musical fantasy film "Aladdin" in terms of ticket reservations, with the U.S. flick accounting for 40.7 percent of all movie tickets reserved. "Parasite" represented 37.8 percent.

 

Despite the slowdown, "Parasite" seems to have enough room to retain its sales power in the local cinema market as many moviegoers opt for second or third viewings of the metaphor-heavy film.

 

Written and directed by Bong Joon-ho, the family satire starring Song Kang-ho revolves around a poor family that becomes involved in a string of mishaps after the son gets a job as a tutor for a wealthy family residing in an opulent, gaudy mansion.

 

The film was the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, bringing home the first top Cannes prize for South Korean films.

 

This photo shows Bong Joon-ho's Cannes-winning film "Parasite" being screened at a local movie theater. (Yonhap)

pbr@yna.co.kr

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June 11, 2019

 

‘Parasite’ remains powerful against competition: The Palme d’Or winner continues its reign atop the local box office

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” held on to its spot atop the box office for the second weekend in a row, with local moviegoers curious to see the Palme d’Or-winning film themselves. 

 

An estimated 1.7 million admissions were sold at 1,578 screens, according to the Korean Film Council. The film tells the story of two completely different families on the opposite ends of the social pyramid who end up intertwined after the extremely poor family becomes a part of the rich family’s lives. 

 

Second place was taken by Disney’s live-action remake of “Aladdin,” with over one million moviegoers checking out the film at a total of 1,372 screens. Local Disney fans hummed along with the familiar tunes as they watched the famous musical come to life, with an interesting twist regarding the development of Princess Jasmine’s character. 

 

“X-men: Dark Phoenix” took the third spot in its debut weekend, with an estimated 370,000 tickets being sold at 868 screens. When the movie’s cast visited Korea to promote the film last month, they revealed that this film is the final installment in the current iteration of the X-men movie series. The film tells the story of Jean Grey’s changing personality, which ends up endangering the survival of the X-men and the rest of the world. 

 

With her telepathic and telekinetic powers, Jean Grey is one of the most powerful mutants at Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. However, Grey remains unsure of the capacity of her powers until she fully absorbs a mysterious cosmic source on one of her rescue missions. When she regains consciousness on Earth, she discovers her powerful abilities further amplified, and another personality, called Dark Phoenix, who is set to destroy the world. 

 

A re-release of the popular Studio Ghibli animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” finished in fourth place. About 63,000 audiences saw the film at 435 screens. 

 

“Rocketman” managed to hold on to the edge of the box office charts, landing at fifth place in its debut weekend. The film sold 39,000 tickets at a total of 534 screens. 

 

The movie tells the life story of legendary rock singer Elton John. The singer is played by actor Taron Egerton and the film is directed by Dexter Fletcher, who also directed the hit film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” another musical biopic about the band Queen. 

 

Although John gained fame and success at an early age due to his natural musical abilities and colorful performances, he struggled with personal problems regarding his family, his homosexuality, drug addiction and depression. 

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

[rubie]

Source: Soompi

 

 Song Kang Ho’s agency HODU & U Entertainment denied reports of the actor’s involvement in the remake. The source said, “It’s true that he received an offer, but it’s a project he already turned down last year.”

 

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Photos: CJ Entertainment

June 12, 2019

 

'Parasite' makes strong opening in France

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- This year's Cannes Palme d'Or-winner, "Parasite," made a strong debut in France, setting the record for the highest first-week box office performance for a South Korean movie, its overseas distributor said Wednesday.

 

Released on June 5, the family satire, directed by Bong Joon-ho, had attracted 259,737 viewers in French cinemas through Sunday, according to CJ ENM Co.

 

It marks the highest first-week showing for any Korean film released in the country, surpassing the previous record of 235,371 set by Bong's 2013 feature "Snowpiercer."

 

"Parasite" ranked second on the weekly box office chart after Marvel's "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," which brought in 498,000 viewers.

 

CJ ENM said ticket sales of "Parasite" in France will likely gain momentum, as the movie will be shown on 300 screens this week, up from 179 screens last week.

 

Among all South Korean movies released in France, "Snowpiercer" is the most most-viewed, garnering a total of 680,000 viewers in 2013. "Chihwaseon" (2002) by Im Kwon-taek is next with 310,000, followed by "The Handmaiden" (2016) by Park Chan-wook with 300,000 and "Train to Busan" (2016) by Yeon Sang-ho.

 

In South Korea, "Parasite" has been atop the local box office since its release on May 30, surpassing 7.3 million admissions as of Tuesday.

brk@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

 

May 28, 2019

 

BONG Joon-ho Wins Palme d’Or at Historic Cannes for Korean Cinema
PARASITE Takes Home World’s Biggest Film Prize

 

by Pierce Conran KOFIC

 

19 years after IM Kwon-taek became the first ever Korean director invited to the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival with Chunhyang (2000), one of his fellow countrymen has walked away from the Croisette with the biggest prize on the global film festival circuit for the very first time. BONG Joon-ho’s seventh feature film PARASITE beat out 20 other contenders and was crowned with the coveted Palme d’Or last Saturday evening, at the issue of what was for many a particularly strong edition of the festival.

 

This historic Palme d’Or win, a prize that had eluded Korean directors for nigh on two decades despite several worthy contenders in the form of PARK Chan-wook’s Old Boy (2003) and LEE Chang-dong’s BURNING (2018), among many others, comes during the same year that Korea is celebrating the centenary of its film industry. Yet PARASITE wasn’t the only film representing Korea in Cannes this year, with the hit Korean thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil bowing to positive responses in the midnight lineup, while YEON Je-gwang’s Alien screened in the Cinefondation section and JEONG Da-hee’s short Movements was featured in the Directors’ Fortnight program.

 

This year’s 72nd Cannes Film Festival saw Director BONG return to competition for the second time in a row, following 2017’s selection of his Netflix-backed Okja, while it was his sixth official visit to the festival overall. Previous invitations were extended for The Host in Directors’ Fortnight in 2006, the omnibus Tokyo! in Un Certain Regard in 2008, Mother in Un Certain Regard in 2009 and his stint as President of the Camera d’Or jury in 2011.

 

PARASITE’s Palme d’Or is the sixth competition prize to have been earned by a Korean film in Cannes, following IM Kwon-taek’s Best Director win for Chihwaseon in 2002, PARK Chan-wook’s Grand Prix (Old Boy, 2003) and Jury Prize (Thirst, 2009), LEE Chang-dong’s Best Screenplay Award for Poetry in 2010 and JEON Do-yeon’s Best Actress win for LEE Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine in 2007.

 

BONG’s new film, his first to be fully set in Korea since Mother, stars SONG Kang-ho as the father of an unemployed family, while JANG Hye-jin plays his wife and CHOI Woo-shik and PARK So-dam feature as his children. His son lands a job as an English tutor for the daughter of a wealthy couple played by LEE Sun-kyun and JO Yeo-jeong and before long both families begin to intersect in unexpected ways.

 

Despite premiering straight after Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, the star-driven return to Cannes for former Palme d’Or winner Quentin TARANTINO, PARASITE bowed in the Auditorium Louis Lumière at 10pm on Tuesday, May 21, and received a five-minute standing ovation and an instant and rapturous response as reactions gushed forth on social media. A wave of enthusiastic reviews soon began to ripple through newspapers and websites around the globe and just as BURNING did a year earlier, BONG’s new film topped Screen Daily's Cannes jury grid with a 3.5 score.

 

The immediate consensus was that PARASITE is both a fiercely contemporary parable on social inequality and an exquisitely produced film as rich, blackly comic and polished as anything the filmmaker has made before. Variety calls it “a tick fat with the bitter blood of class rage” while Indiewire describes it as a “furious and fiendishly well-crafted new film”, going on to say, in reference to the director’s trademark combination of genre and tone, that with his latest “BONG finally becomes a genre unto himself.”

 

Moments before announcing the recipient of the Palme d’Or, this year’s Jury president, acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro González IÑÁRRITU, revealed that the entire nine-person jury had come to a unanimous consensus on the winner. As PARASITE was announced, Director BONG, who attended the ceremony with his long-time friend and collaborator SONG Kang-ho, came up to stage and accepted his prize from French screen legend Catherine DENEUVE. On stage, BONG spoke of his love of French cinema, citing Henri-Georges CLOUZOT and Claude CHABROL as large influences, and related how moved and surprised he was at receiving the accolade. He then invited his star SONG to say a few words and called out to his family, who were also sitting in the audience.
 

Spoiler

A day after PARASITE, the red steps of the Palais des Festivals welcomed the director and cast of the other Korean feature in the official Cannes lineup this year, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. This sophomore work from MAN OF WILL (2017) director LEE Won-tae features Don LEE (aka MA Dong-seok) as a gang boss who teams up with GIM Mu-yeol’s thug-hating cop to take down a vicious serial killer played by KIM Sung-kyu. 

 

Website Little White Lies praised the film, which “pulls off its familiar twists and turns with style and verve,” while Screen Daily singles out “Lee’s entertaining performance, more than a little reminiscent of his macho roles in the enormously successful TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016) and THE OUTLAWS (2017).” The film has proven to be a success at home, where it opened on May 15 and has to date welcomed a sturdy 2.87 million viewers (USD 21.25 million). Shortly before the fest, news broke that Sylvester STALLONE’s production company would be teaming up with the film’s backer BA Entertainment to produce an English-language remake of the property, with LEE reprising his lead role.

 

YEON’s Alien, a Korea National University of Arts (K’Arts) project screening in Cinéfondation, a competitive section that specializes in short student works, is an accomplished work that examines a young Chinese-Korean factory worker who loses her friend in an accident and watches on helplessly as the systems around her erase her friend from existence. Movements marks the second Cannes invitation for animation director JEONG, whose award-winning Man on the Chair also screened in Directors’ Fortnight in 2014.

 

Meanwhile, the Korean film industry was also active on the floor of the Marché du Film, with several Korean sales companies presenting their latest titles to buyers from around the world, while the Korean Film Council manned its stand on the beach behind the Palais as it has in previous years and once again staged a popular Korean Film Night event during the festival.

 

Leading sales news at Cannes among Korean titles was PARASITE, which scored a record for CJ Entertainment by selling to distributors in 192 countries ahead of its release, among them Neon for North America, the Jokers in France and Curzon in the United Kingdom. K-Movie Entertainment also reported sales for The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, the North American rights of which were snatched up by Well Go USA, which also announced that it had purchased KIM Bora’s award-winning indie House of Hummingbird (2018) from CONTENTS PANDA.

 

PARASITE opens in Korea this Thursday, May 30, and the Palme d’Or effect already appears to be underway, with the film handily topping the reservations chart with unusually high numbers (over 200,000 as of this writing) for a film that is neither an effects-driven blockbuster or released during a traditionally busy theater-going season.

 

 

Source: Pierce Conran

 

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June 4, 2019

 

PARASITE Scores Record Opening for BONG Joon-ho
Palme d’Or Frenzy Fuels Sales

 

by Pierce Conran KOFIC

 

A media frenzy and national pride have set the May box office on fire, as admissions almost doubled to 4.04 million over the previous weekend, an unusually high number for this time of year. Moreover, the local share surged to 76%, despite the opening of a new Hollywood blockbuster, which is topping the rest of its global markets this session while struggling in Korea.

 

Hot from its historic Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival, the first such win for a Korean filmmaker, PARASITE opened to a staggering 2.79 million entries (USD 20.75 million), a record for director BONG Joon-ho, unseating 2013’s Snowpiercer (2.27 million viewers), and the second highest ever debut for star SONG Kang-ho, just behind 2017’s A Taxi Driver (USD 2.92 million viewers). Over four days, the film has attracted a massive 3.37 million spectators (USD 24.71 million) and with uniformly gushing reviews and strong word of mouth, the film is poised to continue pulling in large crowds.

 

Spoiler

 

Last week’s top film Aladdin remained very strong on the charts, dipping just 8% as families continued to be drawn in by its spell. With another 737,000 entries (USD 5.33 million) banked in second place, the Disney update has now reached 2.15 million admissions (USD 15.25 million).

 

Despite a global launch in the USD 180 million range, the big-budget creature feature Godzilla: King of the Monsters mustered a meager 181,000 sales (USD 1.44 million) during the weekend in Korea, with just 301,000 tickets (USD 2.2 million) sold since its Wednesday opening. Previous entries in the Legendary series have also struggled in the market, but even so this proved to pale in comparison, down 43% from 2014’s Godzilla (from a 4-day opening) and a massive 70% down from the reasonably successful Kong: Skull Island.

 

Slowing 78% in its third frame was the local thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, which notched another 159,000 sales (USD 1.21 million), giving it a strong 3.28 million seats (USD 24.08 million) filled to date.

 

Closing out this week’s top five was the year’s first K-Horror 0.0MHz, which stalled with a 63,000 admissions (USD 458,000) debut and 107,000 sales (USD 717,000) since its Wednesday launch.

 

A pair of major foreign titles will enter the fray in the coming days as X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Rocketman hope to put up a good fight against the dominant PARASITE, which is well positioned to maintain its edge on the charts.