Bong Joon Ho

2 Queries made for Bong Joon Ho in past 7 days

Bong Joon-ho artistic perception comes from his family; as his father was a graphic designer, and his maternal grandfather, Park Taewon, was a renowned Korean writer.Bong Joon-ho never got a chance to meet his grandparents, as his family had separated after the Korean War (in 1950). His grandfather, Taewon, lived the rest of his life in Pyongyang, North Korea. His mothers sisters also lived in Pyongyang and his mother reunited with her sisters in 2006 after 56 years.Since his childhood, Bong Joon-ho loved watching movies. When he was in middle school, he decided to become a film director.1988, he enrolled in Yonsei University, Seoul to do his majors in Sociology. Bong returned from his mandatory military service in 1992, and in 1995, he completed his graduation.His college, Yonsei University was one of the cradles during the South Korean democracy movement, and Bong was part of the student demonstrations in the movement. The students of South Korea were fighting for the expansion of democratic rights, labour unions, and reunification with North Korea. Talking about it, Bong says, We hated going to class. Every day was the same: protest during the day, drink at night. Except for a few people, we didnt have much faith in the professors at the time. So we formed study groups of our own covering politics, aesthetics, history. Wed drink until late at night, talking and debating. He adds, Im not the kind of person who likes to be stuck in a group, so even while we were protesting, I would leave and go watch a movie. The lead organizers probably thought I was a bad activist..As a student activist, Bong, along with the other protesters, used to make Molotov cocktails from a mixture of paint thinner and water, which were visually explosive but less dangerous as compared to those made with gasoline by other protestors. He was even arrested for hurling the explosives.During demonstrations, the protestors used to throw rocks and explosives, and police used to throw tear gas canisters from cannon back at them. He was also subjected to tear gas in the first two years of his college, describing the experience, Bong said, It was a very traumatic smell. Its impossible to describe: nauseating, stinging, hot. Its strange, sometimes I smell it in my dreams. Usually, dreams are images, but I sometimes have this sensation of smelling it. Its really horrible, but I guess thats the way it would be.During his college days, Bong Joon-ho formed a film club called Yellow Door with the students from neighbouring colleges like Hongik University, Ewha Womans University, and Sogang University. He made many films as a part of Yellow Door; the first ones being Paradise (1994) and Baeksaekin (White Man) (1994). Out of which, the latter was screened at the Vancouver and Hong Kong international film festivals.During his college days, Joon-ho taught the children from a wealthy background in his locality.He has made some more short films such as Incoherence (1994), The Memories in My Frame (1994), Twentidentity (2003; segment- Sink & Rise), Digital Short Films by Three Directors (2004; segment- Influenza), Tokyo! (2008; segment- Shaking Tokyo), and 3.11 A Sense of Home (2011; segment- Iki).