The 2020 Academy Awards was an especially historical one for Bong Joon-ho. The writer/director of Parasite won four Oscars that night, including Best Oiriginal Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Director and Best Picture. The South Korean filmmaker made history and won over quite a few legendary fellow nominees, such as Martin Scorsese.
During a news conference in Seoul, South Korea (per THR) with the Parasite cast and staff, Bong Joon-ho shared the kind words The Irishman director wrote to him following his Oscar wins. Here’s what the Parasite director said:
I just read his letter a few hours ago and it was an honor. He said I did a good job and should rest, but only a little because he and everyone else was eagerly waiting for my next film.
How sweet! Martin Scorsese clearly respects Bong Joon-ho as a filmmaker and went out of his way to send him an encouraging note. Following an exhausting year of promoting Parasite around the world, the director announced his plans to take a break, but as Scorsese implored, he hopes it’s not for too long.
During Bong Joon-ho’s speech after winning Best Director, he spoke specifically about Martin Scorsese to the Hollywood audience and to millions of televisions. He quoted the Goodfellas icon for saying the “most personal is the most creative” – something he heard back when he was studying cinema.
His tribute had the entire audience standing up to clap for the 77-year-old filmmaker. He also went out of his way to thank fellow nominee Quentin Tarantino for supporting his work before American audiences were aware of them. Check out the full Oscars speech below:
During the Seoul press conference, Bong Joon-ho talked about how he’s most proud of Parasite’s achievements outside its Oscar win. It became a widely successful film and broke box office records for South Korean cinema. He shared his satisfaction with the film not holding back about its messages about wealth disparity and ending up being successful anyway.
The director initially thought Parasite would be “risky commercially.” The genre-bending thriller follows two families from different class levels who end up being under the same roof. Since winning Best Picture, the movie’s box office earnings have risen over 200 percent. The movie has made $197 million globally and has the most post-win ticket sales for any Best Picture winner since 2010’s The King Speech.
Bong Joon-ho is currently developing an HBO television series based on Parasite with Adam McKay of The Big Short and Vice on board to write the scripts. The series is expected to be five or six episodes. Check out Parasite in theaters and stream it on Amazon.
