Bong on Bong: the Mickey 17 and Parasite director looks back on his career

It’s been five years since Bong Joon Ho made Oscars history in 2020 with Parasite – a contemporary classic of social satire, and only the second film in history to win both the Cannes Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now, the wait for a follow-up is finally over as the long-delayed sci-fi romp Mickey 17 hits the big screen in the UK (7 March 2025).

To mark the occasion, the BFI invited the Korean filmmaker to reflect on his career via an exclusive ‘In Conversation’ event ahead of a series of retrospective screenings in March and April. Wallpaper* was on hand to indulge in his wisdom – find out what we learned below.

Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)

Bong’s feature debut was, in his words, ‘a complete box office disaster’. Even today, this dark comedy about missing dogs in an apartment complex feels like the black sheep of his canon. But the BFI London Film Festival thought highly of it in 2000 –prompting a memorable occasion for the visiting filmmaker that year.

‘It was an exciting time for Korean cinema,’ Bong explains – so the ambassador of South Korea came to see the film at that year’s festival. ‘But he was very anxious because there was this documentary out about Koreans eating dogs. It was a sensitive issue – and then this film of mine was all about serial puppy killing. I remember him being so nervous and tense. I felt incredibly bad!’

Memories of Murder (2003)

Bong’s 2003 detective thriller was his native breakthrough – and it’s still considered one of the greatest Korean films of all time. Its rich, detailed plotting was largely inspired by meticulous research into a series of shocking crimes that rocked the country in the late 1980s.

‘There were ten confirmed victims over six or seven years,’ says Bong. ‘And at the time of filming, the case was unsolved. Before I could start writing, I was investigating and meeting detectives and journalists – but I really wanted to meet the killer himself. I even carried a list of questions in my pocket just in case I ran into him by coincidence. I was obsessed with this man and this case.’

Profilers assumed that he was either dead or abroad when the killings stopped in the early 1990s, but it later turned out that he was already in prison. In 2019, Lee Choon-jae – incarcerated for the murder of his sister-in-law in 1994 – was implicated by new DNA technology that connected him to one of the unsolved murder cases, leading to an admission of responsibility for the deaths of 14 other women.

The Host (2006)

True crime was a running theme for Bong in the early 2000s. ‘In 2000, there was a case where a US military doctor gave orders to pour formaldehyde into the Han River,’ he recalls. ‘The MacFarland case was done quite seriously on the news – but I kept feeling like I was watching the beginning of a sci-fi film…’

The events were recreated for the opening of the director’s international breakthrough, The Host – a monster movie otherwise remembered for its unique, tadpole-like creature design. The key concept was ‘a sick fish’, says Bong, praising the work of ‘genius’ Jang Hee-chul – who also designed the creatures of Mickey 17 and Okja.

‘If you look at contaminated rivers, a lot of the fish have bent spines – that was the starting point for this design,’ he says. Up to 1,500 different sketches were made, with the winning idea taking further inspiration from an unconventional source. ‘We had a lot of photos of Steve Buscemi in the office,’ says Bong. ‘Especially from Fargo, when he’s bloody and hysteric.’

Mother (2009)

Music plays a vivid role in Bong’s films – from the unexpected John Denver needle-drop in Okja to Jung Jae-il’s baroque score for Parasite. But landing famed Korean guitarist Lee Byung-woo for 2009 thriller Mother was a real coup for the director: ‘I remember buying his vinyl records and excitedly unwrapping them. I’ve been a fan of his since high school.’

Lee played guitar for the movie’s memorable opening sequence, which features veteran actress Kim Hye-ja dancing in a meadow. ‘We shot that scene in broad daylight,’ Bong recalls, ‘and she felt quite awkward. So she had me and my producer – who’s quite a big man – dance along with her behind the camera. It was… not so beautiful.’

Mickey 17 (2025)

‘My producers were quite surprised when I took on this project,’ says Bong – whose only previous adaption was 2013’s Snowpiercer, based on a French graphic novel. But when the book Mickey 17 landed on his desk, it was a no-brainer: ‘The story, the concept, and the character of Mickey Barnes were captivating.’

Ashton Edwards’ original novel is based on the concept of ‘human printing’. Bong mentions Hewlett-Packard in his explanation. ‘That in itself is quite funny,’ he says. ‘It’s inhumane to think of Robert Pattinson getting printed out to do these failed missions and to die over and over again, but I was fascinated.’

In the novel, Mickey is killed seven times – ‘But my film is called Mickey 17.’ The penny drops: ‘It’s not that I wanted to create a serial killer movie – it’s simply his job to repeat the routine!’

The BFI are celebrating the work of Bong Joon Ho with a season of films screening at BFI IMAX now, including Mickey 17, and throughout April at BFI Southbank

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