Bong Joon-ho’s favourite John Carpenter movie: “I had no idea what I was getting myself into”
Bong Joon-Ho might just be one of the definitive directors of our time, with his satirical gaze and biting sense of humour becoming the voice of a generation through his critique of Capitalism and the increasing wealth gap. Whether it be the record-breaking Parasite, which swept at the Oscars and introduced Korean cinema into the mainstream subconscious, or the recent success of Mickey-17, which saw the director unite with the equally strange Robert Pattinson for another indictment of the rich and powerful, with strong allusions to our current political leaders.
However, his work is often tinged with elements of horror, something that is particularly prevalent in films like Parasite, Memories of Murder and Mother, with the director praising another horror filmmaker and one of their lesser-known masterpieces.
From the basement scene in Parasite and the incessant sense of dread in Mother, Joon-Ho carefully infuses this feeling of unnerving danger and threat throughout many of his films, a tone that he strays from in Mickey-17 as he adopts a more light-hearted perspective through his comedic work with Pattinson. However, the elements of horror are perhaps more unspoken, adding genuine terror through his film’s reflection of real-life issues.
But this is something that was perhaps partly inspired by the work of John Carpenter, who remains one of the most pioneering directors in the genre. Whether it be anxiety-inducing and repetitive score of Halloween or his ingenious use of practical effects in The Thing, the director put his own stamp on the medium through a unique style that has since been imitated by many others, from Jordan Peele to Ridley Scott.
While these might be his most well-known films, Joon-Ho described another as being an unexpected favourite from his filmography, citing the influence of his 1974 film Dark Star, starring Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm and Dan O’Bannon.
The film follows a group of scientists who are sent on a space mission to destroy a group of unstable planets. However, things take a turn twenty years into their mission as they have to battle their alien mascot and an intelligent bombing device that starts to question its own existence.
In many ways, there are similarities from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey through its exploration of sentient technology and the threat of modernity, something that is also present throughout Joon-Ho’s latest space flick. But that is not why the director loves it, with Joon-Ho saying, “I felt strange discovering it on TV; I had no idea what I was getting myself into. There are definitely shameless, low-budget aspects to it. I was flabbergasted that the so-called alien creature is basically a rubber beach ball. Nevertheless, the film conveys an utterly unique atmosphere of outer space”.
The low-budget look of some of his earlier horrors is what makes his films so impressive, with the director being able to create an immersive setting despite his minimally crafted sets and limited production value. While Joon-Ho undeniably has more money to play with at this stage in his career, it serves as an important lesson in that less is more and the importance of authentic and hand-crafted sets.
