Bong Joon-ho’s favourite Steven Spielberg movies
Every film fan will remember where they were when they discovered that Parasite had won ‘Best Picture’. The dark tale of class, intrigue, and subterfuge was a complete outsider at the 2020 Academy Awards, but when it did claim the top prize, most people who had seen it agreed that the honour was well-deserved. So, too, was the ‘Best Director’ gong that went to Bong Joon-ho, a worthy prize for the man who brought this wicked tale to life.
In claiming a ‘Best Picture’ and a ‘Best Director’ gong, Bong joined an elite list of filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg. Quentin Tarantino once called the Korean his country’s answer to Spielberg, which is high praise indeed, and a comparison that Bong discussed when in conversation with Little White Lies in 2017.
“It’s a great honour for me to be described like that,” he said, admitting he wasn’t entirely sure he could live up to such hefty billing. When asked if his film Okja was his version of ET the Extra-Terrestrial, he replied, “ET is a terrific film but I’m more of a fan of Spielberg’s films from the ’70s, like Close Encounters, Jaws, Duel and The Sugarland Express.”
The American’s earlier work can be defined by its sharper edges. While Spielberg would one day become a name associated with all the magic and whimsy that cinema can bring, the movies named-checked by Bong are harsher, often darker pieces, with even the more outlandish ones anchored to reality in some way. Even Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is ostensibly about aliens, has themes of family and parental responsibility. Bong’s movies have a similar quality about them, which explains why he is drawn to this period of the icon’s work.
Take Okja, for example. The movie stars Ahn Seo-hyun as Mija, a young girl who raises and forms a bond with a genetically modified pig. When her animal companion is taken to be slaughtered, she teams up with an animal rights group to get her back. The comparisons between Mija and Okja’s relationship and that of Elliott and the diminutive alien in ET are clear to see, but whilst the threat level in the latter never strays beyond PG, Okja is far more brutal, a comment on the predatory nature of the meat industry.
Spielberg’s work often centres around children, either as the protagonist in the story or through their relationship to the main character. In this sense, Okja is the exception in Bong’s filmography, as the rest of his movies mostly feature adults. “I’m trying to tell a story about the relationship between people and animals,” he said while explaining this decision. “For me, these were the best conditions to tell this type of story. This was the best perspective to take.”
Bong’s next movie, Mickey 17, will follow Spielberg into the realm of sci-fi. It stars Robert Pattinson as the titular character, a disposable worker who, when he dies, is simply replaced by a cloned version of himself. Once again, there are fantastical elements to this story, but with a darker twist. Spielberg rarely tows the line between tragedy and comedy, often preferring to deliver either straight terror or a wholesome family adventure. That’s not how Bong operates; he is willing and able to blend fear and farce, with Mickey 17 looking like it will be no exception.
