The classic 1960s movie Bong Joon-ho has always wanted to emulate: “I’d love to do something like that”
When Spike Lee opened the envelope containing the winner of the ‘Best Director’ category at the 2020 Oscars, few people expected it to read ‘Bong Joon-ho’, and even fewer expected Jane Fonda to call out Parasite when announcing the ‘Best Picture’ winner later that night. Within just a few hours, film history had been made.
Parasite is a beautifully intricate social thriller that explores some of the darkest aspects of human nature, but it isn’t the first time the South Korean maestro has tackled such issues, for his film Snowpiercer explores class struggles through a post-apocalyptic lens, while Okja takes on the murky world of mass-produced meat.
Fans of Bong’s more recent work might be surprised to learn that one of his earliest offerings is a balls-to-the-wall action movie in the form of Memories of Murder, which follows two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer in the Korean city of Hwaseong. It’s incredibly tense and action-packed, widely regarded as one of the greatest thrillers of modern times, but it feels very different from the slick, overtly intellectual fare Bong has put out in the past few years.
The filmmaker has always been inspired by western cinema, particularly the work of Martin Scorsese, and speaking to Vanity Fair, he revealed his love for another English-language classic: The Great Escape.
“I remember having cold sweats all over my body while watching it,” he explained, “It’s a story about someone escaping the prison camps during World War II, but there’s a strange sense of romance in that film, and I would love to do something like that.”
Directed by John Sturges, The Great Escape loosely retells the events of Stalag Luft III, a German prisoner of war camp, during World War II, from which the cool-as-ice American prisoner Captain Virgil Hilts, played by Steve McQueen, routinely attempts to escape, often with his trusty motorcycle. The rest of the film’s cast is equally stacked with Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, David McCallum, Charles Bronson and more, making appearances, and it was showered with praise upon release, which included a nomination for ‘Best Picture’ at the Golden Globes.
However, its real impact is its enduring legacy, for it remains one of the most influential ever made, with hundreds of homages and parodies scattered throughout culture, and you can find references to it everywhere, from the works of Quentin Tarantino to Chicken Run, whereas its iconic theme music has taken on a life of its own.
Speaking about his love for the film, Bong revealed a desire to make a film in the style of The Great Escape. Why stop there? Why not just remake the thing? Rumours have circulated for years of a rebooted version of the story, but the closest we’ve come is a made-for-TV sequel that came out in 1988.
The fact that Bong Joon-ho is such a big fan of films that sit so far out of his oeuvre proves that, to become a great artist, you must draw inspiration from many different sources.
