Bong Joon-ho is truly a master of film technique and a creator of international films. The problems he depicts, such as the class divisions in today's society are relevant to all the countries in the developed world. His depictions of the lower classes in "Parasite" are real and not romanticized. Too often intellectuals will depict a poor, but honest, innocent gullible worker instead of those who lead rough terrible lives and would commit crimes just to survive.
In "Parasite", the husband who is a chauffeur says "She's rich but nice". His wife replies, "She's nice because she's rich. If I had her money, I would be nice. Even nicer"
The director of this film won 4 academy awards last year for "Parasite". Just listing 10 favorite films was difficult. I also wrote about why I liked each of them.
I was originally planning to write about Shuji Terayama. I like many of the early scripts he wrote for radio dramas, his stories, and poems. He had an original unique voice of his own before he became deeply influenced by the underground theater in NYC in the late 1960s. His works represent the culture of those that grew up in the 1960s and 70s.
The art director for many films was Kiyoshi Awazu, who also designed the architecture for his theater, his museum, and even the grave in which he lies. They are highly colorful, and often close to psychedelic art. For the film, "Denen Ni Shisu", Shuji Terayama and the art director, Kiyoshi Awazu traveled together in the northern Aomori prefecture for location hunting. The visuals in this film are stunning. It has an acidy color but also reminds one of some of Fellini's visuals. The idea of spreading out household furniture on the open grass and many of the unique Japanese objects came from Kiyoshi Awazu. The former editor-in-chief of the New York Times Book Review, Ian Buruma, left university to follow Shuji Terayama to Japan in the 70s after seeing a few of his plays in Europe. Ian Buruma writes "Terayama mixed Western and Japanese imagery in a way that made both West and East look bizarre and marvelous. If this is what Tokyo is like, I want to join the circus".
Another choice was David Lynch. I have often written about him. His films are made very intuitively, and he says that he is primarily influenced by Transcendental Meditation and visualizing. Many film critics and psychologists have written books claiming that he must have been influenced by modern physics, Freud, Jung, Lacan, and many others. He only answers that the audience is free to analyze it the way they want to, but that he himself was only writing intuitively. "Mulholland Drive" is excellent in utilizing classical film techniques and surrealism to show the psychology and motivation behind human behavior.
I could have also included Rock films such as "Woodstock" and "Gimme Shelter", but many of my generation were influenced by these films. Or Brian De Palmer's early film "Phantom of the Paradise" a comedy film about the rock music industry. Or Neil Jordan's "Company of Wolves" which is based on an excellent short story by Angela Carter. Or perhaps a film by Aronofsky, who directed "Black Swan". I liked John Hurt in George Orwell's "1984". How about David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers". Or Steven Soderbergh's "Solaris". The list can go on.
With newer directors, I like Luigi Guadagnino. who often conceives new film ideas with Tilda Swinton, the excellent English actress. Her performance in "Suspiria" as an old man is not something many can achieve. Both he and Bong Joon-ho are representatives of the new cinema trends of today.
But I chose Bong Joon-ho. He is truly a master of film technique and a creator of international films. The problems he depicts, such as the class divisions in today's society are relevant to all the countries in the developed world. His depictions of the lower classes in "Parasite" are real and not romanticized. Too often intellectuals will depict a poor, but honest, innocent gullible worker instead of those who lead rough terrible lives and would commit crimes just to survive.
The husband who is a chauffeur says "She's rich but nice".
His wife replies, "She's nice because she's rich. If I had her money, I would be nice. Even nicer"
He has made a short film in Japanese about the "Hikikomori", people who prefer to stay in self-isolation in their own homes.
He does all this while being a master of film technique. His films expand upon the camera and editing techniques developed by classical film directors such as Hitchcock. But he never allows the technique to overwhelm the telling of the story, which are based on his original scripts.
The film where this picture comes from can today be viewed on Netflix. David Lynch recently said that the age for art films is over, but it is channels like HBO, Netflix, Showtime that can provide a good outlet for more artistic dramas.
Tilda Swinton, who was the leading actress in two of his films is credited as executive producer. The film is simple but really moved me. Films like this can help shape tomorrow's culture. The film is in English and Korean. Search for the director's name on Netflix and you will find it.
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