It feels like ‘Inception’: Bong Joon Ho on Parasite’s six Oscar nods

PTI, Jan 14, 2020, 3:12 PM IST

Los Angeles: Director Bong Joon Ho says “Parasite’s” six Oscar nominations feel like a dream from “Inception” and he is afraid he will soon wake up from it.

“Parasite”, which has had a great international journey since it won the Palme d’Ore at the Cannes Film Festival, scripted history by becoming the first South Korean film to bag the best picture Oscar nomination.

It has earned nods for the best director for Bong, the best international film and best original screenplay for Bong and co-writer Jin Won Han. The film has also earned nods for editing and production design.

“I feel it’s like Inception. Soon I’m going to wake up and realize this was all a dream, I’m still in the middle of Parasite and all the equipment is malfunctioning. I see the catering truck on fire and I’m wailing. But right now, everything is great and I’m so happy,” Bong told Deadline through his translator and filmmaker Sharon Choi.

The director, who first burst on the international cinema scene with “Memories of Murder” and has directed acclaimed titles such as “Mother”, “The Host”, “Snowpiercer” and “Okja”, said they did not expect this kind of love when they set out to make the film, a class satire set in South Korea.

“When I was creating this film, I didn’t intend or aim for any of these things to happen. Everything that’s happened from Cannes to now, our intention was to really create a delicate and meticulous craft piece like a luxury Swiss watch.

“This is very rare for Asia and Korea for a movie to be nominated for categories like Best Picture and Best Director. We never expected any of this and I think all of this is thanks to the pure passion that all our great actors and crew members had in their pursuit to create a high-quality film and take on new challenges. I think the Academy members really recognized that as fellow filmmakers,” the filmmaker told the publication.

The world of “Parasite” is getting expanded with a limited HBO series for which Bong is collaborating with “Succession” producer Adam McKay.

“I really liked Adam McKay’s ‘The Big Short’ and I loved his sense of humor, and the sharp satire he conveyed about the current American politics.

“With Parasite, while I was writing the script I had so many more ideas I couldn’t convey into the two-hour running time of the film. I knew that if I had a longer running time, I would be able to tell these stories, and that’s what I plan to talk about with Adam pretty soon,” he said.