Bong Joon Ho
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- September 14, 1969
- Place of birth
- Daegu, South Korea
Biography
Bong Joon-ho (Korean: 봉준호, Korean pronunciation:[poːŋ tɕuːnho → poːŋdʑunɦo]; born September 14, 1969) is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his work is characterised by emphasis on social and class themes, genre-mixing, dark comedy, and sudden tone shifts.
He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), the monster film The Host (2006), the science fiction action film Snowpiercer (2013), which served as Bong's English language debut, and the acclaimed black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history.
All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions. However, Snowpiercer, Okja (2017) and Mickey 17 (2025) are Hollywood co-productions with significant use of the English language. Two of his films have been screened in competitions at the Cannes Film Festival — Okja in 2017 and Parasite in 2019; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, the first for a South Korean film. Considered an immediate favourite by the Academy Awards, Parasite became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film in the award's history not in English to win Best Picture. In 2017, Bong was included on Metacritic's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century. In 2020, Bong was included in Time's annual list of 100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg 50.
Movies with Bong Joon Ho
- Doomsday Book 2012 · ★ 6.2
- No Blood No Tears 2002 · ★ 6.1
- Crush and Blush 2008 · ★ 6.3
- Kurosawa's Way 2011 · ★ 5.8
- Yellow Door: '90s Lo-fi Film Club 2023 · ★ 6.9
- The Clouzot Scandal 2017 · ★ 6.6
- Incoherence 2025 · ★ 6.4
- Ari Ari the Korean Cinema 2012 · ★ 5.5
- Mother, Son and Murder: The Making of Mother 2010 · ★ 8.5
- Where is my DVD? 2013 · ★ 9.7
- Searching for Bong 2015 · ★ 7.0
- Snowpiercer: Transperceneige, From the Blank Page to the Black Screen 2014 · ★ 5.0
- Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema 2026 · ★ 7.5
- Memories, Back to the Crime Scenes 2018 · ★ 6.0
- 40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight 2008 · ★ 5.0
- Tony Rayns, the Not-So-Distant Observer 2012 · ★ 8.0
- Can I Borrow a Light? 2009 · ★ 6.0
- Making Memories of Murder 2005
- 보는 것을 사랑한다 2021
- Kultur-King Korea 2022
- Making Parasite 2020
- Two Or Three Things I Know About Kim Ki-young 2007
- Understanding Movies 2014
- A Brave New World 2012
- The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues 2025
Movies directed by Bong Joon Ho
- Parasite 2019 · ★ 8.5
- Snowpiercer 2013 · ★ 6.9
- Memories of Murder 2003 · ★ 8.1
- Okja 2017 · ★ 7.3
- Mickey 17 2025 · ★ 6.8
- The Host 2006 · ★ 7.0
- Mother 2009 · ★ 7.7
- Barking Dogs Never Bite 2000 · ★ 6.8
- Tokyo! 2008 · ★ 6.9
- Influenza 2004 · ★ 6.8
- White Man 1994 · ★ 5.5
- The Memories in My Frame 1994 · ★ 5.2
- Sink & Rise 2004 · ★ 5.5
- Incoherence 2025 · ★ 6.4
- 3.11 A Sense of Home Films 2011 · ★ 6.5
- Looking For Paradise 1992 · ★ 7.0
- Jeonju Digital Project 2004 2004 · ★ 3.0