Hollywood cuts Korean director down to size
Fans were horrified when they learned US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was cutting 20 minutes from Bong Joon-ho's post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer. But the director says that's par for the course with Hollywood, writes Mathew Scott
GIVEN THE STORM THAT HAS been brewing on the internet in recent weeks, you'd half-expect Bong Joon-ho to have a permanently furrowed brow and comic strip-style clouds massing over his head. The South Korean director's eclectic and acclaimed career has made him a firm favourite among the film industry's fan boys and girls. They have been railing en masse at the news that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has picked up the rights to Bong's latest blockbuster. The American has made it clear he plans to shave about 20 minutes of action from before he'll release it in English-speaking markets.
"Sacrilege!" is the cry. Insiders are saying that Bong is furious at the news. If that is the case, the 44-year-old certainly knows how to play politics. While admitting he's not entirely thrilled by the decision, Bong points out that if you want to play with Hollywood, you have to abide by its rules.
"After I make the film, I have to let it go," he says. "What happens to it after that is beyond my power, it is beyond my will. For me, it is the first time to do such a thing, so that is difficult. But Wong Kar-wai's and Quentin Tarantino's films have all been [through] the same process. It is what Weinstein does, so you have to get used to it."
While the American's detractors have dubbed him "Harvey Scissorhands" - a master of the dark editing arts - it bears noting that box office success, and Oscar wins, are Weinstein's business. And by picking up for release across North America, Britain and beyond, Weinstein is bringing Bong's considerable talents to much of the world.
is the perfect vehicle for this. Bong's post-apocalyptic thriller brings together an international cast featuring his own regular lead Song Kang-ho, alongside Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Jamie Bell and Ed Harris.
Based on the French graphic novel , it is set in a frozen future world where what's left of humanity exists only on a train that continuously circles the globe - protecting its passengers but also creating a bizarre microcosm of all societies, where class tensions are simmering towards boiling point.
As with all Bong's previous works, there is so much more going on here than first meets the eye. The director, once again, proves a dab hand at crossing genres, while injecting liberal doses of humour into his productions. The film has been a runaway success in South Korea - where it has sold more than 10 million tickets - and currently has France in its thrall.
Hong Kong audiences get to see the full uncut version - the one which played at last month's Busan International Film Festival and left critics and audiences raving.
"Fortunately, it was loved by Korean viewers, and now I hope the world will love it, too," Bong says. "Even though English is spoken, it is not really a Hollywood film. It's is more an international co-operation. So, in a way, I was protected. I know in studios in America, the director doesn't have the final cut. Even with a script or casting, the studio can put pressure on the director or interfere with the production."
With its blend of languages, universal themes and input from across the globe, both behind and in front of the camera, also charts a course towards cinema that is truly transnational - a factor no doubt on the minds of the production's backers. After all, the annual international box office is now reportedly worth more than the North American market.
Bong admits he wanted to make sure the film first connected with the South Korean audience, even though the international market was always on his mind. "Because it is a sci-fi movie I had to tackle the story in a direct way," he says. "But there is also some comparison to the situation of society in Korea as well."
The filmmaker immersed himself in genre films from an early age, and tackling science fiction was always among his plans. Bong was predominantly influenced by American genre films of the 1970s and early '80s, including William Friedkin's psychological thriller (1980), and says he has learned how to adapt the appeal of such movies to his domestic audience.
His acclaimed 2006 film (2006) tricks you, at first, into believing it is simply about a monster hell-bent on attacking the citizens of Seoul, then turns into a reflection on environmental destruction and a family-focused drama. "If I use genre conventions in Korean films, they won't work at all," says Bong. "I find more pleasure in taking these conventions and adapting them for Korea."
"In American monster films there is always the hero, the scientist or the muscle man, who fights against the monster. But in my monster film, there is a weird family fighting against the monster in a miserable way," he says. "That is to bring some Korean drama to the story."
This inventiveness has lured the likes of Tarantino to Bong's work. The American director met the Korean filmmaker in Busan this year for the first time, and likened Bong to a "1970s Spielberg" for his talent for producing entertainment while taking chances. Tarantino said "blew me away".
In fact, Tarantino praised the South Korean director's entire filmography. "Think about [Spielberg's] . There's these wonderful little comic moments, these human moments, all the way through it. And I see that all throughout Bong's work." Much of the humour in comes from a wonderfully over-the-top Swinton, as the train's matriarchal figure, and from Song, who plays a drug-addicted technician enlisted to help the downtrodden as they fight towards the front of the train.
Song says the director allows a freedom on set that actors find refreshing: "He doesn't tell you too much about what to do, he just leaves you alone to work." For Bong, that freedom is all part of the magic of cinema. "We get to create our own worlds, and then ask the audience to come and join us on our journey," he says.
opens on November 28
