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Director Bong: "I am looking forward to seeing how the Mecca of monster films would respond to my movie"

Japan's major daily newspaper Asahi carried an exclusive interview with Bong Joon-Ho, Korean director of The Host, on Aug. 16.

Director Bong Joon-Ho's thriller The Host received high praises at Cannes in May, and is scheduled for nationwide theater screening in Japan on Sept. 2. As said in the interview, "Compared with the director's previous hit film, Memories of Murder, whose motive was a series of unsolved murder cases in Hwaseong, Korea, this monster film shows a very different plot thread.

While it deals with Korea's sociopolitical issues and tends to dispense with nationalistic messages, it clearly is a hugely entertaining film that makes clever use of elements that this specific genre offers".

In the interview, Bong explained, "When I was a child, I lived along the banks of the Han River for some ten years, which explains my deep natural interest in the river". He continued, "About six years ago, I heard a story about certain chemicals drained into the river, and people actually discovered fishes with deformities. This made me think about doing the film".

"I want to continue making films that penetrate the entire range of human emotions, basic instincts, and thoughts on death, films that gives us cinematic ecstasy that cannot possibly be found in novels, comic books, or TV dramas", said Bong. "I had referred to Vengeance is Mine by Shohei Imamura, which is based on a serial killer, when I was working on Memories of Murder, and when I heard that a Japanese film critic at the Cannes who saw The Host and compared it to Imamura's creations, I was very much pleased".

"Director Bong's sophisticated direction, which adds to a stellar cast and Bong's unique and cynical sense of humor, has created an explosive box-office hit seen by 10 million people in Korea", said Asahi. "It is interesting to see whether The Host would have the same kind of 'monstrous' success in Japan as it had in Korea".

The Source : Koreacontent News Team

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