Bong Joon-ho on Golden Globes win: ‘We use only one language: the cinema’

MANILA, Philippines – In winning the the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, Bong Joon-ho, director of the genre-bending film Parasite, clocked in a win over a “one inch-tall barrier” – subtitles. 

“Once you overcome the one inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” said the director on Monday, January 6 (Sunday evening, January 5 in Los Angeles), as he accepted the award at the glitzy Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. 

“I’m a foreign language director so I have a translator here,” the director earlier explained. 

Parasite was nominated alongside The Farewell (US), Les Misérables (France), Pain and Glory (Spain), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France).

“I think we use only one language: The cinema,” the director added. 

Going into the night, the genre-bending thriller was nominated in the best director, foreign-language film and screenplay categories. Parasite did not qualify for the best picture award, since the The Hollywood Foreign Press Association stipulates at least 50% of dialogue in a film must be in English for it to be considered. Parasite is fully in Korean. 

Parasite won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and has been featured in various “best of” lists, both for 2019 and the decade. 

The movie follows members of a poor South Korean family as they slowly infiltrate the lives and home of a more affluent family. – Rappler.com