South Korean film-maker Bong Joon-ho has become the second director of a foreign-language film to win the best director Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards. Bong follows Alfonso Cuarón (who won for Roma in 2018) as a foreign-language winner with Parasite, seeing off competition from the likes of Quentin Tarantino (for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Todd Phillips for Joker and the pre-ceremony favourite Sam Mendes (for 1917).
Bong paid tribute to Scorsese in his speech, saying that when he was young he “carved deep into my heart” a quote by Scorsese: “The most personal is the most creative.”
He also thanked Tarantino for championing his work: “Quentin, I love you.”
Parasite, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in May, is a satirical thriller about a hard-up family who manage to infiltrate the lives of a much richer one. It follows two successful (mostly) English-language films directed by Bong: the train-set sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer and the giant-pig eco fable Okja.
Since Cannes, Parasite has won a string of awards, including best foreign language film at the Baftas and Golden Globes, with Bong winning a number of critics awards for the film’s direction.
