“The Host” (2006)

It’s easy to see why “The Host” was, for a time, the highest-grossing South Korean movie of all time.

The movie centers on a dysfunctional family trying to save one of their own from a vicious monster living in the Han River. It’s also a political critique of Americans who invade other countries without regard for the locals, and the inept bureaucracies that make every problem worse.

“Snowpiercer” (2013)

Bong’s sci-fi masterpiece has all of the class-warfare ideas he refined in “Parasite.” But here, they’re scaled up to the level of a blockbuster. Starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, and Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer” has only gotten more socially relevant with time.

It takes place in a future wrecked by climate change, where all life survives on a single train circling the globe. The poor are in the back, feeding on scraps and fighting to live. In the front are the wealthy, partying away on the last days of the planet.

“Memories of Murder” (2003)

The movie, based on a true story, is about a pair of mismatched detectives trying to crack the case of Korea’s first serial killings, in the 1980s.

It established the director as a master of tonal shifts. The movie has the odd-couple comedy you’d expect. But more than that, it’s a gripping procedural that digs deep into the anguish of the families of those killed and the despair of the officers unable to save the victims.

The movie was also Bong’s first time working with Song Kang-ho, who later starred in “The Host,” “Snowpiercer” and “Parasite.”

“Mother” (2009)

Bong’s “Mother” is his funniest and riskiest endeavor. A decade later, it holds up as his best movie.

Like “Parasite” and “Memories of Murder,” it takes place on a smaller scale but has Bong’s signature vicious wit. In a small South Korean town, a young man with an intellectual disability is accused of murder. His mother, an elderly woman with an unlicensed acupuncture practice, tries to clear his name.

Bong pulls off the tricky balance of making a movie featuring a character with an intellectual disability, the righteous rage at a society that doesn’t take his needs seriously, and a caring mother whose love is the beating heart of the story.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【不正常的】 bú zhèngcháng de dysfunctional characterized by abnormal or unhealthy interpersonal behavior or interaction

【无能的】wúnéng de inept generally incompetent

《汉江怪物》一度是韩国史上票房最高的电影，原因显而易见。

这部电影聚焦的有缺陷的家庭试图将一个家庭成员从住在汉江里的邪恶怪物那里拯救出来。该片从政治上批判了入侵他国而无视当地人疾苦的美国人以及让问题恶化的无能的官僚体制。

奉俊昊的科幻杰作《雪国列车》拥有他在《寄生虫》中体现的所有阶级斗争的思想，但这部由克里斯▪埃文斯、宋康昊和蒂尔达▪斯文顿主演的大片随着时间的推移越来越契合当下的社会。

该片的故事发生在一个被气候变化毁掉的未来世界，所有的生物都挤在一列环球行驶的火车上。穷人住在火车后面的车厢里，以残羹冷炙为食，艰难求存。富人住在前面的车厢里，他们日日狂欢，等待末日降临。

《杀人回忆》改编自真实事件，讲述20世纪80年代一个尴尬的侦探二人组试图破解韩国的第一起连环杀人案。

这部电影奠定了奉俊昊节奏掌控大师的声名。除了搞笑二人组，该片深入挖掘了那些受害家庭的痛苦和无法挽救受害者的侦探的绝望。

该片是奉俊昊第一次和宋康昊合作，后来宋康昊又主演了奉俊昊的《汉江怪物》、《雪国列车》和《寄生虫》。

奉俊昊的《母亲》是他最搞笑也是最大胆的电影。十年之后，这部电影被公认为他的最佳作品。

与《寄生虫》和《杀人回忆》一样，该片不是大制作，但却带有奉俊昊标志性的黑色幽默。在韩国的一个小镇里，一个智障年轻人被控杀人。他的母亲是一名没有从业执照的针灸师，这位老人试图洗清儿子的罪名。

奉俊昊巧妙地平衡了拍摄智障人物电影，表达对这个无视他需求的社会的义愤，以及一位慈母的爱三者间的关系，这位慈母的爱是这部影片的灵魂。

(chinadaily.com.cn)