The great Korean filmmaker takes us for a ride on board his post-apocalyptic express, Snowpiercer.
Bong Joon-hos fifth feature film as a director,Snowpiercer, is also his most ambitious for many reasons.
With a translator to help out, Den of Geek sat down with Bong to discuss bringingSnowpiercerto the screen.
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Bong Joon-ho: Yes, me too.
So this came from a graphic novel that you just happened to pick up?
Yes, in 2005.
It wasnt a very mainstream comic book in France although it did win a prize there, the Angouleme.
I was very lucky because outside of France, it was only published in South Korea.
But now its been published in the U.S, because of the film promotion.
Was it easy to adapt the book into a screenplay?
Curtis and Mason and Gilliam you cant find those characters in the original comic.
And things like the protein blocks and the simultaneous translation devices are also all invented for the film.
Putting it in a train is kind of like Noahs ark, but different from a boat or plane.
A train is already divided into sections, and that feeling was very key.
The trick was to differentiate from one world to the next.
So even though this world is full of different ethnicities, it was about showing the class system.
But with Chris and Jamie and Octavia, they came in to meet during the casting process.
But in terms of the cast overall, I feel very fortunate.
I had a great experience working with this group.
From prep to completion, this movie took three years.
So its kind of interesting to see the way actors change over time.
Octavia, when we first met her, she had madeThe Helpbut she hadnt won her Oscar yet.
So its interesting to see the development of these actors throughout the process of making one film.
Then there are actors like John Hurt and Ed Harris who are living legends.
Theres a real unique excitement to working with people like that.
or John, what do you remember aboutAlienorThe Elephant Man?
This is your second science fiction film afterThe Host.
With the right material, is this a genre you enjoy and would return to?
I wanted that experience of making a true sci-fi film.
I would like to do another sci-fi film in the future as well.
Its really a way to directly address these types of ideas.
Snowpierceropens in theaters this Friday (June 27).
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