Director Bong Joon Ho Went Insular to Gain Universal Appeal
Away from news of an impeached president acquitted by his senate, locusts swarming food supplies in Africa and other disaster events of the week, the Oscars on Sunday quietly triggered a seismic geopolitical shift by awarding director Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite" the first Best Picture award given to a film in a non-English language. Bong Joon Ho, in his acceptance speeches, achieved a blending of cultures no American-born or native-English-speaker director could have: he made the case for insularity, which some might call nativism or even "nationalism". Ho said at the post-Oscars presser he'd collaborated with American filmmakers and actors on a past project called " Okja ". But for his Oscar-winning movie "Parasite" he stuck closer to subjects and characters familiar to him. Ho even released his film to English-speaking film festivals with spoken Korean dialog and an all-Korean cast of actors. The choice showed audiences around the world...