‘Parasite’ too local to win competition in Cannes: Bong

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‘Korean-language film is a tragicomedy’

LOS ANGELES, April 23, (RTRS): Having been partially responsible for the Netflix fall out with the Cannes Film Festival, “Okja” and “Snowpiercer” director Bong Joon-ho returns to Cannes competition this year with conventionally- financed “Parasite”. But the Korean-language film is a tragicomedy that Bong says may be too nuanced for the festival.

“Cannes always makes me feel excited, fresh, and nervous. I am very happy to premiere my film, which took so much work, at the hottest, most passionate place,” Bong said at an event held in Seoul on Monday. “But I doubt whether the film could be 100% understood (by foreign audiences). ‘Parasite’ is full of details and nuances that are specific to Koreans. I think the film’s Korean premiere after Cannes will be the most exciting moment for me.”

The themes that Bong has explored in his previous films, such as social class and family dynamics, will again feature. “’Parasite’ is a story of two families from extremely different environments coming across each other. It deals with the laughter, the horror and the sorrow of people living together,” said Bong. “It might sound self-contradicting, but the different backgrounds of the two families also mirror the universal gap between rich and the poor.”

“’Parasite’ is not very likely to win the competition in Cannes, because there are many films by great directors,” said Bong. “But the actors have a higher chance of winning something.”

“Parasite” features some of Korea’s most capable actors in lead roles. They include Song Kang-ho, who is Bong’s regular partner since “Memories of Murder”, Lee Sun-kyun (“A Hard Day”), Jo Yeo-jeong (“Obsessed”) and Choi Woo-shik (“Okja”).

“Bong always tries to make films that are full of amazing creativity and insights. Anyone watching ‘Parasite’ will be able to see the stunning progress made by director Bong and by Korean cinema, since ‘Memories’ sixteen years ago,” said Song.

Run-up

Meanwhile, in the run-up to next month’s Cannes Festival, Cologne-based Media Luna New Films has acquired international rights to “We Had It Coming”, starring Natalie Krill (“Wynonna Earp”, “Below Her Mouth”) and Brazil’s “The Friendly Man”, one of the standouts at Ventana Sur’s strong Copia Final showcase of near-finished Latin American movies.

MK2 Mile End will distribute “We Had It Coming” in Canada; O2 Play, the theatrical, TV and DVD distribution company of Fernando Mereilles’ O2 Filmes production house, will release “The Friendly Man”, now in advanced post-production, in Brazil.

Media Luna will introduce both titles to buyers at next month’s Cannes Film Market.

“We Had It Coming”, the English-language debut of Montreal based Paul Barbeau, and “The Friendly Man”, with Brazilian rock star Paulo Miklos as its male lead, tackle issues which are liable of becoming trending topics at this year’s Cannes Film Market: Women fighting back; men questioning their identity – here their political credo – in a convulsive seemingly irrational world.

Barbeau’s third film, after the work vs family debut “Winter Passed”, and coming of age tale “We Had Forever”, both made in French, “We Had It Coming” stars Krill as Anna, a women in her 20s, who, with no lawyer willing to to help her, sets out with her girlfriend to find her sister’s pimp and killer, and seek justice.

Described by Media Luna as ‘an eerie rural thriller-noir’, “We Had It Coming” was first conceived by Barbeau as having a male protagonist. But he decided on changing the first name, and making the protagonist a woman without editing the script. “At first this felt counter-intuitive,” he commented in a press statement. “But it actually allowed me not to apply any preconceived gender filter to the character and truly make her unique as she is portrayed so powerfully by Natalie Krill.”

Krill lept to fame starring in the steamy LGBTQ erotic romantic drama “Below Her Mouth”, directed by April Mullen and selected for the Toronto Festival in 2016, a role in sharp contrast, as was quickly pointed out, to her Willa Earp in the Syfy supernatural Western TV series. In “We Had It Coming”, she stars next to Alexia Fast, whose credits include the Cannes-premiered “Captive”, by Atom Egoyan and Netflix “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”, and Erin Agostino (“Murdoch Mysteries”).

“Media Luna is an excellent match considering some of the bolder decisions I made when first conceiving the film,” Barbeau said.

“Barbeau brings an original perspective to the discussion on how society has still a long way to go when it comes to women,” added Media Luna New Films CEO Ida Martins.

From up-and-coming Brazilian writer-director Ibere Carvalho, “The Friendly Man” has a legendary, now 60-something singer in an ‘80s punk rock band defending a young man involved in the accidental murder of a police officer.

This news has been read 8876 times!