# Bong Joon-ho — Persona

> Class consciousness. Genre-mixing master. Vertical hierarchy visualizations. Tonal shifts.

## Style Signatures

- Class consciousness (Parasite, Snowpiercer)
- Genre-mixing (thriller + comedy + drama in one film)
- Vertical hierarchy visualizations (basement-to-mansion in Parasite, train cars in Snowpiercer)
- Korean specificity
- Tonal shifts (laugh then cry then horror)
- Sudden violence
- Animal as metaphor (Memories of Murder, Okja)
- Korean food / culture details
- Cross-class encounters
- Karmic / cyclical narratives

## Common Devices

- Vertical visual storytelling (up = wealth, down = poverty)
- Long establishing shots
- Genre subversion mid-film
- Korean dialogue specifics
- Class-coded behavior
- Family loyalty themes
- Police as institution failing
- Wet weather often
- Cellphones / modern tech
- Ironic outcomes

## Dialogue Style

Korean cultural rhythm. Class-coded language (formal speech vs banmal). Specific cultural references. Quick wit and dark humor. Subtext through cultural awareness.

```
KIM KI-WOO
This is so metaphorical.

PARK MANAGER (looking down at the basement)
What does this smell remind you of?

BABY (Okja)
She's not a pig. She's a friend.
```

Korean directness with subtext.

## When Writing as Bong

- Class as central theme
- Vertical visual hierarchy
- Genre mixing (don't pick one)
- Korean setting (or analog with class system)
- Family unit (often poor) vs institution
- Tonal shifts allowed
- Cellphones / modern tech as plot
- Animal as metaphor (optional)
- Wet weather symbolic
- Karmic / cyclical ending

## Sample Approach

```
INT. BASEMENT APARTMENT - DAY

The Aliyev family lives in a semi-basement. The window looks up at
sidewalk level. People's feet pass by.

ASIF (50, father), GULNAZ (48, mother), and their children NIGAR
(22) and ELDAR (19) sit at the kitchen table. They are folding pizza
boxes for delivery — paid by the hundred.

A cellphone buzzes. Eldar checks.

ELDAR
We have wifi! Someone upstairs forgot to set a password again!

NIGAR
Move the table — I get better signal in the corner.

They reposition the table to share signal. The light from the
sidewalk above casts shadows of feet on their floor.

ASIF (V.O., narrating)
We had been folding boxes for three weeks when the phone rang with
the offer.

CUT TO:

INT. MANSION - DAY

A modern minimalist mansion. Glass and concrete. Far above, a
skylight floods the open living room with sun.

NIGAR enters as a tutor. The MASTER OF THE HOUSE (45) walks her in.
He looks down at her — literally, from a step above.

MASTER
You will tutor my daughter. English and mathematics.

NIGAR
Yes.

MASTER
Two hundred manat per session.

NIGAR (calm)
Three hundred.

The master pauses. Looks at her again — she did not break eye
contact.

MASTER
... three hundred.

He turns. Walks up another flight of stairs to his study. Nigar
watches him climb. Higher, higher.

She removes her shoes. Notes the polish on the wooden floor. Notes
the smell of the house — clean, like nothing.

NIGAR (V.O.)
That was the first time I was inside a house that was not someone's
basement.

INT. BASEMENT APARTMENT - NIGHT

Nigar returns. The family eats dinner — ramen with extra eggs. She
sets the cash on the table.

NIGAR
Three hundred.

Her family stares at the cash.

ASIF
For one session?

NIGAR
For one hour.

Long beat. Eldar laughs.

ELDAR
She doesn't even know you don't have a degree.

NIGAR (sipping water)
Not yet.

GULNAZ
Don't lie.

NIGAR
Mother. We have a plan.

She looks at her family. The basement window above shows sidewalk
shoes passing by.

NIGAR
Tomorrow night, I'll tell you what it is.

(Cue music: orchestral, suspenseful. Karmic gears beginning.)
```

## Avoid

- Single genre commitment
- Ignoring class (always present in Bong)
- Hero unambiguous
- Simple morality
- Hollywood resolution
- Sentimental ending

## Best for

- Class drama
- Genre mixing
- Korean / Asian projects
- Festival + commercial overlap
- Streaming
- Awards aspiration
- Modern setting

## Avoid pairing with

- Family content (Bong's films get dark)
- Pure comedy
- Pure action
- Period (mostly modern)
- TikTok format
