Cold Open · Essay · mrt 12, 2025

Bong Joon-ho’s Bloody Brilliance and the Rise of Korean New Wave Cinema

When Parasite won Best Picture, it put Korean cinema in the global spotlight — but it was the result of decades of bold filmmaking. With Mickey 17 now in cinemas, Laura Gommans and Kiriko Mechanicus explore the bloody brilliance of the Korean New Wave: a cinema shaped by the country's turbulent history, uncensored and unafraid. They examine Korea's obsession with vengeance as a structural principle, and why this cinema speaks so powerfully to global audiences who may know nothing about its specific political context.

Film Journalist · Celebrating Cinema

When Parasite won Best Picture, it put Korean cinema in the global spotlight, but it was the result of decades of bold filmmaking. With Mickey 17 now out, it’s the perfect time to dive into the bloody brilliance of the Korean New Wave.

Hosts Laura Gommans and Kiriko Mechanicus explore Korea’s obsession with vengeance, shaped by its turbulent history and uncensored filmmaking. They also examine why Bong Joon-ho’s Hollywood work feels so different from his Korean films.

Korean cinema captures vengeance like no other, blending brutal violence with raw emotion. While Bong mixes social critique with suspense, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy and The Handmaiden embrace operatic violence and eroticism.

Join us as we dissect the thrills and bloodstained poetry of the Korean New Wave.

⁠Book tickets to Mickey 17 @ LAB111⁠

Book tickets to Parasite @ LAB111⁠

⁠Book tickets to CC Film Club: Old Boy @ LAB111⁠

⁠Listen to Do Two Robert Pattinsons Make Mickey 17 Twice the Fun?

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