Bong Joon Ho’s winning streak continues. The South Korean filmmaker won big at the 72nd annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday evening, where Parasite was named the best original screenplay of 2019—making it the first non-English language feature ever to win a WGA award. The thriller won over 1917, Booksmart, Knives Out, and Marriage Story.
“I just checked to make sure that the envelope was correct and not switched,” said Bong while accepting his award on stage at the Edison Ballroom in New York. “The script is written in a foreign language, but to know that you have loved the film and understood the structure of the story and the nuance of our dialogue is amazing. I have been a screenwriter for the past 20 years, and this award is so much more meaningful because you writers have voted.”
Bong spent most of his podium time thanking each of the nominees in his category. The acclaimed director said that while he’s not familiar with American teenage culture, he really enjoyed Booksmart, and found it beautiful that the two young men at the center of 1917 share love and conversation in the midst of warfare. He then thanked Rian Johnson for crafting a twisty whodunit with Knives Out, and praised Noah Baumbach for his emotional writing in Marriage Story.
“Ever since I saw The Squid and the Whale, I have been so jealous of Noah,” said Bong. “He is such a great writer. With Marriage Story, the first opening scene when they write the letters, I started crying. I think just from those letters it deserves an award. It’s one of the best scripts of our generation.”
Bong has become the darling of this year’s awards season, and the toast of Hollywood. As he’s made the rounds at numerous events, the auteur has been met with high praise; from the Oscars nominee luncheon to the SAG Awards and the AFI Awards, he’s been greeted with rousing cheers and the loudest applause. Parasite has thrown him into the mainstream spotlight and made him an instant celebrity.
“It’s been a great and joyous time. This is a moment that doesn’t happen often, and I am thankful,” the filmmaker said on the red carpet. “But to me, I’m just still a writer and a filmmaker. My daily life and my priorities have not changed. I’m going to keep on working like I have been for the past 20 years. I’m no celebrity.”
Perhaps most surprisingly of all, Bong has become a viral celebrity; memes about him frequently trend under the hashtag #BongHive, a nod toward Beyoncé’s dedicated group superfans. “I haven’t seen the #BongHive myself, but my family and friends tell me about it,” he said. “I am not on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. I don’t do any social media. It is too tiring. I’m 50 years old, and to have a devoted group of fans associated with me on social media—like Beyoncé, who is one of the most amazing musicians and artists in the world—is something I never imagined. It’s incredible.”
Meanwhile, Jojo Rabbit writer-director-actor Taika Waititi was awarded the best adapted screenplay prize, beating out Little Women writer-director Greta Gerwig, Steve Zaillian for The Irishman, Todd Phillips and Scott Silver for Joker, and Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
“This is the first award I’ve won—ever. It’s very nice,” said Waititi at the podium. The New Zealand-born actor and filmmaker kept his remarks brief, thanking the film’s producer Carthew Neal, author Christine Leunens for writing Caging Skies, the novel on which the film is based, and his mother, Robin Cohen, for introducing him to the book.
On the red carpet, Waititi said that he knew the gamble he was taking with this movie, a satirical film that mixes farce fantasy and drama in a Nazi-era coming-of-age story.
“To be honest, there was a small little bit of doubt. But what I tend to do with most of my films that I want to make is, when it feels like something that might be career-ending, that’s when you are forced to do your best work,” he said. “You’re forced to keep on going and make it better and do the best that you can possibly do. I’m thankful that it turned out to be a good story.”
In the television categories, HBO took home more awards than any other network or streamer. Succession was named best drama series, Barry won comedy series, Watchmen won new series, Chernobyl won long form original, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won Comedy/Variety Talk. Succession also took another prize for episodic drama.
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