Parasite makes history at the Academy Awards.
Bong Joon-ho’s thriller took home four Oscars for Parasite last night (10 February), making history at the ceremony for becoming the first South Korean film to win an award, and the first non-English-language movie to win the top accolade, Best Picture. Parasite also won Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film and Joon-ho scooped the award for Best Director.
During an acceptance speech, Joon-ho paid tribute to nominees. He said, “When I was young and studying cinema there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is that the most personal is the most creative. That quote is from our great Martin Scorsese.”
“When I was at school I studied Martin Scorsese’s films. Just to be nominated was a huge honour, I never thought I would win. When people in the US were not familiar with my films, Quentin [Tarantino] always put my films on his list. He’s here. I love him so much.” He added, “And Todd [Phillips] and Sam [Mendes], great directors. If the Academy allows, I would love to get a Texas chainsaw, split the Oscar into five and share it with all of you.” The director also joked upon receiving an award, “I will drink until the next morning.”
Other notable wins include Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor and Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor. Laura Dern took away her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s Rocketman won the Best Original Song accolade, and Hildur Guðnadóttir took home the Best Original Score award for Joker.
The ceremony opened with a performance from Janelle Monáe, who said, “Parasite, it’s time to shine. It’s time to come alive, ’cause the Oscars, it’s so white.” She also urged the audience to “celebrate the women who directed phenomenal films” and added, “Happy black history month”.