The Institute for Korean Studies presents:
"Class Polarization and Catastrophic Imagination in Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019)"
Nam Lee
Chapman University
Abstract: Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019) are excellent films to engage with the theme of catastrophe in our contemporary era. Snowpiercer is a global sci-fi film in English-language, and Parasite is a local drama set in Korean realities; however, they are both about a catastrophe caused by class polarization. While Snowpiercer is a universal allegory of the current global capitalist system, Parasite is a fable that captures the Korean specificities of neoliberal capitalist society. This presentation will discuss how global and local catastrophes are imagined and portrayed in Bong Joon Ho’s films and how they reflect and address the collective fear and anxiety. The analysis of these two films will reveal the political nature of Bong’s films and the physical and moral catastrophe portrayed in the films.
Nam Lee is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Chapman University in Southern California. She received her Ph.D. in Critical Studies from the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. Before joining the academia, she has worked as a film critic and print journalist, writing film reviews and feature articles for JoongAng Daily News. Her research interests include director studies, sociological study of films, and film criticism and discourses in the 1970s and 80s Korean cinema. She has published articles and book chapters on the 1980s Korean cinema, and she is the author of the book The Films of Bong Joon Ho (2020, Rutgers University Press).
