Scorsese Wrote Bong Joon Ho a Heartfelt Letter After Oscars: ‘You’ve Done Well, Now Rest’
Zack Sharf
Bong Joon Ho made history over and over again at the Academy Awards this year with “Parasite,” the first South Korean feature film to compete and win Oscars and the first foreign-language film to win the top honor for Best Picture. Bong also collected prizes for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best International Feature Film. But the one thing that might have topped the Oscar wins for Bong was receiving a personal letter from Martin Scorsese after the Academy Awards. The “Parasite” director revealed at a recent press conference in South Korea that Scorsese sent him a note congratulating on him on his Oscar victories.
“This morning I got a letter from Martin Scorsese,” Bong told journalists. “I can’t tell you what the letter said because it’s something personal. But towards the end he wrote, ‘You’ve done well. Now rest. But don’t rest for too long.’ He continued by saying how he and other directors were waiting for my next movie.”
Bong considers Scorsese one of his personal heroes. One of the highlights of the Oscars ceremony was when Bong took a moment while accepting the Best Director prize to honor Scorsese by quoting the director as saying, “The most personal is the most creative.” The line inspired a mid-speech standing ovation for Scorsese, whose “The Irishman” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Bong praised Scorsese earlier in the awards season at the New York Film Critics Circle ceremony. Bong was honored with the Best Foreign Language Film prize and said it was surreal to be giving a speech in front of Scorsese. The director then quoted a famous scene from “Raging Bull” and shared memories of watching “Goodfellas” dominate the NYFCC Awards in 1991.
While Bong has yet to announce an official follow-up feature to “Parasite” (he is working with HBO on producing an English-language “Parasite” limited series), Scorsese is gearing up to begin shooting “Killers of the Flower Moon” this spring with longtime muses Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro. The director said earlier this week “Flower Moon” would be his first feature made in the Western genre.
Bong Joon Ho on the letter he received from Martin Scorsese after PARASITE’s historic Oscar wins. pic.twitter.com/KXHII8DCXl
— Film at Lincoln Center (@FilmLinc) February 20, 2020
