Bong Joon-ho
South Korean filmmaker (born 1969)
The numbers
3 + 9 = 12
1 + 2 = 3
Lo Shu grid
Missing: 5, 7, 8. Present digits repeat to show how many times they occur.
Life path 3 — The Communicator
Three is the number of expression — the point at which a thing becomes shareable. Tradition links it to language, humour, performance and the ability to make an idea land. It is generally read as the most immediately likeable number, and the reading usually adds a warning in the same breath: fluency can outrun substance, and 3 is described as capable of talking its way past work it has not actually done.
Complete lines
Line of Action
The 8-1-6 row complete. Read as follow-through — the traditional marker of someone whose plans reliably become events.
Line of Expression
A complete line in the grid.
Cooperation
A complete line in the grid.
Care
A complete line in the grid.
Repeated numbers
1 appears 3 times
Concentrated self-direction. Read as conviction that does not need external agreement — and does not always seek it.
9 appears 4 times
Concentrated idealism. Read as a wide view that can lose sight of what is directly in front of it.
What is missing
Missing 5
The centre of the grid, so its absence is weighted heavily. Read as difficulty adapting mid-course — a preference for the plan already chosen over the plan now indicated.
Missing 7
Read as reluctance to sit with an unresolved question. Associated with wanting the working answer rather than the true one.
Missing 8
Read as discomfort with power and money — not incapacity, but an unwillingness to claim authority openly.
Vedic — Ank Jyotish
Moolank 5 comes from the day of the month alone; Bhagyank 3 from the whole date. They differ, which is the ordinary case — the two numbers answer different questions.
Budha
Mercury. Intellect, commerce, speech. Read as quickness and adaptability.
Bhagyank uses the same arithmetic as the Western life path, so the two will always agree. That is not two traditions confirming each other — it is one calculation under two names.
In their words
Sci-fi gives you the advantage of being able to say what you want pretty directly. Like, in Snowpiercer, that scene where Ed Harris has a long monologue in the engine car. Parasite has the landscape stone. The movie has symbols, but I wanted to focus more on the mundane atmosphere, on the stories of our neighbors.
A lot of people say it's a universal story because it's about the gap between rich and poor, but I don't think that's all the answer. I think this film has done so well because it appeals in a very cinematic way, as a film in itself. I really want to take time to look back at what that cinematic appeal was.
I grew up in a middle-class family. Even in terms of real estate, the house that I grew up in is in the middle – between the semi-basement home and the rich house you see in the film. I was really close with friends and relatives from both classes.
My main job is not promoting a film, it's writing scripts, and, of course, I'm doing that right now, in hotel rooms and on flights, but it hasn't been easy. So there's a duality with this entire process. Of course, it's great and exciting, but I'm also desperate to return to my main job as soon as possible.
I don't think I'm pessimistic at every point, but I want to be honest in the face of the reality that stands in front of us. With Parasite, my thinking was that mankind's achieved such great development — like the mobile devices we see in front of us but if we think about the past 30 years, has the gap between rich and poor dissipated? Not really. I have a son myself, do I think things are going to improve in his generation? I don't really think that either. That is the source of a lot of fear, actually. So I wanted to be honest with that fear and sadness and really deliver that.
This is something that applies to all countries, yes. Of course, there can be understanding and sympathy and communication between different classes, but I do think that it is very plausible things could turn out the way they do in the film. We are all aware of this gap between rich and poor and this is very sad and frightening, but what is fundamentally even more frightening is the fear I mentioned earlier, that this won't be resolved in the future, in our children's generation. That's something we all feel, and it's very hard to get rid of.
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