Bong Joon-ho finds personal resonance with 'Mickey 17' protagonist's challenges

▲ Director Bong Joon-ho is shown in this photo provided by Warner Bros. Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ A poster for "Mickey 17" is shown in this image provided by Warner Bros. Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Director Bong Joon-ho speaks during a press conference for "Mickey 17" in Seoul on Feb. 20, 2025. (Yonhap)

Korean director-interview

Bong Joon-ho finds personal resonance with 'Mickey 17' protagonist's challenges

By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean director Bong Joon-ho connected with Mickey, the protagonist of his latest film "Mickey 17," as he, too, has never grown accustomed to the nervousness that comes with each new project -- just as every new life does for Mickey.

"Everyone asks Mickey what it feels like to die, and he admits he's afraid. This is my eighth (feature) film, yet I still feel just as nervous and frightened as I did when I debuted," the director of the Oscar-winning "Parasite" said during a recent interview with local media in Seoul.

"Mickey 17" is Bong's adaption of Edward Ashton's novel "Mickey7," featuring Robert Pattinson as a young, heavily indebted man who joins an intergalactic expedition as an "expendable" -- a worker doomed to labor until death, only to be revived through "reprinting" technology.

The director said he was inspired by real-life situations similar to Mickey's dire circumstances, where the hapless protagonist has nowhere to hide from a ruthless loan shark willing to stop at nothing to get his money back.

"I wondered what I would do if I were in Mickey's position. I wanted to explore how such a pitiable, seemingly pathetic man could possibly survive in extreme circumstances," he said.

Rather than emphasizing "grand philosophical worldviews," the director aimed to explore "the multidimensional character of Mickey and delve into his emotions."

"Now that my son is about Mickey's age and I am in my mid-50s, I think I've become a bit softer," he said, reflecting on his shift toward individual struggles.

Bong adapted the original novel into "sci-fi with a human touch," setting the story in the near future, around 2054, to make it feel more realistic. It was also the director's first attempt to feature romance -- between Mickey and his security guard girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie) -- at the core of a film.

"I was so moved by Nasha while reading the original work," he said. "Mickey is too kind for his own good, always at a loss, but never complaining. Despite all this, he somehow manages to survive, and that's thanks to her. Their love serves as a central pillar of the narrative," he added. "I wanted audiences to find comfort in that."

Touching upon the capitalist system that treats workers as disposable, he referenced a series of fatal industrial accidents in Korea over the past years, where young laborers lost their lives while performing dangerous jobs.

"Mickey is forced to endure all the dangerous and grueling tasks, dying more than ten times. Yet no one feels a sense of guilt. It is a cowardly society," he said, contrasting this with Niflheim's indigenous creatures, the "Creepers," who, he said, "stand in solidarity to save a baby Creeper" from the invading humans.

Bong's black comedy thriller "Parasite," his work before "Mickey 17," was a critically acclaimed hit that earned him the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and four Oscars -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.

The 55-year-old said the glory hadn't changed anything.

"My work style remains the same, as does my lifestyle. I've been making films the way I always have, and 'Mickey 17' is a result of that," he said. However, he acknowledged the challenges surrounding the film's release, which was disrupted by a major Hollywood strike, despite post-production being completed in 2023.

The core of his filmmaking philosophy is creating films so engaging that viewers can't take their eyes off the screen.

"My goal is to keep audiences from checking their phones and immerse them completely for the entire two-hour runtime," he said.

Anyone who feels bored watching his movie in the theater should stay mindful, as the director might be observing from the back row.

"I sometimes sit at the back of theaters to watch audience reactions, and it hurts when I see the glow of a phone screen," he said.

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