Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Bong often highlights social concerns in his films through the very plots in his stories, either explicitly or as subtext. He presents the hierarchy of the people who inhabit his worlds in explicit or subtle ways and explores how those who are low on the social ladder often unwittingly destroy themselves or other low-class citizens when they attempt to gain any kind…
Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Bong often highlights social concerns in his films through the very plots in his stories, either explicitly or as subtext. He presents the hierarchy of the people who inhabit his worlds in explicit or subtle ways and explores how those who are low on the social ladder often unwittingly destroy themselves or other low-class citizens when they attempt to gain any kind of power.
Violence is also key in many Bong films. It tends to be something the powerless resort to when they feel stuck in their despicable positions. He also explores how violence is just one behavior of many behaviors that live just below the surface of who his characters present themselves to be. Several of his characters exhibit behavior deemed inappropriate by society at large, yet they feel the need to exhibit these behaviors in the dark, hidden parts of society.
He seems to understand that much of human behavior doesn't make sense and often utilizes humor to explore how characters cope with the reality of living with their deviant behaviors in a set society. On the other hand, he also emphasizes how seriously difficult it is for society to deal with those who do not fit into the mold, particularly using characters with mental illnesses, obsessions or simple minds to reveal how unhelpful society is to people like this.
Of course Bong loves to work with metaphors and I think most of his characters and plot points reveal how he views society at large and he has made three films with fantasy elements to explicitly deal with his worldview. However, his films that are truer to life are also very metaphorical and plainly expose a world where the poor in resources, mind and spirit are caught in a tangled web of violence of our own making.
Other directors I have ranked:
JJ Abrams | PT Anderson | Wes Anderson | Judd Apatow | Darren Aronofsky | Ari Aster | Sean Baker | Jane Campion | Charlie Chaplin | Damien Chazelle | Coen Brothers | Sofia Coppola | Cameron Crowe | Andrew Dominik | Robert Eggers | David Fincher | Alex Garland | Greta Gerwig | Todd Haynes | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu | Jim Jarmusch | Rian Johnson | Spike Jonze | Satoshi Kon | Stanley Kubrick | Sergio Leone | Richard Linklater | George Lucas | David Lynch | Martin McDonagh | Steve McQueen | Sam Mendes | Nancy Meyers | Hayao Miyazaki | Jeff Nichols | Christopher Nolan | Alexander Payne | Sarah Polley | Lynn Ramsay | Céline Sciamma | Ben Stiller | Quentin Tarantino | Andrei Tarkovsky | Taika Waititi | Edgar Wright | Chloé Zhao
