Bugonia's Screenwriter Details the Many Wild Turns of the New Science Fiction Film
The film screenwriter the writer doesn’t really remember what happens in the original Korean movie. This is somewhat unexpected, considering he penned the screenplay for the director’s new reimagining of the original 2003 film. Rather than studying the original script for ideas, the screenwriter behind his previous work viewed the movie once, jotted down some thoughts, and began writing.
“I’ve only seen the original once,” Tracy says. “I couldn't clearly recall the film all that well. My aim wasn't to feel like I had to be slavishly following or recreating or paying tribute to someone else's vision. The fairest thing to those movies was to have them be judged separately.”
While the premise of a mentally unstable man (Jesse Plemons in Bugonia) who abducts a pharmaceutical executive he’s certain is an alien in disguise is largely the same in both films, the variations are considerable. Firstly, the writer re-envisioned the executive character, played by a man in Jang Joon-hwan’s first version, as a woman. (The director chose his regular partner the actress in the part.) The endings vary a bit too, in the way they address their shared core mystery: Is this person an extraterrestrial or not really?
Tracy believes that answer is somewhat irrelevant.
“I never was really concerned with the twist aspect,” he comments. “I didn't want the film to just be a toy that performs a single trick, and then after the reveal, it's like: Alright, so what's next?”
However, Tracy has a lot to say on the subject. The interview with the writer touched on the film’s ending and its implications, along with the ways he and the director collaborated to execute those surprises.
Spoiler Alert: Complete details ahead for the conclusion of the movie.
So is the character an extraterrestrial or not an alien?
In brief: Yes.
Similar to in the original film, the end of Bugonia discloses that Stone’s character, a big pharma CEO named Michelle Fuller, is in fact alien royalty in hiding. After tricking her captor Teddy (Plemons) into ending his own life using her teleportation technology, Fuller beams back up to her alien vessel.
The reality that this comes as a surprise is a testament to Stone’s acting skills. During the two-hour movie, she keeps audiences guessing through a complex portrayal that may require multiple viewings to comprehend entirely.
“Emma frequently discussed how it was the first time she had to act where she felt she had to be aware of people viewing it again. How those rewatching are going to perceive,” the writer explains. "She was aware the upon a repeat viewing a person watches this movie, They are aware I am conscious of… understand?”
He pauses, before adding, “So she had to be aware this awareness in her performance.”
Designing the Andromedons and their vessel
After the CEO ultimately shows her true nature, we get a brief glimpse of her ship and fellow aliens before Bugonia concludes. Their ship has a unique design, which Tracy shares was intended to look like a marine animal while steering clear of futuristic aesthetics.
“[Yorgos] was really interested in almost like a jellyfish-type design for the vessel, something quite organic,” Tracy comments.
The goal was for them to seem strangely kind of tribal or primitive.
The aliens' attire is equally fascinating as their vessel: bulbous dress-like garments made from thick, woven cords. Again, the aim was to go against conventional science fiction.
“For the costumes, rather than being futuristic, they [were meant to|aimed to] appear unusually somewhat primitive or primitive, and yet also quite ornate and not primitive, because it's a very detailed and elegant creation on those unusual woven outfits,” Tracy states. He adds that the director “thought of it as being a extremely old society. He disliked the idea of anything being sleek and silver, or a hyper-futuristic look.”
The end of the world (or just humankind)
Perhaps the most significant change between Bugonia and Save the Green Planet is that in the first version, the extraterrestrials respond to their leader's kidnapping and abuse by blowing up the world. This adaptation takes a slightly subtler approach, with its aliens opting to eliminate all mankind, while keeping the planet and its remaining creatures unharmed.
“My intention to achieve in the script was a vision of the planet post-human existence,” the writer explains.
In the movie’s final moments, we see a series of shots of life across the planet. All humans are deceased where they were located just before, but the Earth keeps spinning. What we, as an audience, are meant to interpret all this is up for debate. Is the ending of the film hopeful or bleak? Are people doomed or worth saving? Is the planet be improved without us?
The screenwriter does not wish to offer a clear resolution in any direction.
“Certain viewers see it as a very bleak ending, or a sad finale, a hopeless ending,” he says. “Different audiences see it as being a strangely optimistic or happy conclusion. In my opinion there are various interpretations to understand it.”
The film is in select cinemas at present, with a wide release on Halloween.