The South Korean cinema industry added to a global winning streak on Saturday by scooping two key prizes at the Cannes Film Festival for a pair of beloved veterans.

Star film-maker Park Chan-wook clinched the best director award for his erotic crime movie 'Decision To Leave'&nbsp;while Song Kang-ho, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning 'Parasite', picked up the best actor gong for 'Broker'.

The Cannes spotlight also fell on Lee Jung-jae, the superstar actor in Netflix's 'Squid Game', whose debut as a director, 'Hunt', screened out of competition.

Park's Cannes entry came nearly two decades after his 'Oldboy' which won the festival's second-highest prize in 2004.&nbsp;

That mind-bending shocker helped catapult South Korean cinema onto the global stage -- years before 'Parasite', which won the 2019 Palme d'Or and best picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/triangle-of-sadness-wins-cannes-film-festivals-palme-dor-483087">'Triangle of Sadness' wins Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or</a>

Park, 58, told the Cannes audience he was bullish about the future of movie-going.

"With the pandemic, borders were closed. We were very afraid of each other&nbsp;and theatres were empty. But little by little, audiences will rediscover cinema," Park said. &nbsp;

'Decision to Leave'&nbsp;features Chinese star Tang Wei and Korean actor Park Hae-il and tells the story of a detective who, investigating a man's fatal fall from a mountain, comes under the spell of the victim's wife, whom he suspects of having caused her husband's death.

- 'Not a romantic' -

The detective story, which drew comparisons with the far more sexually explicit thriller 'Basic Instinct', increasingly meshes with the mutual attraction engulfing the main characters.

"I'm not a romantic, but I'm very interested in the expression of emotions," Park told AFP when the film premiered at the festival.

The film's mesmerising soundtrack includes the Adagietto in Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony, immortalised in the 1971 movie 'Death in Venice'&nbsp;by Luchino Visconti.

Park said the film drew inspiration from the methodical police work contained in the Swedish "Martin Beck" police procedural books. "That's what I wanted to represent in a movie," he said.

'Decision To Leave' was warmly received by Cannes audiences. The BBC called it a "cracking romantic thriller" and Britain's Screen magazine said it was a "deeply satisfying" tale.

- 'Bittersweet and complex' -

Song, 55, won acting honours for his role in 'Broker' about a woman dropping off an unwanted child in a "baby box" for adoption.

He plays a kind-hearted middleman trying to sell the infant to a loving family in the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's first Korean-language feature.

Kore-eda won the Palme d'Or in 2018 for his touching family tale 'Shoplifters'.&nbsp;

"I am very happy for my whole family," Song said as he accepted the trophy at the gala ceremony on the French Riviera.

He said that the language and cultural barrier posed no problems on set.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/south-koreas-park-chan-wook-wins-best-director-award-at-cannes-483106">South Korea's Park Chan-wook wins best director award at Cannes</a>

"Kore-eda is very familiar with Korean culture so there weren't any differences when it came to getting along," he said.&nbsp;

"Japanese cinema is very familiar to Koreans. Personally speaking, I've seen almost all the films made by Kore-eda. There's lots of fans that love the aesthetics, which are typically Japanese."&nbsp;

Something of a national treasure, Song has starred in several of the divided country's greatest movies.

Song has made four films with 'Parasite'&nbsp;director Bong Joon-ho including the 2006 monster flick 'The Host' and Bong's first English-language film 'Snowpiercer', both of which were box office and critical smashes.

Starting his career on stage, Song made his first film appearance in 1996 in the now-acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo's debut movie, 'The Day a Pig Fell into a Well'.&nbsp;

Since then, he has appeared in more than 30 films and worked with top South Korean filmmakers including Park Chan-wook, Kang Je-gyu and Lee Chang-dong.

British film magazine Screen called 'Broker'&nbsp;&nbsp;"a sensitive and compassionate look at the market for unwanted children", while US movie website IndieWire said it was a "bittersweet and complex family drama".

The South Korean cinema industry added to a global winning streak on Saturday by scooping two key prizes at the Cannes Film Festival for a pair of beloved veterans.

The South Korean cinema industry added to a global winning streak on Saturday by scooping two key prizes at the Cannes Film Festival for a pair of beloved veterans. Star film-maker Park Chan-wook clinched the best director award for his erotic crime movie 'Decision To Leave' while Song Kang-ho, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning 'Parasite', picked up the best actor gong for 'Broker'. The Cannes spotlight also fell on Lee Jung-jae, the superstar actor in Netflix's 'Squid Game', whose debut as a director, 'Hunt', screened out of competition. Park's Cannes entry came nearly two decades after his 'Oldboy' which won the festival's second-highest prize in 2004. That mind-bending shocker helped catapult South Korean cinema onto the global stage -- years before 'Parasite', which won the 2019 Palme d'Or and best picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. Also Read: 'Triangle of Sadness' wins Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or Park, 58, told the Cannes audience he was bullish about the future of movie-going. "With the pandemic, borders were closed. We were very afraid of each other and theatres were empty. But little by little, audiences will rediscover cinema," Park said. 'Decision to Leave' features Chinese star Tang Wei and Korean actor Park Hae-il and tells the story of a detective who, investigating a man's fatal fall from a mountain, comes under the spell of the victim's wife, whom he suspects of having caused her husband's death. - 'Not a romantic' - The detective story, which drew comparisons with the far more sexually explicit thriller 'Basic Instinct', increasingly meshes with the mutual attraction engulfing the main characters. "I'm not a romantic, but I'm very interested in the expression of emotions," Park told AFP when the film premiered at the festival. The film's mesmerising soundtrack includes the Adagietto in Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony, immortalised in the 1971 movie 'Death in Venice' by Luchino Visconti. Park said the film drew inspiration from the methodical police work contained in the Swedish "Martin Beck" police procedural books. "That's what I wanted to represent in a movie," he said. 'Decision To Leave' was warmly received by Cannes audiences. The BBC called it a "cracking romantic thriller" and Britain's Screen magazine said it was a "deeply satisfying" tale. - 'Bittersweet and complex' - Song, 55, won acting honours for his role in 'Broker' about a woman dropping off an unwanted child in a "baby box" for adoption. He plays a kind-hearted middleman trying to sell the infant to a loving family in the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's first Korean-language feature. Kore-eda won the Palme d'Or in 2018 for his touching family tale 'Shoplifters'. "I am very happy for my whole family," Song said as he accepted the trophy at the gala ceremony on the French Riviera. He said that the language and cultural barrier posed no problems on set. Also Read: South Korea's Park Chan-wook wins best director award at Cannes "Kore-eda is very familiar with Korean culture so there weren't any differences when it came to getting along," he said. "Japanese cinema is very familiar to Koreans. Personally speaking, I've seen almost all the films made by Kore-eda. There's lots of fans that love the aesthetics, which are typically Japanese." Something of a national treasure, Song has starred in several of the divided country's greatest movies. Song has made four films with 'Parasite' director Bong Joon-ho including the 2006 monster flick 'The Host' and Bong's first English-language film 'Snowpiercer', both of which were box office and critical smashes. Starting his career on stage, Song made his first film appearance in 1996 in the now-acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo's debut movie, 'The Day a Pig Fell into a Well'. Since then, he has appeared in more than 30 films and worked with top South Korean filmmakers including Park Chan-wook, Kang Je-gyu and Lee Chang-dong. British film magazine Screen called 'Broker' "a sensitive and compassionate look at the market for unwanted children", while US movie website IndieWire said it was a "bittersweet and complex family drama".

Cannes 2022: South Korea steals Saturday night with Best Actor, Best Director awards

South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho will be honored at the 2019 Locarno International Film Festival with the excellence award for lifetime achievement.Song will be the first Asian actor to receive the award. 
 
Song`s longtime collaborator, Korean director Bong Joon-ho will confer the award to him on August 12. Song started his debut with 1996 release drama `The Day a Pig Fell into the Well` but it was `Joint Security Area` (2000) that got him international recognition. 
 
Song is best known for the 2003 action crime drama `Memories of Murder` helmed by Bong.He has become Bong`s go-to star, appearing in hit monster movie `The Host` (2006), English-language sci-fi feature `Snowpiercer` (2013) and, most recently, in the director`s Palme d`Or winner `Parasite`. 
 
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bong described Song as "like a mixture of Al Pacino, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Shannon," which gives an idea of the actor`s range. 
 
Following the award ceremony, Locarno will hold a midnight screening of `Memories of Murder` at the festival`s Piazza Grande in honour of Song. 
The 72nd Locarno International Film Festival will begin on August 7 and will culminate on August 17.&nbsp;

South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho will be honored at the 2019 Locarno International Film Festival with the excellence award for lifetime achievement.Song will be the first Asian actor to receive the award.

South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho will be honored at the 2019 Locarno International Film Festival with the excellence award for lifetime achievement.Song will be the first Asian actor to receive the award. Song`s longtime collaborator, Korean director Bong Joon-ho will confer the award to him on August 12. Song started his debut with 1996 release drama `The Day a Pig Fell into the Well` but it was `Joint Security Area` (2000) that got him international recognition. Song is best known for the 2003 action crime drama `Memories of Murder` helmed by Bong.He has become Bong`s go-to star, appearing in hit monster movie `The Host` (2006), English-language sci-fi feature `Snowpiercer` (2013) and, most recently, in the director`s Palme d`Or winner `Parasite`. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bong described Song as "like a mixture of Al Pacino, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Shannon," which gives an idea of the actor`s range. Following the award ceremony, Locarno will hold a midnight screening of `Memories of Murder` at the festival`s Piazza Grande in honour of Song. The 72nd Locarno International Film Festival will begin on August 7 and will culminate on August 17.

'Parasite' actor Song Kang-Ho to be honoured with Locarno Excellence Award

To give you some idea how good an actor South Korea's Song Kang-ho is, one of the first things director Bong Joon-ho did Saturday after he won the top prize at the Cannes was to drop to his knee and offer the Palme d'Or to his friend. 
 
An actor who has become something of a national treasure, Song has starred in several of the divided country's greatest movies.

He also shines at the heart of 'Parasite' as the head of a family of penniless scammers in the darkly comic drama that brought Bong his historic Cannes victory.&nbsp; 
 
Song, 52, has made four films with Bong including the 2006 monster flick 'The Host'&nbsp;and Bong's first English-language film 'Snowpiercer', both of which were box office and critical smashes. 
 
"I rely on Song a lot," the director told a recent press conference in Seoul.&nbsp; 
 
"Working with him has allowed me to be more brave as a filmmaker, and take on more difficult challenges." 
 
After starting his career on stage, Song made his first film appearance in 1996 in now-acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo's debut movie, "The Day a Pig Fell into a Wall".&nbsp; 
 
Since then, he has appeared in more than 30 films and worked with top South Korean filmmakers including Park Chan-wook, Kang Je-gyu and Lee Chang-dong. 
 
Song has had roles in some of the most significant works in South Korean cinema's modern history.&nbsp; 
 
Director Kang Je-gyu's 1999 spy action film "Shiri" was the nation's first big-budget, Hollywood-style blockbuster, and outperformed "Titanic" at the South Korean box office that year.&nbsp; 
 
Connection with public 
&nbsp; 
Song also appeared in highly-acclaimed director Park Chan-wook's 'Joint Security Area'&nbsp;(2000), 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance'&nbsp;(2002) and 'Thirst'&nbsp;(2009), which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. 
 
Over more than 20 years in film, Song's roles have ranged from an ill-equipped detective in Bong's 'Memories of Murder'&nbsp;to a vampire Catholic priest in 'Thirst'. 
 
He has also played a character loosely based on the life of South Korea's late former president Roh Moo-hyun ('The Attorney', 2013), and a cab driver who becomes unintentionally involved in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising ('Taxi Driver', 2017). 
&nbsp; 
That film was based on the Kim Sa-bok, a real-life taxi driver who gave a ride to Juergen Hinzpeter, a German journalist who reported on violent civil unrest in the southern city of Gwangju.

One of Song's strongest qualities is his versatility, said Jason Bechervaise, a professor at Soongsil Cyber University in Seoul. 
 
"In cinema, a connection between the character and audience is crucial and this is where Song, in particular, shines," he told AFP.&nbsp;"It's difficult to imagine films such as 'Taxi Driver' and 'The Attorney' resonating so powerfully without him. 
 
"Viewers are inevitably drawn to his characters to such an extent that he is an immense draw at the Korean box office."

To give you some idea how good an actor South Korea's Song Kang-ho is, one of the first things director Bong Joon-ho did Saturday after he won the top prize at the Cannes was to drop to his knee and offer the Palme d'Or to his friend.

To give you some idea how good an actor South Korea's Song Kang-ho is, one of the first things director Bong Joon-ho did Saturday after he won the top prize at the Cannes was to drop to his knee and offer the Palme d'Or to his friend. An actor who has become something of a national treasure, Song has starred in several of the divided country's greatest movies. He also shines at the heart of 'Parasite' as the head of a family of penniless scammers in the darkly comic drama that brought Bong his historic Cannes victory. Song, 52, has made four films with Bong including the 2006 monster flick 'The Host' and Bong's first English-language film 'Snowpiercer', both of which were box office and critical smashes. "I rely on Song a lot," the director told a recent press conference in Seoul. "Working with him has allowed me to be more brave as a filmmaker, and take on more difficult challenges." After starting his career on stage, Song made his first film appearance in 1996 in now-acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo's debut movie, "The Day a Pig Fell into a Wall". Since then, he has appeared in more than 30 films and worked with top South Korean filmmakers including Park Chan-wook, Kang Je-gyu and Lee Chang-dong. Song has had roles in some of the most significant works in South Korean cinema's modern history. Director Kang Je-gyu's 1999 spy action film "Shiri" was the nation's first big-budget, Hollywood-style blockbuster, and outperformed "Titanic" at the South Korean box office that year. Connection with public Song also appeared in highly-acclaimed director Park Chan-wook's 'Joint Security Area' (2000), 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' (2002) and 'Thirst' (2009), which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Over more than 20 years in film, Song's roles have ranged from an ill-equipped detective in Bong's 'Memories of Murder' to a vampire Catholic priest in 'Thirst'. He has also played a character loosely based on the life of South Korea's late former president Roh Moo-hyun ('The Attorney', 2013), and a cab driver who becomes unintentionally involved in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising ('Taxi Driver', 2017). That film was based on the Kim Sa-bok, a real-life taxi driver who gave a ride to Juergen Hinzpeter, a German journalist who reported on violent civil unrest in the southern city of Gwangju. One of Song's strongest qualities is his versatility, said Jason Bechervaise, a professor at Soongsil Cyber University in Seoul. "In cinema, a connection between the character and audience is crucial and this is where Song, in particular, shines," he told AFP. "It's difficult to imagine films such as 'Taxi Driver' and 'The Attorney' resonating so powerfully without him. "Viewers are inevitably drawn to his characters to such an extent that he is an immense draw at the Korean box office."

Bong Joon-ho and Song Kang-ho: The double act behind S Korea's Cannes victory

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Cannes 2022: South Korea steals Saturday night with Best Actor, Best Director awards

'Parasite' actor Song Kang-Ho to be honoured with Locarno Excellence Award

Bong Joon-ho and Song Kang-ho: The double act behind S Korea's Cannes victory