Filmmakers Bong Joon Ho and Chloé Zhao first met over Zoom — but it was hardly a casual video call. Their introduction came at Zhao’s precise moment of triumph, as Bong presented her with the best director Oscar for Nomadland at the 2021 Academy Awards — held semi-virtually due to the then-raging pandemic — effectively passing the torch after he had made history the previous year by winning for Parasite.
They finally met in person later that same year, when they were invited to submit to the Oscar-winning auteur’s impossibly glamorous version of jury duty — two weeks of watching and discussing movies together as members of the Venice Film Festival’s main competition jury. One of the many films they were tasked with assessing that year would later prove obliquely fortuitous for Zhao: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, co-starring the then-still relatively unknown Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.
Jump cut to today, and Buckley and Mescal are both considered sure things for Oscar nominations for their raw and revelatory performances in Hamnet, Zhao’s sixth film, a richly emotional period feature that dramatizes the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes as they cope with the sudden death of their 11-year-old son. The film went home from last weekend’s Golden Globes as the surprise winner in the best motion picture (drama) category, giving Zhao a boost heading into this week’s start of Oscar nomination voting.
After keeping in touch semi-regularly over the years, Bong reconnected with Zhao for another Zoom call earlier this week — this time to share his admiration for Hamnet and to pick a fellow filmmaker’s brain about aspects of her creative process. The filmmakers shared the video of the call exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter, saying in a statement that they were “both thrilled at the chance to do so now in support of Hamnet and the ethos of community in art and filmmaking.”
The conversation touches on details that only a fellow master filmmaker would likely notice. Bong inquires about the thematic significance of a conspicuous scar on Mescal’s face throughout the film — and Zhao has much to unpack. Later, he asks about her use of memorable extras to surround and support her stars, noting in passing a particular scene in Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low that deployed a group of extras to unparalleled effect.
“It’s so funny you mention that film, because I actually watched it as prep for directing Hamnet,” Zhao replies, shaking her head in amazement and adding, “Good eye!”
The conversation also grows emotional, as Bong offers his personal interpretations of the film’s deepest themes, suggesting that Hamnet poses the question of whether art can be a true counterpoint to the pain that comes with life’s greatest losses.
“Can it truly be equivalent? I think the film shows that it can, and that’s why it’s so desperately moving,” he says.
Zhao explains that she worked with a Jungian somatic specialist to lead her 300-person cast and crew in meditation sessions on set just before takes. She says it helped everyone “get into their bodies” and harmonize their emotional state with the experience and expressions of the film’s lead, Buckley.
“We played [our composer] Max Richter’s music, and it was almost ceremonial,” she adds. “It’s inviting everyone and giving permission to be as profound as they want to be. There’s no cynicism.”
“You know, toward the end of the film, as a creator and artist myself, so many things sort of went through my mind,” Bong later says. “And in the end, watching the film, I just felt so much gratitude for you, Chloé.”
He continues: “I think as artists, as years go by, you can grow exhausted. You become a bit cynical about creating itself. And especially for me, I just went through a couple of difficulties with my relationship with creating art recently — and I felt healed watching this film. I felt like it’s time for me to make something again.”
The remark leaves Zhao teary-eyed.
“Thank you for saying that,” Zhao says. “That makes me want to make something, too.”
The complete conversation is above.
Hamnet.
Focus Features