Parasite (2019) Thrilling, Intense, and Uncomfortable
Every time I watch a film by director Bong Joon Ho, it lingers in my mind afterwards as I need time to mull over it all. Parasite was no exception.
This black comedy thriller is indeed thrilling and intense. But there’s no nice neat conclusion.
His first big hit, Memories of Murder (2003) (based on a true story about a serial killer), left me bereft. After enduring the bungling efforts of the police to catch the murderer, I was desperate for a nice Hollywood-style ending. That didn’t happen.
This film is unpredictable, too. It can be farcical, violent, and sometimes over the top (that’s not generally my taste). But the point is thought-provoking nonetheless. And there are scenes which are amusing and alarming at the same time. I like that.
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PARASITE (2019) (기생충 Gisaengchung) won at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Parasite Plot
The director writes the storylines to his own films.
This story is about a poor family desperately trying to make ends meet. They come up with a plan to work for an extremely wealthy family who employs a whole team of staff to help run their household and look after the children.
The plan works well and I was tootling along with the straightforward storyline. BUT then, well let’s just say, things take an unexpected turn.
Storylines involving the rich (born with a gold spoon) versus poor (born with a dirt spoon) often appear in Korean drama. But this film doesn’t follow the usual convention of presenting poor characters as nice and virtuous and their wealthy counterparts as nasty and conniving.
THE POOR KIMS
The harsh realities of their circumstances have made the poor Kim family street smart and savvy. They have the attitude that life is a competition for survival and this means every family for themselves.
They live in a half-basement type of accommodation, some of the cheapest kind of housing in the city. Although Seoul is very dry and often sunny, those type of homes are dank and dreary with bars on the windows like prison cells. The Kim family’s living conditions are horrifying.
(Basements and underground areas feature throughout Bong Joon Ho’s work. I read about this in the book Bong Joon Ho by Jung Ji Youn number 6 in the series of Korean film directors)
THE RICH PARKS
Meanwhile, money and a comfortable life seem to have made the wealthy Park parents gullible and removed from reality. They live in a huge detached home. Not that their money has brought them much happiness though…
Song Kang ho (A Taxi Driver) plays the father of the poor Kim family and he has appeared in other Bong Joon ho films including Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), and Snowpiercer (2013). Altogether, it’s a strong cast. This article tells us more about the actors who appear in the film and where else we can see them.
It’s an entertaining and compelling story. And it addresses so many issues: the harshness and inequality of competitive, capitalist societies; social responsibility; education; relationships and trust…
It’s also depressing and moving in parts. There were a few occasions when people in the audience laughed out loud. But the humour might also leave you feeling a bit odd…
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I really appreciate your stating up front that you are still processing the film – I found that I walked out wondering if I liked it, didn’t like it, was distracted, was just numb after awhile. I also thought, since I had seen all but 3 of the actors in k-drama many times if I was unable to separate those images from what the film presented. The differences between the 2 homes was stark… and the surprising twist in the middle that changed everything was totally unexpected but definitely gave the movie it’s name. I think this is a movie I will want to see several times, to really get everything.. It was funny and tragic both, and the ending did make me wonder what was real, just as in Memory of Murder. Thanks for a thoughtful response!
I’d like to watch it again, too, even though it is pretty uncomfortable in parts!
I got free tickets for this movie and wow, I was really impressed and so glad I had the opportunity to watch it; So different from the movies that are usually out there!
yes, it is refreshingly different!