- Release date: June 05, 2019
- Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
- With: Choi Woo-shik, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park Seo-joon, Park So-dam
- Duration: 2h12
- Type: Thriller/Drama
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXfv87Wpk
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean director and screenwriter considered as one of the best modern filmmakers. He is particularly known for having directed Memories of Murder, Mother or more recently Parasite. Today, we are going to focus in this article on Parasite.
Synopsis of Parasite’s movie
The class differences between a poor unemployed family living among the cockroaches and a well-to-do family come to light. When Ki-woo gets a job tutoring the wealthy Parks, he arranges for his parents and sister to be hired as well. The family enjoys the Parks’ luxurious lifestyle, but then they discover a dark secret. An incident occurs and the situation degenerates. This is the beginning of an uncontrollable spiral, from which no one will truly emerge unscathed…
Movie’s atmosphere
At the beginning of the film, the situations are evoked in a comical way. But little by little the humor fades to give way to a darker atmosphere despite slight touches of the absurd that persist. The more the film advances, the more the scenario is cruel and enthralling with many reversals of situation difficult to anticipate. The film is full of breathtaking and memorable scenes, the images are very strong and we know that everything can explode at the slightest moment. At the end, the film ends with a particularly violent, intense and moving ending that does not leave anyone indifferent. The 2 hours and 12 minutes pass very quickly and we do not see the time spent so much, we are caught up in the twists and turns.
Actor’s performance in Parasite’s movie
The actors are awesome. The characters are all more charismatic than each other. They are also endearing despite their flaws and choices that go beyond any form of morality.
Explanation
Indeed, Parasite deals with social inequalities in Asia, but also everywhere in the world where capitalism reigns. The film is a social satire on people up and down in society. Bong Joon-ho shows us how far people are willing to go to climb the economic tower of society. In fact, the protagonists are ready to do anything to get out of their social condition until they forget all sense of morality for their survival, dragging them into an uncontrollable spiral.
The moral of the story in Parasite’s movie is that it is impossible to forget where you come from. The poor cannot really get out of their condition.
Indeed, the title itself says a lot about the film. Another theme is identifiable in the film, it’s confinement, represented, for example by the closed wall, the cellar, or the hole. This is the whole meaning of the parasite, it is a being that hides and locks itself up. The parasite is a being that lives at the expense of another (host) but without necessarily destroying it.
From the beginning, an atypical family is portrayed to us. They are sneaky and lazy beings, but they are not devoid of ingenuity. Also, what’s interesting is how we’re not introduced to Kim’s family as individuals, but as a unit right from the start. Like parasites. They are already united and unlike wealthy families, remain so to achieve their goals.
Awards for Parasite’s movie
Indeed, the film was very rewarded, it must be said that Parasite is a slap that took everyone by surprise. The film received the Palme d’Or unanimously from the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. It is also the first South Korean film to have received this award.
The film also had several Oscars in 2020, namely:
- Best Picture Oscar
- The Oscar for best international film
- The Oscar for Best Director
- The Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
At the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, the film was nominated for three awards, including Best Direction and Best Screenplay, and won Best Foreign Language Film.
Anecdotes
- Following its success and the critical acclaim it generated, Parasite was released in theaters in a black and white version in February 2020. A new version also supervised by Bong Joon Ho: « I find it fascinating to see how the viewing experience will be changed for the public who discovers the film in this version. I am sure that everyone will have a different opinion on this new version. The first time I saw it, the film almost looked like a fable, and I had the strange sensation of watching a story from another era. The second time around, the film seemed much more realistic to me, sharp as a blade ».
- Parasite marks the 4th collaboration between director Bong Joon Ho and Song Kang-ho after The Host, Memories of Murder and Snowpiercer. The actor is also very popular with the Korean public.
- In order to preserve as much information as possible around Parasite, Bong Joon Ho sent a letter to reporters asking them not to reveal anything about the plot or spoil the viewers. He also made sure that the trailer was as mysterious as possible. “So I ask you to please protect the emotions of the viewers: When you write a review of the film, please avoid mentioning what will happen after the son and daughter start working at the Parks. , just as the trailers did not. Not revealing anything beyond this narrative arc will be a real treat for the viewer and the team that made this film possible. »
Futher information
Parasite is a South Korean film. South Korean films are renowned for being high quality cinema. They are generally known for being violent, dramatic films, tinged with black humor and/or dark or even murky.
If this kind of cinema interests you, I invite you to watch Memories of Murder and Mother by Bong Jong-ho,
In addition to these thrillers, there is a wide selection of more romantic, historical, quirky and poetic films that have been appearing for already two decades in the already virtuoso South Korean cinema.
Authored by : Charlotte Lescallier