Parasite - Review
Director: Bong Joon-ho
The Kims, a poor family who struggle to make ends meet, manipulate and con their way into working for the very affluent Parks. However, their masterful deception is threatened with exposure and the Kims do everything in their power to prevent their rosy new privileges being snatched away from them.
Cast: Song Kong-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Lee Jung-eun, Jang Hye-jin
After being awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes and its historical Best Picture win (among others) at the Academy Awards, Parasite has rightfully been dominating headlines. But Jong-ho's shockingly astounding masterpiece deserves to be entered and experienced as blindly as possible so audiences can discover the auteur's brilliance, twists and all, for themselves.
Joon-ho has explored and touched upon many prevalent subject matters in his previous, impressive body of work. Whether it be environmentalism in Okja or class in Snowpiercer, the director uses film and plays with genre to smuggle messages weighing on his mind to audiences - and Parasite is no exception. The Kims live underground in a basement apartment, all of them unemployed, and stealing slivers of free Wi-Fi from their neighbours whenever they can. When the family's son Ki-woo (Woo-shik) hears from his friend about an English tutoring job for the Parks' eldest child, he seizes the opportunity for potential employment (after some diploma forgery to increase his changes of getting hired). Ki-woo's arrival at the Parks residence, a modernist mansion atop of a hill in an idyllic suburb where the sun beats down on the house in the day and the stars shine for it at night, exposes the stark difference of the two families living conditions. The contrast couldn't be more black and white, but Parasite is a film that operates in shades of grey.
Joon-ho and co-writer Han Jin-won have crafted a script that defies being tethered to a particular genre and is a successful blend of several, thereby creating an utterly unique tone and viewing experience. The plot is laced with stressful suspense as the Kims one by one wheedle their way into working for the Kims. Their capering and deceit is outlandishly funny and outrageous (yet always believable), proving that the only thing that this resourceful and capable family lack is opportunity. Meanwhile, the family that they serve have limitless opportunities at their fingertips all thanks to the wealth they possess. So much so, they have to rely on working class servants to function (e.g. chauffeurs, housekeepers) and to enrich their lives (tutors for their children). The symbiotic relationship between the Kims and the Parks blurs the lines of which family is the so-called 'parasite', but that is exactly Joon-ho's intention - neither family are to blame. Capitalism is the true adversary.
The tonal shifts that the story takes is echoed by the formidable craftsmanship by Joon-ho on display and the director never lessens his grasp on the narrative's pace or its implied meaning. Everything on screen is a deliberate act of storytelling; every camera movement, angle and framing serves a purpose to the words on the page, whether it be racking up tension, exposing status between the families or revealing clarity of Joon-ho's statement.
Joon-ho and co-writer Han Jin-won have crafted a script that defies being tethered to a particular genre and is a successful blend of several, thereby creating an utterly unique tone and viewing experience. The plot is laced with stressful suspense as the Kims one by one wheedle their way into working for the Kims. Their capering and deceit is outlandishly funny and outrageous (yet always believable), proving that the only thing that this resourceful and capable family lack is opportunity. Meanwhile, the family that they serve have limitless opportunities at their fingertips all thanks to the wealth they possess. So much so, they have to rely on working class servants to function (e.g. chauffeurs, housekeepers) and to enrich their lives (tutors for their children). The symbiotic relationship between the Kims and the Parks blurs the lines of which family is the so-called 'parasite', but that is exactly Joon-ho's intention - neither family are to blame. Capitalism is the true adversary.
The tonal shifts that the story takes is echoed by the formidable craftsmanship by Joon-ho on display and the director never lessens his grasp on the narrative's pace or its implied meaning. Everything on screen is a deliberate act of storytelling; every camera movement, angle and framing serves a purpose to the words on the page, whether it be racking up tension, exposing status between the families or revealing clarity of Joon-ho's statement.
An original and timely commentary on class and wealth in modern society, Joon-ho never neglects to serve thrills or dark humour to push this pressing message. Quite simply put, Parasite is one of the decade's best offerings and has arguably changed the landscape of cinema forever.
EB
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