PAGE 12 • March 2020
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Parasite There were many pundits, myself included, who thought that Sam Mendes’ groundbreaking war epic 1917 was going to emerge victorious on Oscar night. As it turned out, however, Bong Joon-ho’s comedy, drama, thriller hybrid PARASITE had other plans. Not only did the South Korean masterpiece take home statuettes for Best International Film,
The Kim family in their basement apartment
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and Best Original Screenplay, but also snagged Best Director, and became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. PARASITE begins with an introduction to the destitute Kim family. Ki-taek, Chung-sook, Ki-jeong, and Ki-woo live in a basement apartment, folding food boxes for cash, shoplifting when they can, and pilfering Wi-Fi from their unsuspecting neighbors. Eager to earn money by any means necessary, Ki-woo jumps at the opportunity when a friend offers him the chance to take over his tutoring duties for the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Park Dong-ik. This seemingly innocuous beginning soon morphs into a diabolical scheme by the Kim’s to completely integrate themselves into the lavish lives of the Parks.
Joon-ho’s genre-bending exploration of status and power (ideals he also explored in his inexplicably underappreciated SNOWPIERCER) is hilariously funny in one moment, and shockingly dark in the next. The subtle evolution of the Kim clan is ingenious in its slow burn approach to duplicity. When we first meet the downtrodden quartet, we view them as a jovial group just trying to stay afloat in a financially demanding modern world. As an audience, we sympathize with their plight, and forgive them for their minor criminal indiscretions. Behind Joon-ho’s award-winning screenplay, and the brilliant performances by the remarkable cast, an alliance is forged with the viewer, laying a foundation of empathy that will be progressively tested with each passing scene. The juxtaposition between rich and poor is the prevailing theme of PARASITE, and the vast divide between the two is at the forefront of virtually every sequence. While the Parks have grown so accustomed to their wealth and power that The older Kim children stealing they almost seem to take it for granted, wifi whenever they can the Kims will do virtually anything to
