Parasite
Parasite [2019]
Starring: Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam, Jung Ji-So
Direction by Bong Joon-Ho
Language: Korean
I think it's pretty obvious to assume that anyone who has seen this movie now has trust issues. I watched this film when it was out in the cinema, and, being under 15, I had to sneak in to actually see it. Luckily the movie attendants were none the wiser. What I saw as a result result of seeing this was a thriller I actually enjoyed (I don't tend to like them), extraordinarily high levels of violence, and a movie that I would eventually come to revere.
At the time I watched Parasite, I had started to see changes in my exposure to Korean culture through media. My playlists were full of K-pop, and my Netflix watchlist was full of K-dramas. But this was the first time that I had actually seen a Korean movie. I can definitely say that it was a whole WORLD away from the wholesome feeling that I had come to associate with Korea. What I saw was the 'seedy underbelly' of Seoul that is so often hidden: both from physical view and from media representation. When one thinks of poverty, nobody would ever really associate the idea with Korea: at least I wouldn't.
I realise that I often include too many movie spoilers when I review, so I'll see if I can keep my writing a little more vague. This is a move chock-full of surprises and plot twists, and if I ruin just one it'll take away from the entire viewing experience. All I can say is that who doesn't LOVE a nice giant bloodbath to end a movie? Because I do.
I think Joon-Ho was very smart when actually making this: I think he banked on the fact that the majority of people watching would be foreign (i.e not Korean speakers). Hence, he was very cleverly able to represent symbolism in a myriad of ways: there were times that symbolism was expressed quite clearly through subtitles, and there were times where I really had to think about what Joon-Ho was trying to say. I guess you could say the same for any foreign-language movie, but something about this felt wonderfully different.
I feel as if this movie was an exploration of social mobility, and the distinct divides between rich and poor. I know a fair bit about Korea as a country, and the idea of social mobility and the wealth divide is especially topical there. Somehow, this was one of the first movies I have seen that have incorporated the viewpoints of individuals from different income groups and put them together. It's a topic that's so commonplace in the world today, yet so rare in the eye of the cinema. If you really wanted to extend the idea of the movie being a metaphor for a wider society, you could perhaps think of the parasitic relationship between the two main families as a comment on the human condition: has humanity really come to a point where we must leech of each other to stay afloat? Perhaps.
Thrilling, but not so thrilling that you get bored and the excitement fizzles out, Parasite is a worthy watch. Tap into Korean media! It could be the next big Hollywood/Bollywood.
10/10
