Parasite

A social-economical message wrapped in a dark comedy!

• Rundown
  • Run time: 132 Minutes (2 hrs and 12 minutes)
  • Country: South Korea
  • Language: Korean 
  • Release date (USA): Nov. 8^th, 2019
  • Filming location: Goyang Aqua Studio, South Korea
  • Total budget: 13.5 Billion KRW (~11 Million USA)
• Synopsis:
  • The Kims are family with no jobs and with seemingly no motivation. Lead by the mother and father Chung-sook and Ki-taek, the family lives in a small underground apartment that comes complete with a view of a urinating vagrant. Luckily Ki-woo, the Kims college age son, finds himself as an English tutor to an affluent family, the Parks. The Kims use tricks and lies to find the whole family jobs inside of the Parks’ house. But things go wrong, things go wrong and The Kims become embroiled in another household scam. As things spin out of control, the Kim’s must decide how they can keep their scam going and how far they are willing to go to keep the jobs they lied their way into. 
• Director/ Writer
  • Bong Joon-Ho
    • Known for Snowpiercer (2013) and memories of Murder (2003)
  • Bong Joon-Ho was born in South Korea in 1969 and quickly became a standout for his belief in Democracy. Bong would often take part in demonstrations and even went as far as being tear gassed. Bong’s early experiences with politics and social/economical culture finds its way into his movies. Parasite is no exception to this. The Kims, a lower class South Korean family, live their lives in squalor. Their apartment is underground and very tiny. The Parks live in a gated community and have servants that wait on them. Throughout the movie Bong focuses on the differences in the family; even having Dong-ik, the patriarch of the Park family, remark that Ki-Taek smells poor. 
  • Bong Joon-Ho is known for Long takes with many different events happening at once. This creates a feeling of tension and gives the watcher stress over the conclusions of all these events. This is shown in Parasite when the Park’s young son is celebrating his birthday and the Kim’s find themselves trapped under the table. The scene is a long take in which the Kim’s are trying to stay quiet and hidden under the coffee table while the Parks not only talk about the Kim’s (specifically about how Ki-Teak smells poor) but also begin to talk dirty and have intercourse. This scene has a lot going on and brings the viewer to the edge of their seat due to the tension it creates. 
  • Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite has been recognized with 202 award wins and 183 nominations. Bong most recently won Best Director, Best International Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Motion Picture of the Year for Parasites in the 2020 Oscars. 
• Cinematography
  • Cinematographer
    • Kyung-pyo Hong 
      • Known for Snowpiercer (2013)
    • Parasite’s Cinematography strives to show the class differences using vertical space, lighting, frame population and even rain. Hong explains that the use of “eye level” of the family’s dwellings begins to show the economic differences. The Kim’s bottom floor (semi basement) apartment is a street level view. Looking out the Kims window you are on the same level as cracked concrete streets, trash, and various vehicle tires. Looking outside of the Park’s windows you see grass and trees. No one is seen in or around that house that wasn’t first invited (with two exceptions). The scene in which a heavy rain forces the Kim’s to run back to their apartment shows the differences clinically. The run starts at the Parks, the streets are well lite, and no one is out panicking about the abundance of rain. As the Kim’s get closer the streetlights change from LED to red lights, the lighting becomes darker and the streets become filled with trash. People crowded the streets, screaming and panicking as their houses flood and their few possessions are ruined. 
    • Space shifting is also a prevalent tool in the cinematography of Parasite. The way characters travel stairs show their current economic stature. The Kims must go down to enter their basement house whereas the parks go up two staircases to get into their house. When the Kim’s finally get jobs, they go up the stairs into the Park’s house and when they are forced to leave, they must run down and out, and then run down some more to get back to their “slum”. 
    • Technical
      • Film is shot in 2.39:1 aspect ratio, better known as widescreen. This ratio was most likely chosen to make the movie feel more dramatic and higher end. 
      • Shot on the Arri Alexa 65 a camera known for shooting large angles with extreme precision. This allowed Bong and Hong to capture those crowded shots without losing the details of facial expressions. 
  • Acting 
    • Top billed
      • Kang-ho Sang as Kim Ki-take
      • Sun- Kyun Lee as Park Dong-ik
      • Yeo- Jeong Jo as park Yeon- kyo
      • Woo- sik Choi as Kim Ki-woo
      • So- dam Park as Kim Ki- jung
      • Jeonh- eun Lee as Moon gwan
      • Hye- jin Jang as Chang Hyae Jin
      • Ji- so Jung as Park Da- hye
    • Although seen as a mostly directorial wonder, Parasites acting did not lack. The explosiveness of the characters make you feel every second of the film is real. The movie begins with the Kim family, every character has traits and individual personality that is acted to the preverbal T. From Kang Ho-sang’s laid back, almost zen approach to life to Jeong-eun Lee militaristic movements and actions. On the other side of the tracks, the Park family (Sun- Kyun, Yeo- Joeng, Ji so Jung, and Hyun-Jun Jung) all nail that snobbish disconnect that the plot called for. In a scene where Park Dong- ik is being driven around by Kim Ki- take, he must admit that he never really loved his wife. The snobbish arrogance and total disconnect is amazing executed. 
    • Although the actors in Parasite saw little to no love when it came to award season, their performances are still stand-out. The execution of emotion, body language and dialogue delivery were spot on. 
  • Final Overview
    • Awards:
      • 198 awards with 183 other nominations
      • Oscars winner: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Achievement in Directing, Best International Film
    • Final thoughts: Parasite is a film filled with tension, humor and darkness all while teaching the audience a lesson in economical and social culture. Parasite is beautifully written and directed by Bong Joon-ho and features a knockout cast. The lighting and cinematography tell a story in themselves with great visuals and symbolism throughout. The believable anti-heroes of the Kim family and dark disconnect of the Park family create a beautiful, edge-of-your-seat experience that will make you do everything from laugh out loud to clench your fist in anticipation. Parasite finds itself immortalized in the victories in the 2020 Oscar categories of Best Achievement in Directing, Best Original Screen Play, Best International Film, and finally, Best Picture.
    • Final Score: 9.7