Filmmaker Bong Joon Ho once again surprised us with another masterpiece named Parasite. Where powerful social satire meets tragedy. The director did a great job portraying South Korea's current views on society exposing the underprivileged slums of most modern cities and it's citizens living in completely different worlds despite staying in close proximity. You are likely to find it relatable as the themes of this story are not just localized to Korea, but all over the world. Having its fair share of global capitalism and universal materialism, Meritocracy being the biggest trope of this movie.
Now, the best way to enjoy this film is to cluelessly get into it, its charm is to watch it progress and unfold in many satisfying, unexpected ways.
You can definitely see a unique directorial vision as Parasite welcomes the audience into multi-genres and tonal shifts that mix and take its turn after every act. Pure comedy, dark comedy to heavy drama, horror, thriller, mystery, you name it. It is one of the hardest things to pull off but the director converts them smoothly without letting the audience feel indifferent to the transformation. It manages to elicit the full range of responses, making the viewer react with uneasy laughter to unexpected situations that eventually lead to disturbing events full of horror.
Now, who are the real parasites? The poor who attach themselves to the rich or the rich who suck the marrow of the poor?
Satirically, it managed to portray how we may live under the same skies, but have different views regarding life.
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"You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned."
Success and fortune are reserved for those who deserve it, those who develop solid plans according to their talents and abilities and who execute those plans through hard work and determination. Anyone can rise to the top, but for those who cannot escape their sad reality will ultimately turn for the worse and thus start to justify their immoral backstabbing, deceit, and callousness for reasoning that can be only explained by growing up poor without support from others.
The characters all have different aspects to them that will be received and viewed differently due to the viewers own biases and world views. This isn't a bad thing as the movies main point is to deliver a provocative social commentary in various metaphors. And the best way to do so is to create morally questionable characters that will resemble at least one familiar person known to you.
,,Greed is inside each one of us, but the question is, how much are you willing to sacrifice for an idea of life in comfort?''
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All in all, Parasite is a fantastic case of hard-hitting yet entertaining cinema.
And one of the best movies recently made in Korea.
Thus I will rate it 9.5/10
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Marxism on acid.
Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” deserved more than Palme D’Or. After getting 8 minutes of a standing ovation in Cannes, this movie was just more than an award. But, I’m grateful to finally be able to watch this film and this is probably one of the best and insane movies in 2019. There is so much to talk about this movie, not just about Marxism, class consciousness, and social hierarchy, but more than a symbolism. The genius doesn’t prove we become bourgeois, but neither does the proletariat. There is a tradeoff between the two and in the satire comedy thriller drama, Joon-ho takes us into the depressing picture of a social class.Bong Joon-ho always pokes issues about social class and hierarchy like one in “Snowpiercer", about a ruler’s fight for prosperity. In “Parasite”, Joon-ho places his audience in a unique but unusual circumstance. We try to move and also struggle to “sneak” and “alight” in the fertile flower. A detailed sequence shows the plan of deception so that this poor family is able to control the rich family. However, there is no root in this movie. Instead, we laugh at the richness of a rich family with this poor family. “Parasite” makes a serious incident into a funny yet ridiculous situation.
“Parasite” is not just a home invasion film but there is a lot of symbolism and satire both in society and country. Like for example the life of Ki-taek’s family, no more than poor families but the world has never looked at them. They are only more concerned with status, social class, and wealth compared to poor communities. The film is terrorizing its genre in horror, not just about socialism yet about people. The ladder is a strong symbolism, where the Ki-taek family may temporarily enjoy rich family wealth. When they go down a ladder, it’s not separated from the fact they still remain as a poor family.
This movie is like a rollercoaster, you want to breathe but you can’t. This is a sad experience. Seeing the Ki-taek family and other families is a suspense of the main plot. In fact, back again to a stereotypical of the rich and the poor. Poor people can be geniuses but not rich people. Conversely, rich people can have all but not for the poor. The house is a temporary place where you want to look after and care for but makes you feel comfortable about the house.
Not on intelligence but on chance. There are up and down, good and bad. But, this movie combines all of these so it’s difficult to know which ones are worthy of pity. There are just unworthy characters, jumping up one flight of stairs to another, trying to find a way up but it’s so easy to fall. Business and work aren’t shortcuts but in order to be successful, live prosperously, and become rich, there is a process. And finally, the characters in this film fail to keep their “ladder” each. All of the characters are free, as well as actors and actresses, whether a dialogue is on their expression, we really stand and easy to understand.
The acting, the camera, the tone, the symbolism, the case for this movie is just everything and I still think about it when the end-credit appears. At first, you laugh but then, between feeling sorry and sad. Bong Joon-ho presents an idea that’s easy to understand. “Parasite” is fantastic in terms of criticism, messages, plot, tone, performance, score, etc., deserved more than anything. This is a “fun” movie.
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Left Underwhelmed
I was excited to watch this movie after seeing its praise and hype continuously pop up in my news feed, as well as in light of the many prestigious awards it's won. However, having finished it, I must say that I am firmly rooted in the camp that's left a little underwhelmed. I found the movie entertaining and remained interested until the end, but for reasons stated below, I couldn't bring myself to rate it as highly as others have.Perhaps the best thing about this film are the actors. Each one was amazing, performing incredibly well in his or her role. That said, the characters fell flat for me. All of them were stock characters: one-dimensional creations that lacked depth and complexity. The plot left me feeling like little was accomplished, and story lines felt under-developed and rushed. Certain scenes seemed to be added only for the sake of shock value; they added little (if anything) to the story and didn't, in my opinion, serve much meaningful purpose. The theme of class warfare, which has been highly praised as one of the film's accomplishments, was superficial and shallow, relying on stereotypes to portray a message that could have been explored more deeply had more time been spent on it.
Overall, it's a decent movie, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. For as many awards as it won, I wouldn't say that this is the best Korea has to offer (which is what I'd expect given the number of accolades). It's not that I don't understand what the writer and director were trying to accomplish and portray; it's that the message got lost in one-dimensional, stereotypical characters and situations, as well as scenes that added little to the story beyond gratuity and cheap thrills.
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Dark Humor
This is a dark comedy movie. Despite winning the Oscar with 4 awards, I can't say I like it. The acting is fine, so are many other movies. This movie depicts the great divide between the haves, and the don't haves. It also shows how easy it is to forge any documents in today's digital world. And how the unscrupulous can cheat their way out in a world that demands paper qualifications.I have to admit I do enjoy watching how the family of four get themselves out of their predicament living in a squalid condition to live in a multi million dollar home. But as the story unfolds, I sense more stormy waters ahead. As expected, the story takes on a dark turn, becomes psychopathic and murderous.
My verdict? This is not my cup of tea. As much as I'd love to have an Asian movie to receive the Oscar, I really can't say this is it.
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It has an emotional effect hard to describe. Just sublime.
This film is a lot of things ...Is it a black comedy ? Yes
A social commentary? Yes
Art? Most definitely..
I can describe Parasite as an appropiatian of art and poetry with Marxism that screams like a Basquiat painting.
Its an uncomfortable film that depicts social and class divide. Its full of metaphors and cultural anecdotes all juxtaposed with morally ambiguous characters that make for an exuberant watch. I really liked how exuberant the whole mood of the movie was even though the viewer is made acutely aware of the darkness looming. Its also not those artsty fartsy silent films where characters talk after 20 mins which was much appreciated.
For the most part -Human beings are truly portrayed as awful and just not worth celebrating. The angle that poverty does not bring virtue and nobilty was generously explored .The characters are grotesque and the dystopian world Bong Joon Ho spins actually makes a lot of sense as well as the dramatic consequence of his characters and the plot.
Its such a flooring watch and deserves all the praise and udulation!
"RESPECT'' if you know , you know...
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It had a slow start but started to pick up near a third into the movie and kept that going for the second 3rd. the final third of the movie is completely out of left field and ruins what the first 2 thirds built up. Especially the very last scene which further emphasized the pointlessness of the whole thing. I'd only rewatch this movie to try and figure out if it did, in fact, have a point.
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anyway nothing much to say here, I just simply doesn't like it. not recommending anyone to watch it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Masterpiece? Expectation?
Few spoiler for the first half.Masterpiece? Expectation? Are you kidding me? What a disappointment!
This is my first review for "..." (Answer at the bottm)
Kim Gi Woo (Choi Woo Shik) betrayed his friend who trusted him to take care of the girl he likes. Did he have no conscience? But Kim Gi Woo doesn't seem that serious so I just continue the movie. Later, all of Kim Gi Woo's family members got job at the same house. Everything is good and funny up to this point although the rich family is dumb.
After that, poor family went crazy and got drunk in the house. Then, they let the old maid came in. Then, their mum want to call police because of the old maid and hers husband. She must be faking or she is not in rational state because they were drunk. What comes worse than that is that old maid and his husband didn't make a negotiation after founding out that these people are family. Everything went chaos from drunk part to the end. It makes me cringe from that moments on. This kind of story line is too bad to call 'masterpiece'.
If the script writer is wanting to give lesson to viewers, they should show us the right way. Now, script writer is telling viewers to do opposite of every dumb things they did in a movie. e.g. no conscience, getting drunk, threatening instead of negotiating, no plan? (That is if you want to dig your own grave.), Trusting too easily, Greed, ...
For rich family, dumbness/navieness is at a whole new level. Why they trust people so easily? Why no private investigation for employees? Why they don't check where they live? Why no cctv or hidden cameras in the house when you are that rich? Why get male tutor instead of female tutor for their daughter? Because normally, parents like to have same sex tutor not to have any love relationship.
Park Dong ik (Lee Sun Kyun) hate the smell of Kimg Gi Taek (Song Kang Ho) so he could have told him to take shower well or bought a shampoo and soap that he liked or even told him to shower at guest room before work. Because he hate smell and he hate that his driver kept on saying "You do love your wife". It made me think that Park Dong ik (Lee Sun Kyun) doesn't love his wife. Why would he get serious and angry whenever Kimg Gi Taek asked that question?
From this whole movie, Park Dong ik's son, Da Song seem to be smartest because he is the only one who noticed something but still not smart.
In conclusion, the story is too bad and characters are too dumb. Acting and situational background music are great.
Parasite, Bong Joon Ho and the entire team took home four Academy Awards:
Best International Feature Film
Best Original Screenplay
Best Director
Best Picture
Anyway, 4 Oscar it got are right for this movie so I can agree to that. The movie has brilliant picture quality and good angles. But not the story/plot! "What a letdown".
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I think this movie is way too overrated. The cast is overall good, the story is well written since we can clearly see the difference between the rich and the poor, the movie draws a clear separation between the two and illustrates how difficult it is to cross that separation for both of them. For the music, I think it was too simple, it did not attract me.
I would not recommend this movie to be honest. It is a little bit too weird and the start is too slow which makes the movie a little bit too boring. I wanted to skip many parts because I felt it was too slow. In clear words, I was disappointed. The last 30 minutes were better.
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There are already so many video essays or reviews on YouTube from film critics who analysed the film before the Oscars happened, so if you are like me who was not entirely blown away by the movie at first watch, I suggest you watch them afterwards. I have also included multiple links in the discussion section on the drama page to help ease your apprehension as to why this movie won Best Picture and widely acclaimed in film festivals. I have since reconsidered my view and thought that this was indeed a technical mastery. However, I do find the story to be way too complex to be told in the limited space of two hour movie format which explains why my score for the story won't change.
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We may not get much about the rich family, but i guess you have to extract it from their small conversations such as the night at the couch insinuating that they are not exactly 'clean' people. well i guess most uber-rich families are guilty like that, and these are people who are well above the middle class.
which is quite telling of the Korean social class, like in Secret Garden, BoF or SKY Castle. except in the first two dramas i mentioned here, the ML are the pushovers, or tsundere characters, whereas in this movie, it's likened as if the poor girl is the one throwing herself onto rich guys and perhaps, trying to jump up the social class.
personally i feel this movie is in the same genre/quality as SKY Castle therefore evoking very strong emotional response by people who especially 'get it'.
SPOILER: the daughter of the poor family feels like the mother of Yeh Suh in SKY Castle who faked her real identity in order to survive/blend in with the elite class.
this movie is not just relevant for the Korean social class. i have watched videos of journalists investigating the uninhibited mansions with a secret bunker by Western billionaires, concentrated in many parts in Queenstown, New Zealand for them to move into should there be nuclear war or more cities would sink due to rising sea levels, which leave many New Zealanders there without a proper housing. so yeah, this movie could have been more complex and explore this subject more deeply in my opinion, which explains my scoring of it.
overall, i'm glad i watched this after SKY Castle; it helped me understand the gravity of this movie.
personally i think the idea/concept/theme of this movie can be nicely translated into a drama version and i'd totally watch it. it has a lot of room for characters, backstories and conflicts expansion which explains why 80%++ of the time, i watch dramas more than i watch movies.
Enjoy!
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This review may contain spoilers
First of all I noticed at the genre (comedy) wordThis movie doesn't relate to any comedy at all
The story was ok till the first half although it was slow pace
Then it was sh** the second half and super slow pace
The plot was weak
The end was weird
The events were boring
I got bored while watching many times
From the super high rate and the reviews I thought I'm going to watch a super amazing movie
I thought after soo dam got killed they are going to continue as they were at the house and try to steal it by getting involved more with this family
I thought from the beginning this was their plan
But what is this???????
What's that story ??????
And how someone got hit by this size of rock more than once and his skull was ok
And this annoying sexual scene it has no place at all in the movie
And what happened to the main family at the house after what happened??
And what happened to park seo joon
He was someone who wanted to propose to the girl
So he should keep in touch with her
He completely disappeared after the first scene
And what is that stupid end!!?!!!???????
the Son wrote a message while he was under the line of poverty :
hold up dad I'm going to earn a huuuuge amount of money and come back to buy the house you were hiding in ... Wait
WOW !!!
REALLY !!!????
KMs are the worst
It's nearly rare when I find a good one
I dislike
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This review may contain spoilers
The family of four what con artist they are but had to get out of where they were... I understand. They way they conned their way in... is unbelievable. Alcoholics, a bunch of them! Now I understand why the name of this movie is called Parasite. Wow, they ended up owning it. I was saddened by one of the deaths. This not my type of movie but I was curious about what it was about after hearing the controversy. I mean, okay writers, how did you all come up with this type of story? This is the weirdest movie I ever viewed. The imaginary thought process is something that needs to be put on the screen. That picnic scene was definitely crazy. Was this review helpful to you?
