Parasite Movie Review: Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-Nominated Film Reels You In With Its Black Humour, Surprise Twists and Smart Context

Parasite Movie Review: As a movie buff, I am very much indebted to Bong Joon-ho for introducing me to the magnifique of South Korean cinema. His 2003 film Memories of Murder continues to mesmerise me and I still wonder why no Indian filmmaker has not bothered to remake the film, after doing a fine job butchering up other iconic Korean films as OldBoy and I Saw The Devil. I also loved every movie Joon-Ho made after that - be it the darkly suspenseful Madre, the monster-film-with-a-spin The Host, the post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer or the pro-vegetarian Okja. None of them got elevated to being a masterpiece as Memories of Murder, though. Which is what makes his latest release, Parasite, so special. It has the makings of one! Parasite Fame Bong Joon-Ho Doesn’t Think He Is a Match for Marvel, Says ‘I Can’t Stand People Wearing Tight-Fitting Clothes’.

Parasite, as the students of biology know, is an organism that thrives on or within the body of a host, and then deprives it of its nutrients, leading to either the host getting sick or killed. In Bong Joon-ho's film, the Kim family is the 'Parasite'. The lesser-privileged Kim family have the street smarts, but are struggling to make their livelihood to get by with odd jobs. Living in a basement-like apartment, the Kims are always at the mercy of rainwater and a drunk who often like to urinate in front of their house.

The son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) gets the opportunity to teach the Da-hye (Jeong Ji-so), the teenage daughter of the privileged Park family, through lies and deception. He gets closer to the daughter and then manages to convince the mother Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) to hire his sister Ki-jeong (Park So-dam) as their younger son's drawing instructor. Soon, the siblings manipulate the family into hiring their father Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) as Mr Park's (Lee Sun-kyun) driver and the mother Chunh-sook (Chang Hyae-jin) as the housekeeper, all the while acting as if they know each other as only acquaintances.

Behind the backs of the unsuspecting Parks, the Kims finally get a taste of the high life as they mooch their bosses. But their 'parasitic' existence gets shattered one evening when they realise that the Park household hides one very bizarre secret, the discovery of which sets in motion a chain of unexpected events.

The first thing you realise after watching Parasite, is how easily the movie transitions from one genre to another. It begins as a social comedy to turn into a heist comedy of sorts. Just when you think you figured things out, Parasite shakes your pre-determined expectations and turns into a black thriller. By the time the movie ends, you realise that Bong Joon-ho's film was a social commentary in disguise. And a pretty good one at that. Bong Joon-ho makes Parasite an arresting watch with unexpected surprises and twists, but doesn't lose its black humour along the way. It is a bloody brilliant screenplay from Bong and Han Jin-won. Fleabag Is Barack Obama’s Favorite Show in 2019, The Irishman, Parasite and Other Films That Made It to Former US President's List.

It is interesting to see how Joon-ho frames the lives of the Kim family against the Parks. In one scene, we see the Kims' son insisting on sleeping in his tent outside in their courtyard during heavy rains, while his parents have sex on the sofa while keeping an eye on their boy. Because they have the luxury to do so. A couple of scenes later, we find the Kims finding their house flooded in the same rains and they have to take refuge in a local gym, because they have no option. This difference isn't shoved on your face, but you cannot really ignore the point Joon-ho wants to make.

The director doesn't want to show any of his characters in pure light; you may want the 'parasites' to get their comeuppance to trick their unsuspecting employers, but one fateful conversation in the film makes you realise that the hosts aren't so clean-cut either.  The Kims are opportunistic and survivalists, the Parks are exploitable but also scornful.

The third act that involves a birthday party gone wrong is a masterfully tense sequence made of chain reactions that leads to unexpected consequences. A couple of the actions made by a character in the heat of the moment, may feel exaggerated and for the point of the story to move forward. But they make sense when you realise that he has been betrayed by a man who he thought was a friend, never mind that he was himself deceiving that man. Looks like the director isn't really a fan of capitalism, is he?

Watch the Trailer of Parasite:

The cast is uniformly excellent and gives the best ensemble performance of 2019, with Song Kang-ho and Park So-dam being my favourites. Parasite is also technically proficient. Hong Kyung-pyo's camerawork provides a sharp contrast between the Kims and the Parks' living conditions. Yang Jin-mo's editing shines in the scenes involving the home invasion.

Yay!

- Master Story-telling

- The Performances of The Ensemble Cast

- Proficient Filmmaking

Nay!

- A Couple of Plot Elements Feel Exaggerated

Final Thoughts

If you have been hearing good things about Parasite, believe in all of them. Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-nominated film is a smart commentary on social divide, brimming with razor-sharp black humour and surprising twists.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2020 11:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).