Tantoy, Kiara Sophia O.

February 18, 2020

Grade XII - STEM Faraday Ma’am Virtudazo

Movie Review about PARASITE

Parasite, ​기생충 or read as ​Gisaengchung, ​is a South Korean dark comedy thriller film
directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won as well. Starring in
this movie are Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Jang Hye-jin and
Park So-dam. The film first premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019, where
it became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d'Or, and the first film to win
unanimously since the 2013 Festival's Blue Is the Warmest Colour. It was then released by CJ
Entertainment in South Korea on May 30, 2019. The film received critical acclaim and included
the best films of the 2010s in the lists. It's grossed more than $179 million worldwide on a $11
million production budget. Parasite has received six nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards,
among its numerous accolades.

Parasite follows the Kim family struggling to meet ends until son Ki-woo encounters an
unforeseen opportunity. With no English teaching experience, he decides to take up a job
tutoring Da-hye, a daughter of the wealthy Park family. And so a mission ensues to penetrate the
lavish household for the entire Kim family. One by one, each member of the family secures a job
under the pretext of being loosely linked through mutual contacts. And while the two families
eventually settle into a gift-and-take relationship of servitude and wealth, there is an unforeseen
parasite that by exposing the truth, threatens to destroy all this.

The turning point comes halfway through when the Parks go on a camping trip, packing
up their Range Rover, outdoor projector included. During their absence, the Kims pull out the
booze, kick back and take over the house, a break that's cut short when the old housekeeper
returns, taking a surprise with her. There, she reveals a hidden entrance to an underground
bunker to Chung-sook, created by the architect and previous owner of the House. Husband of
Moon-gwang, Geun-sae, started living under the house secretly to hide from loan sharks before
the Parks moved in years ago. Moon-gwang pleads with Chung-sook to help Geun-sae continue
to live in the bunker but she refuses. After the unintended disclosure of the truth about the Kim
family, Moon-gwang threatens to tell the Parks their secret if the Kims do not maintain their
own. The Parks return early from their camping trip because of a rainstorm, and the Kim family
scrambles to clean up the home, while a brawl breaks out between Moon-gwang, Geun-sae, and
the Kims. The Kims trapped Geun-sae in the bunker, and a fatally wounded Moon-gwang. After
Chung-sook serves her dinner, Mrs. Park reveals to her that Da-song had a traumatic experience
years ago when he saw a "ghost "— Geun-sae — emerging from the basement. The Kims flee
the Parks ' building, but not before hearing Mr. Park's off-handed remarks about how Ki-taek
smells terrible. The Kims return to their apartment to find it completely flooded due to the storm,
and are forced to sleep in a gymnasium with other displaced people.

The film brought the poor family under the spotlight, rather than critically observing and
contrasting the two groups. Proofs are the scene where Ki-woo stars at Yeon-Kyo napping in the
garden or the scene where Ki-jung eavesdrops on the couple in the Park. The movie consists
mostly of scenes where the Park Family is witnessed by Ki-Taek's family. The audience watched
the movie in Ki-Taek’s family point of view. That is because from the point of view of the rich
family it would be harder to weave the narrative. If you're from a poverty-stricken family, getting
out of poverty becomes your goal. But, for any reason, looking down on a rich person to step
down to people of misfortune is rather difficult. The rich want to be richer, not the other way
around. The house also depicts something. Semi-basement vs big mansion. The highs and lows
with the basement reflect their hierarchy in economic and social terms. Above all, though, the
staircase most stands out. In the beginning, when Ki-woo hit bottles with his pal, the staircase
tells us that he belongs at the bottom of the stairs. It's easier to climb down the stairs than uphill.
Ki-Taek's family walks down numerous stairs during the storm to get back home. The path
towards the mansion looks very steep. Even if you fail to get into the house, as Mr. Park said,
there are plenty of people like them in this country, making them easy to replace. Just like the
husband of Moon-Gwang, or Ki-Taek who gets trapped in the basement, going up the stairs is
about risking their safety. The staircase is the abyss which stretches up for them. Having her
arms tied up, Moon-gwang makes her way up the stairs, but she stumbles down the stairs from
Chung-Sook's kick, and then dies. The strangest thing about this movie is that falling is so fast,
but the characters refuse to look down.

That film is funny. Cruelly so. No-one is spared by parasite in its criticism, it clothes each
target with withering wit and ease. It's tense, thoughtful, humane and possibly scary too. If there
is a feeling of us being able to get a film, odds are that Parasite does. Few things are as
abundantly evident in Parasite as the way money rewires both the brains of those who have it in
excess and those in desperate need. Wealth is buying you from the social contract— the need to
behave in some way, to accept others. Poverty introduces more laws, limitations and barriers that
will suffocate if unchecked. There is conflict in this: the wealthy become acutely aware of the
inconvenience of empathy. The poor laugh darkly at those who are planning for the future. "No
strategy," says Ki-taek late in the movie, "nothing can go wrong ... and nothing can go wrong."
Ki-woo gets a present at one point in the film. It's a beautiful, decorative stone that barely fits
into the cramped basement apartment of his family, prone to both fumigator exposure and
pissing drunks alike. Despite his lack of space or use for it, Ki-woo silently holds it in high
regard, keeping it with him despite its sheer size and weight throughout the film. "This stone"
says Ki-woo. "It continues to cling to me." And then I felt a familiar fracture in my chest to envy
the same stability, playing the same song for the same set of people, knowing the game is rigged
and will always be. It turns exhausting after a while, envying the rich. And they're
accommodating.