Kim family vs Park family, and then...

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2019)

At the beginning of this movie we watch the Kim family struggle to survive in our modern and advanced society. Yes, I am being sarcastic. That's all I have left when talking about a society where the hardship of extreme poverty is often contrasted with the excesses of extreme wealth. You might argue that without such problems in our society we wouldn't have so much material to work with and create such wonderful stories as the one depicted in Parasites. Good point, but I will get back to this at the end of my review.
The Kim family's struggle to survive is wonderfully illustrated with a perfect balance between funny and sad. We often feel like laughing but then, strangely enough, we also feel like we shouldn't. Something that will quickly become obvious is the connection between the members of the Kim family. They are acting as a tight unit. One might think that's normal since people usually unite against a common enemy, in this case, poverty. But it is also true that this is a family, not just a group of poor people. They care about each other.
Anyway, coming back to the plot, they will interact with the rich Park family and that's all I think I should tell you. How they will do it, what will happen as a consequence is a complex plot which moves like a rise to the top of a mountain, followed by a rapid descent once we passed the peak. You will know immediately when that happens. This moment, obvious to me, was nevertheless striking and masterfully done.
As my step-daughter brought to my attention, no one is the main character, all the main characters, all 10 of them, are important, and extremely well acted. Music is used parsimoniously and judiciously as a counterpoint to accelerated sequences which help keep the plot flowing smoothly, and therefore, avoids dead times. The camera work, although sometimes creative, is most often straight to the point. It shows us the situation and wastes no time on useless but beautiful imagery. In other words, every shot counts.
This movie, while telling us an interesting story, is also a social statement. And, as I indicated at the beginning of this review, I see this as a great illustration of the consequences of living in a sick society. Sure, it is nothing new, but it brings to mind many questions. The most important to me: do we, as a species who is supposed to be intelligent, continue in the current direction, and continue to make interesting stories, or do we stop, clean up our act, and create only fantasy stories in worlds which are not our own? Note how the Kim family is actually pretty smart and resourceful. And yet, they are poor. Yeah s. it happens, and more often than not, just because of the way our society works, or rather, doesn't.