Fairly entertaining film, but one of 2019's best it is not

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2020)

Okay, so these slightly over 2 hours are "Parasite" or "Gisaengchung", the original title that probably nobody in Europe or the United States is really aware of. This is one of the biggest players this awards season, also in North America, and that I find really surprising. It certainly also has to do with this movie winning the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes earlier this year. I guess it helps that director Bong Joon-ho has worked on films with big players from Hollywood too in the past. So it is a bit of back to the roots for him now. Anyway, people have said it is a powerful statement on inequality in society and while this is a key subject in the film, I don't think it elaborates on this in a really profound or groundbreaking way or is just super creative in its explanations. It is decent, maybe good, nothing more. This is the story of a really poor family, unemployed without any real prospect that through lucky coincidence (the son's friend) manages to sneak in at a rich family's house and eventually they all have jobs there with the help of fake exam reports and the people who actually live there have no idea they are all related. You can argue to what extent it is despicable what they are doing because obviously how they remove the limo driver and the maid is really full of intrigue. Still, sometimes I struggled with how realistic it all felt. I mean that it did not. For example that the driver really gets fired or that when hiring the mother as the new maid that the rich husband and wife do not talk about who made the suggestion. And there are more moments like this. It does feel kinda fictitious at times for me, which is a bit of a negative dealbreaker for sure because like I said you can see that this film tried to make a powerful statement. It also sometimes felt too much as if they were taking the idea of a parasite and what it does as too defining like how it kills the host eventually, which is what one man does to the other near the film's end and that really did not feel realistic at all to me. Just showy and for the sake of it because even in his letter he said that he felt sorry for the man and respected him, so if he should have attacked anybody, then I'd say it should have been the guy who lived down there and went rogue before that on everybody, especially the protagonist's family. And also that the son really with all the blood literally pouring out of his head survived the attack as we find out did not feel too likely to me. It was interesting though that it was this big rock he was attacked with that clearly meant something to him as he saved it when everything was under water before that and they had to leave their real home. Karma maybe a bit because they say this big mansion is their new home.
Still there are funny moments too. After all this film calls itself a satire. The highlight comedically for me was when they are all under the bed and this scene easily could have gone wrong, but it was hilarious, especially when all except the dad get out, but then the rich family's son calls his parents and he is down there on the ground in the middle of the room, but they don't see him. Don't suspect anything. But before that it is not too respectful how they talk about the man's smell. So they are definitely on the shallow side when (they think) their employees are not nearby. The escalation started really from the moment they let the old housekeeper in the house again. I also wondered why they did. I mean I can see why they opened the door, but then they should have asked what she wants and brought it to her, which of course would not have been possible, but this would have been the approach that made sense in this scenario. Okay what else can I say about this film let me think. The 3 younger women were all really stunning. Somebody who says Asian women are not particularly attractive should see this film and maybe he will change his mind. I have read people compare this film to Pulp Fiction, but I would not agree with that at all. The ending is as bloody as anything Pulp Fiction has to offer, but this is hardly a criterion I'd say. It felt completely different to me and also slightly inferior at least. Key subjects like religion, absolution, betting, sexual abuse and drugs are not at the center of this film here and brief talk about drugs on one or two occasions does not change that. But kinda ironic that with this comparison the director of this film is going against Tarantino at the Oscars too, even if I am pretty sure BJH is not winning. I am not sure if I like the idea of Tarantino winning the big prize this year and maybe his first Oscar for his direction, but his film is definitely way superior compared to this one here. The other contender is Scorsese and while I think his film is not too bad, I am also not won over by that one as I was by Tarantino's. Scorsese's is roughly on par with Parasite. So to sum it all up, a few more words on Parasite. It has a really nice (almost) sex scene and in general the film was working best for the comedic moments for me. The only thrilling moment in terms of drama that had me on the edge of my seat was when the former maid was walking down this long path and we had no idea what was coming. Maybe people also liked this film so much because you never knew what would happen next and if for example the family was capable of killing the two rich guys (and their kids) in order to experience wealth for years to come. They are ruthless, but are they criminals? Up to you to decide and it is all subjective. Also interesting to see their confidence rise when early on they don't do anything against the guy almost peeing right into their home, but later on they are ready to attack him. So yes, it as an interesting movie that felt shorter than it actually was, but I still must say it was not a great watch and the awards attention is just too much, also for the cast, or basically for the one guy who gets all the acting praise here (the father I think). Still go see this one, just don't go in it with great expectations. I give it a thumbs-up and I am curious to see how it fares at the Golden Globes 2020 that are just about to start five minutes from now.