Bong's Brilliance

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2020)

When it comes to foreign films I tend to be a little biased or lenient. They are such a welcome break from traditional Hollywood. When I see a decent foreign film I can't help but want to praise it more because they don't have the multi-billion dollar Hollywood machine behind them. Usually, they have to be more creative, more ingenious, and more resourceful.
"Parasite" is one of very few Korean films I've watched in my life. My foreign film bank consists mostly of Chinese kung-fu movies of which Jackie Chan and Jet Li probably occupy the most space. Korean films are a rarity for me. This suspenseful thriller by Bong Joon-Ho deserves all of the accolades it has received.
What I knew about it going in was that a poor family had moved in on a wealthy family to take advantage of them. That is essentially what happened, but you're not holding anyone's attention with that concept alone. Each character in this film had something to offer and was watchable. As the movie developed and we saw the Kim family sinking its teeth deeper into the Park family, we were treated with wonderful dialogue and a crafty script.
How do you make a movie in which none of the characters are antagonists and none are really protagonists either? Some how "Parasite" did that. The Kim family certainly was shady and underhanded, but they could be viewed as a poor family just trying to get ahead. The Park family was wealthy, yet unlike your average rich movie family, they were not cruel or unbearable people. In fact they were very likeable.
Normally, we want our clear-cut good guys and bad guys. We want our good guys to win and our bad guys to lose. In the cases where all of our guys are good, we want them all to win. In the cases where all our guys are bad, we want them all to lose. In "Parasite" not everyone is distinctly good or bad and there are really no winners.