A little fantastical journey that reflects the harsh and unfortunate reality.

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2020)

The dark satirical thriller, directed by Bong Joon-ho, began in a very scampering fashion with the mention of the word "metaphor" for countless amount of time. And as you'd usually expect from a Bong film, the metaphor then played a key role throughout yhe film as the name - "Parasite" - suggests. Though, it depends on how you take it & what you'd like to call it because "stairway" remains as another option as well. How? That's the beauty of this two hour long flick. Why? Let's discuss!
And to begin with, there's the plot that on paper didn't particularly make a lot of sense as it's expected from a satire in general. But the layers beneath and the sui generis usage of the metaphor illustrated the beauty, giving the film a base to build upon. No matter how unrealistic and chaotic the occuring events were, the joyousness kept emanating throughout while keeping a lot of space for sympathy and questions in a sublime pace and lighthearted tone initially. Supported by a colourful yet limited and very important cast with a lot of depth. Each and every actors, in their respective roles, probably have outdone themselves in that regard.
On a technical note, the cinematography in particular, deserves a lot of credits. Hong Kyung-pyo managed to capture the essence of two types of Korea, something which was extremely important for the film in itself, while keeping everything so simplistic and relatable. The entire set-up of the film, that provided the innocence and realistic touch, deserves a lot of extolling. At the end, the editing acted as needle that knitted everything together. Supervised by CJ Productions (and of course, Bong) with a tight budget, it'd be totally unfair not to mention how impressed I've been by their mind-blowing piece of work.
But everything aside, what packs the ultimate punch? The theme of differences of classes and how it's showcased through the "stairways." Call it pessimistic as you may like, or realistic for the sake of argument, the harsh reality doesn't change. That said, do you stop dreaming? No. But sometimes you get carried away in the sea of hopes, which may be "greed" for many. The dependency on lower classes & prison of wealth is something the film depicts so very uniquely. And the ending eventually solidified whatever, pessimistic for some and realistic for many, Bong wanted to claim; or rather ask you. With a lot of differences of opinions on its simplistic yet so complicated ending scene, one thing remains certain - you're bound to fall in love with this masterpiece, that sure does have the potential to snatch the "Best Picture" award at the gala night of Academy Awards 2020!