A different kind of infestation

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2020)

A Korean film that seemingly sweeping up at the awards seasons? It can't be that good, can it!? Did the judges not see 1917! Is what I hear you cry as you even read the title of this review. From the mind of Bong Joon-ho comes a drama about class and home invasion, but truly can it be THAT good? Lest we forget this is the mind behind the uncompromising vision of Snowpericer and the unsettling onslaught that was Okaj... but even still, it can't be better than Joker? Right?
There is a surreal kind of desperation that follows you while watching Parasite, you want to see the ultimate fate of our protagonist sooner than is given. The real tilting point of the movie comes around the halfway mark when a troubling discovery is made, this propels the film from contemporary melodrama into an all-out descent into madness, this is where Bong Joon-ho thrives. In the chaos, in the distress, this is where Bong Joon-ho forces us as an audience to be.
Parasite has a rare kind of delicacy to it as if Bong Joon-ho doesn't want to upset us too much, but what's to keep us unsettled. He wants to make us dread for the next turn of events, and as the final curtain falls, you know you have just seen a masterpiece. However, I am unsure if this would not be better suited to a stage production rather than the grandiose of a film.
The movie has nothing in it which makes me feel like it must be seen at a cinema, but perhaps that is to its ultimate asset. A film that transcends how you view it and is outstanding on its own merits.
The most adequate comparison I can make for Parasite is a Shakespearean play. The film has moments of levity and comedy, blended in with horrible and tragic scenes, and is divided into acts. It has deep pathos and there is something overall cathartic about the whole experience.
This is the first film of Bong Joon-ho's that is set in a reality which is current and we (as the viewer) inhabit, despite this, there is still a surreal and other world quality to the proceedings, not unlike Alice In Wonderland. Bong Joon-Ho beckons us through the looking glass.
Perhaps Parasite's strongest suit is its characters who are exceptionally well balanced, there is nothing as obvious as a villain or hero in Parasite. No, the film leaves this up to us, as the viewer to pick out who we feel was correct in their actions most. Make no mistake Parasite's is a world filled with fallen humans. To make such deep characters takes a lot of talent and each of the actors give performances that could have easily lead to their own awards nominations.
Parasite is a true master class in film making, while totally different from everything else on the market, genre and even world it might just deserve all of the awards it's getting. Yes, even THAT one.
10 peaches out of 10