Parasite Film Review - Bong Joon Ho Directs An Oscar Winner That Trump Dismisses

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2020)

Parasite won Best Film and Best Director for Bong Joon Ho at the Oscars this month, also winning International Feature Film and Original Screenplay. Neon the distributors suggested that Donald Trump, (leader of the free world) unsurprisingly didn't like it as he cannot read. Harsh. My only gripe with subtitles is I cannot always watch the screen action as I don't want to miss the words. You get used to them of course but like Pedro Almodovar's Pain And Glory I missed some of the beautiful designs. Caught that on demand prior to the Oscars as it wasn't available anywhere locally. But missing out on world cinema and tv because of subtitles is very sad.
To be honest Paradise is a horrible film. With horrible characters living a horrible life. A black comedy, horror tragedy that reeks of the class divide between a successful South Korean family and their poor contemporaries. And the living conditions are startling, with the poor living in a basement with a window on a street that is regularly urinated in. Just in front of them. And piggy-backing off their upstairs neighbours internet connection. We take pleasure in laughing at their hovel while our wealthy family live in the most architecturally perfect modern home we all would imagine living in. Bravo to the Production designer Lee Ha-jun for realising this on a sound stage.
So while our wealthy Park family smell of money, the poor Kim family smell of whatever you can imagine poverty and that bug infested basement smells of, and it isn't nice. Old radish our rich husband played by Sun-kyun Lee suggests. But things are finally looking up for the loving Kim family. Not with the pizza boxes they construct for minimum wage though. Instead son Ki-woo played by Woo-sik Choi is recommenced for a tutoring job with the wealthy Park family. His rich friend who currently tutors the young daughter wants to romance her when she goes to college. We can see where that might go.
And for Ki-woo the Park family live in another world, as he climbs out of the basement. Mrs Park played by the lovely Yeo-jeong Jo goes about her day supported by terrific housekeeper Moon-gwang. To be honest Lee Jeong-eun keeps the house running as Mrs Park is a little on the ditzy side, but in awe of her young son's 'artistic' talents. He needs an art tutor for sure, and once saw a ghost she confides, although his sister sees right through him. But what are the chances that Mi-Woo knows of an art tutor, very in demand and just returned from Chicago I think. So So-dam Park's Ki-jeong also climbs out of the basement and spins the gullible Mrs Park a line of Google babble that wins her the job. Mrs Park even spins herself the lines as she accepts Ki-jeongs. Although the Park family are really lovely. But as these two chancers have managed to begin feathering their nest, they are actually good at what they are doing. And with the right opportunity both wasters could have aspired to the same roles, without the deception.
But deception is what they do and Ki-jeong sees an opportunity for her Dad played by Kang-ho Song, to be the new driver to Mr Park. Her actions in getting him the role left a bad taste in my mouth. Getting her art tutor job didn't hurt anyone. But after a wash and brush up Mr Kim can actually drive, cornering without spilling a coffee in the hand of Mr Park. And now our three hustlers spy even more opportunity for Mum to get in on the action when Moon-gwang's peach allergy is discovered, and Mrs Kim's Hye-jin Jang is recruited as the new housekeeper. All the Park's money for staff now goes directly into the Kim's pockets.
But with all the family out of the basement their smell has followed them. Something that the Park's son notices. All are perfectly capable of doing their jobs but with their bad odour they pollute the beautiful home. Where do they go from here then? How do they grab this beautiful life for themselves? Well one dark and stormy night the poor cross the line. The veneer of respectability can disappear in an instant and ghosts can materialise from basements long gone.
But all actions have consequences as Bong Joon Ho directs the poor fighting over scraps from the table of the rich, when they could have shared instead. But why should they share the scraps we ask? If his first film was called Barking Dogs Never Bite, Parasite will show us that with enough antagonism they will. But I don't blame the Park family who gave employment to the poor to facilitate their comfortable lives. They are incapable without them. Each class living off the other.
And there is no answer of course to the film's questions, only the international language of morse code desperation to decipher, and never be able to respond to.