Best Pictures #61
2019 (92nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
2019 (92nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
“You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at
all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned.”
It’s rare for a foreign film to gain as much popularity with
American audiences as the South Korean film Parasite has done. It’s even
rarer for a foreign film to earn Academy Awards nominations for Best Foreign
Language (now called International) film and Best Picture, but Parasite
has managed to join this exclusive club. Director Bong Joon-ho has long been
turning out top quality, intriguing work (I’m a big fan of his melancholy 2003
film Memories of Murder, about a years long hunt for a serial killer). Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won’s Oscar nominated original
screenplay switches tones and even genres so abruptly and successfully, it
makes Parasite a unique movie to say the least. Combined with a stellar cast,
excellent cinematography, production design, and pacing, Parasite becomes a
thoroughly engrossing, extraordinary experience. Movies like this in any
language are rare indeed.
Parasite begins as a dark comedy and sharp satire
about economic inequality and class disparity. The Kim family lives in a shabby
basement apartment. The street level window provides them a view of ankles and
urinating drunks. They work short term odd jobs and hunt around their apartment
for a spot with Wi-Fi. A change in luck comes when a friend of their teenage
son recommends him as a tutor for the daughter of a wealthy family, the Parks.
The son, Ki-woo, reluctantly accepts though he is under qualified. Soon the Kim
family schemes to replace each of the Park family servants with themselves
though they pose under false identities. The 20-ish Kim daughter, Ki-jeong, provides the
family with false credentials. Things take a fateful and irreversible turn when
the Kims decide to have a night in luxury while the Parks are away for the
weekend.
That plot description seems to make the title describe the
Kim family. As you watch them work their way into the home of the Park family,
you may find the title applies more to the Parks whose lifestyle requires
people like the Kims. The differences between a family that is oblivious of
their wealth and a family that schemes to get stable, working-class jobs is
apparent. But then, the film reveals layers and depth that make it truly
profound. When the film becomes a riveting thriller, it does not eschew its
themes and substance. I cannot recall the last time I had no idea where a film
was going, not because of incompetence, but because I was watching the work of
a master filmmaker.
The entire ensemble is terrific. Each role is well cast and
there’s a great chemistry between the members of the respective families. The stand
outs for me, however are Song Kang-ho as the Kim family patriarch and Park So-dam as his clever daughter. Cho Yeo-jeong as the daffy and gullible Park
matriarch is great comic relief.
What sets Parasite a step above other socially
conscious films is it does not sacrifice entertainment for the sake its social
commentary or vice versa. It never pontificates or pretends to have any
didactic solution. It is like a classic Twilight
Zone episode, up front about its themes but in such a way that doesn’t
speak down to audience and feels detached and immediate simultaneously. There
is not a single pandering moment in the entire film. Parasite uses the real
problems and concerns of modern society to tell a compelling and universal
story that causes us to reflect on our world. That can be the definition a
great film and great art.
Nominees: Sin-ae Kwak, Bong Joon Ho
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho, Han
Jin-won; story by Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang
Hyae-jin, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong
Production Companies: Barunson E&A
Distributor: CJ Entertainment
Release Date: November 8th, 2019
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Director-Bong Joon Ho; Original
Screenplay-Bong Joon Ho, Jin Won Han; International Feature Film-South Korea;
Production Design-Ha-jun Lee, Won-woo Cho; Film Editing-Jinmo Yang
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