Review: Class warfare is on full display in director Bong Joon-hos provocative Parasite. The entire plot of the film was completely unexpected and otherworldly, giving the audience a great sense of uneasiness and formication. Over the course of a few pulse-quickening scenes, and unbeknown to the Parks, Chung-sook critically injures Moon-gwang by pushing her down the stairs, and Ki-taek traps Geun-se in the bunker. The next day, the Kim family is invited back to the Parks as they decide to throw a birthday party for Da-song. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! I just felt that frankness was right for the film, even though it's sad." This is especially impressive given how ethnocentric the Academy Awards often unfold, prioritizing English-language films over foreign-language films much of the time. She likes to play games with Ki-taek, calling him a cockroach and belittling him, as part of their marital dynamic. What is Parasite about? The contrast in appearance between the Kims semi-basement home and the lavish home of the Park family is impossible to miss. We can also see small hints at each of the Kim family members background, such as Chung-Sook aka Mrs Kims medal for hammer-throw hung on the wall. When Ki-woo goes into the basement, Geun-sae attacks him and bludgeons him in the head with the rock. The crime of the Park family is being unsympathetic, rude and selfish, despite their niceties and naivety. GradeSaver "Parasite Summary". They fold pizza boxes for a delivery company to make some cash, steal wi-fi from the coffee shop nearby, and leave the windows open when the neighborhood is being fumigated to deal with their own infestation. Now, the exquisite building is home to Yeon-Kyo, her husband Dong-Ik, and her two children. Their camping trip had been cancelled due to the heavy downpour. For example, Mr Park making callous comments at the expense of the Kim family which eventually lead to him getting stabbed, Mr Park pressuring Mr Kim to make a fool of himself at Da-songs birthday party with the threat of money, and the Parks only concerning themselves with Da-songs seizure despite the fact that Ki-jeong, someone who works for the Park family, had been stabbed at the birthday party. Profession English tutor. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Couldnt she have chosen to do so in broad daylight? I left the cinema with my heart racing thats just how impactful this movie was. To take advantage of all of CharacTours features, you need your own personal Ki-Jung's family was much better off in her childhood when her father owned a cake shop. For a full deep-dive analysis into how the themes of Parasite were previously tackled in Bong Joon-hos other films, check out this video essay on the subject: The Kim family may be below the Parks in status, but even they can look down on Moon-gwang and her husband. At some points, it seemed that the music didnt match the situation, such as instilling fear or anxiety in the listener when there was really nothing to worry about at the moment, but the sense of foreboding always pays off later in the film. Bong has made several films about class (including "Snowpiercer" and "Okja"), but Parasite may be his most daring examinationof the structural inequity that has come to define the world. When Moon-gwang tries to ascend the stairs and reveal herself, Chung-sook kicks her down, concussing and killing her. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Living in Park family's beautiful mansion in the wealthy neighborhoods of Seoul, South Korea. Maybe you're the one who isn't a good judge of character, Min. When folding the pizza boxes during the fumigation, he is the most determined (cockroach-like behaviour, as explained above) but also the most careless with his actions. As she scurries into the basement escorted by Mrs Kim, the rest of the Kims-in-hiding surreptitiously follow. And theres a reason the Kim apartment is halfway undergroundtheyre caught between worlds, stuck in the growing chasm between the haves and the have nots. But theres this: In a screenplay, characters exist for a reason. Very soon, the Kims also manage to displace the longstanding housekeeper to make room for Mrs Kim to join the operation. Although it does not seem likely, Ki-Woo claims he will get admission into an elite university and marry Da-Hye. Just trust me on this one. The crimes of Moon-kwang and her husband are obvious too, leeching off the Park familys wealth to harbour the husband in the house, and threatening to out the Kims for their scam despite their own complicity. The Kim family moves in for the weekend and luxuriates. The director even created a hash tag to warn people not to spoil the movie for others. This is where director Bong Joon-Hos commentary on social status and the wealth divides becomes even more prominent, pitting the Kims against Moon-kwang and her husband as they each threaten to reveal the truth about each other to the Parks. Parasite tells a story about disparate families, but also about disparate social classes, who are scrambling in a society that doesn't set them up to be protagonists and by default, pushes . One set of stairs descends to the central Kim familys dingy semi-basement apartment in modern-day Seoul, while another ascends to the front door of the ultrawealthy Park family, for whom the cash-strapped Kims work. Parasite dominated the Academy Award, including a Best Picture win. Plot Summary: All unemployed, Ki-taek and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks, as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and get entangled in an unexpected incident. It was definitely worth all the $9.50 (Grab movie voucher for Cathay :P) I spent to get the full cinematic experience, and I would definitely watch it again (once I recover from the mental scars it left on me). Hes skewered classicism in all of his films to some degree. Ki-woo pens a letter to his father, fantasizing about his plan to go to college, secure a well-paying job and buy the Parks old house so that his father can live freely. But rather than simply getting out of the Park house and trying to make it in the outside world, he goes on a rampage at the party for Da-song. Ki-taek and Chung-sook, the patriarch and matriarch, are having trouble finding employment, and their children, Ki-woo and Ki-jung are trying to help in whatever way they can. The musty smell follows Ki-Jung wherever she visits, revealing her poverty. Director Bong Joon-Ho himself has described Parasite as a cross-genre film, dipping its toes into the regions of dark comedy, satire, thriller and family drama. When a fluke of luck gets the son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), a job as an English tutor for the wealthy Park familys daughter, the lives of the two families start to intertwine in comedic, dramatic, and eventually, disastrous ways. On to the in-depth analysis! Guen-sae may not be the brightest of the bunch, but he's not entirely an idiot either. Moon-gwang may first appear as an easy person to take advantage of, but when she returns to the Park family's home to care for her sick husband, we see that she didn't get to where she is by chance. Its at this stage that the film makes you realise that no matter how low on the ladder of destitution the Kim family was (before they got employed by the Parks), there is always someone on the rung below you. I interpreted the fortune rock as a satirical symbol of the Kim familys burdens and guilt at the circumstances, literally weighing down Ki-woo and revealing his presence as he drops it when sneaking up on Moon-kwang and her husband. Whats their function? Yeon-Kyo enjoys a calm and relaxing life in the mansion. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Parasite director Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean filmmaker to win best director at the academy awards. Ki-woos friend is actually in love with the Park daughter, proclaiming that he would officially date her once she enters university, and that he trusts no one else to be her stand-in tutor except for Ki-woo. as Ki-woo ( Ki-taek's son ), Park So-dam describe ki-jung. The thought that the panties were placed their intentionally to sabotage the chauffeur did not even cross Mr Parks mind. Thats all I can say without giving away major spoilers! Mr Kim, tasked with managing Moon-kwang and her husband, struggles to subdue them both in the basement bunker. This vertical comment on status is illustrated cleanly in this alternate poster for the film, without spoiling the sub-basement reveal. The films accolades speak for itself it won the prestigious Palme dOr award at this years Cannes Film Festival, which is an award of the highest order at one of the worlds most renowned film festivals. The use of smell in the film is a great analogy for how the Kims literally stink of poverty to the Parks. His thoughtless comments were slowly building up resentment in Mr Kim, and further amplified the divide between the two families. Stick with me here. Ki-jeongs death was also foreshadowed when she was the only one who got injured in the process of hiding their house party from the Parks as they returned from their failed camping trip. The characters are a reason for the success and we've ranked how smart they are. The crimes of the Kim family are evident they are scammers, inserting themselves into the lives of the Parks to take advantage of their wealth. Kim Ki-woos life changes when a friend offers to recommend him as an English tutor for a girl hes been working with as the friend has to go out of the country for a while. The record-setting trend continued for the Parasite film. Relationship Status involved with his student Da-Hye. as an art student at a middle-class family. Ki-woo and his sister Ki-jung forge credentials for the job, and thus begins the long-con that sees each member of the Kim family infiltrating the upper-class Park family one-by-one. The script for "Parasite" will get a ton of attention as it's one of those clever twisting and turning tales for which the screenwriter gets the most credit (Bong and Han Jin-won, in this case), but this is very much an exercise in visual language that reaffirms Bong as a master.Working with the incredible cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong ("Burning," "Snowpiercer") and an A-list . At the party, Ki-woo decides to head back down into the basement with the fortune rock, likely intending to end Moon-kwang and her husbands lives. Armed with a knife, he makes a beeline for the first member of the Kim family he can see Ki-jeong, as shes delivering Da-songs birthday cake to him on the lawn. Perhaps Ki-jeong being killed off was due to her death having the most significant impact on the family and on the viewer. When Ki-taek throws the keys, they land under Geun-sae, who is fighting with Chung-sook. When the architect sold the mansion to the Park family, Moon-Gwang survived a change of ownership. Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han, story by Bong Joon Ho. Elevation clearly equates to status; the parks have a multi-level home at the top of the hill while the Kims live below street level in a semi-basement, and the surprise 3rd party lives deep underground in a sub-basement. A major plot driving interaction arrives in the form of Ki-woos friend, who gifts an ornamental rock to the Kim family that can supposedly deliver wealth, and also offers Ki-woo his job as an English tutor for the Park familys daughter as hes travelling overseas. Mr Park runs over to Moon-kwangs husband and pushes his body aside to retrieve the car key, but not before he wrinkles his nose at the smell that Moon-kwangs husband exudes. This causes Da-song to faint, and Mr. Park (Lee Sun Kyun) immediately demands that Ki-taek drive them to the hospital instead of tending to Ki-jung. Her charismatic personality makes her excellent at fooling the Parks. Living in a small, musty semi-basement in the slums of Seoul, South Korea. "Parasite" is a marvelously entertaining film in terms of narrative, but theres also so much going on underneath about how the rich use the poor to survive in ways that I cant completely spoil here (the best writing about this movie will likely come after its released). Characters are the players in our stories. He stands in the woods near the Parks' house, which has been bought by Germans, and observes that the censor light is turning on and off in a patternMorse Code. This sets off Ki-taek, who stabs Park in the chest before running away and escaping into the basement bunker unseen. Because I plan on going to this school next year." Parasite dominated the Academy Award, including a Best Picture win. The real deception is carried out by the Kims, and it works flawlessly. But, before we dig deeper into the social commentary, lets take a look at how the film managed to break through to an unmatched audience size. Mrs Kim calling Mr Kim a cockroach, which we all understand is a relentless survivor that not only 1) runs and hides at signs of danger, but also 2) is literally a parasitic insect that doesnt contribute to the ecosystem. But yet, we cant help but to sympathise with the protagonist family as we witness first-hand their destitute plight and desperation to climb out of squalor. The flooding sequence, as depicted on the poster, also illustrates how the wealthy are unaffected by many of the debilitating circumstances that affect the lower classes as they are, quite literally, above the trouble. Alongside actor Choi Woo-sik, he explains the significance of production design elements from the beginning of the film, such as the cultural context of scholars stones in South Korea and the idea of distant hope conveyed by the semi-basement window. characters are most like you. Parasite has a cynical view of how class operates in a capitalist society, but as Bong has said, its also painfully realistic. Mr and Mrs Park make themselves comfortable on the couch as our protagonists nervously wait for an opportunity to sneak out. Ki-woo wakes up in the hospital and learns about what happens. However, things went downhill from there. For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here. 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