Parasite (2019) Directed by Bong Joon-ho
9A
Parasite is a tale of two families, a rich one, the Parks, and a poor win, the Kims. The Kims, near destitute but very clever, find creative ways to integrate themselves into the Park family, Though that may not sound like much of an attention grabber, I'm going to leave it at that because the less you know about this movie going into it the better. I will say that the narrative is brilliant, subversive and clear-eyed, no easy villains or heroes here. The movie progresses in ways that are often hilarious but virtually unpredictable, which is why you shouldn't read too much about this film or it will spoil the delight of discovery. One way to see
Parasite is as an extended metaphor for how class (and economic stability or the lack thereof) shapes destiny. The title itself is a cunning choice because it is not clear here, intentionally so, who are the parasites and who aren't. The way the system works, pretty much everybody ends up getting screwed anyway, albeit some more comfortably than others. This may sound heavy handed, but the thematic development is so rich and often so surprising that it would be remiss not to mention it. To make absolutely clear, director Boon Joon-ho's touch is as light and assured as any director who is working right now and he is a master at setting slightly unsettling tones. His past history as a director finds him revitalizing tired genres with such fine works as
Mother,
Memories of Murder,
The Host,
Snowpiercer and so on, genre movies all but invested with heart and meaning.
Parasite is more difficult to pigeon-hole--funny enough to be called a comedy; tense enough to be a suspense movie; and incisive enough to be considered a social commentary. Whatever it is,
Parasite is a pleasure to watch unfold and much fun to contemplate later.
subtitles
Best of '19 so far
1)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma, France
2)
Parasite, Bong, South Korea
3)
An Elephant Sitting Still, Hu, China
4)
Hope, Sodahl, Norway
5)
It Must Be Heaven, Suleiman, Palestine
6)
Vitalina Varela, Costa, Portugal
7)
Ema, Larrain, Chile
8)
The Two Popes, Mirelles, Brazil/UK
9)
Les Miserables, Ly, France
10)
Saint Maud, Glass, UK
