Parasite review
Feb. 1st, 2020 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinally saw Parasite - which became available "On Demand" along with Motherless Brooklyn, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Harriet. (I think I'll try Terminator: Dark Fate next or Harriet.)
Anyhow, I'm still ambivalent about this movie. There's some interesting metaphors and tricks/gimmicks that the writer/director utilizes to promote his theme. Such as the use of American names for a few of the characters, indicative of education or wealth and prestige. In addition the use of American education being something that is preferred or admired. While clever, it didn't blow me away or make me wish I'd seen it with someone to tear it apart. I'm not quite sure why it had that effect on my co-workers.
The film's theme is, however, indicative of a pattern that I'm seeing in popular culture and have been seeing for a while now. The condemnation of the divide between the rich and the poor, and to a degree a commentary on the need to obtain power through financial gain. Those with money have power and are either worshipped, denigrated, or envied - often all three. Parasite has similar themes to The Joker, although it's vicious in a very different and far broader way. And I'm guessing easier to watch from the reactions I've seen to The Joker. It also has similar themes to Breaking Bad.
The film, like pretty much all Korean films/television series that I've seen to date, is a commentary on class inequality, specifically in regards to Capitalism. There's an overwhelming theme in Korean Cinema that if only you can make enough money and become rich, you will be happy and everything will go as planned. All evidence to the contrary. None of the rich people in these television series and films are remotely happy, comfortable yes, happy no. Actually the rich's families seem to be disjointed, and distant, with a kind of boredom, while the poverty stricken eat together, work together, and plan together to survive.
Also nothing ever goes as planned. That's actually the best take-away from the film, "The best plan is no plan. Because with no plan, nothing can go wrong. And if things do, it just is, it's an act of God or luck. Every time you have a plan, everything goes wrong. Nothing goes right. Do you think all these people planned to sleep on the floor of this gym? Best plan is no plan."
The title in of itself is a metaphor for the parasitic nature of humanity to money, and what we'll do for money and comfort. Or another way of looking at it, the parasitic nature of the rich to the poor and back again. In this film, you can argue it both ways, the rich are living off their servants, with paid help doing everything for them and taking care of all the things they don't want to do. They see them as little more than robots, and if they become human, with smells, and coughs, or struggles - they are summarily dismissed. While the poverty stricken/needy live off the rich's scraps, feeding off of them like parasites, invading their homes, and if one tries to displace another -- fighting over who gets to be the parasite. It's not a fetching or complimentary portrait of humanity.
If you are depressed, angry, and/or anxious over current events, you might want to skip this film. No one in it is remotely likable. The film acts as a black satire on the Korean social class system. Which, if, anything, demonstrates that humans are selfish greedy assholes no matter what country you happen to be in at the moment.
Uplifting this film isn't.
I didn't find it that funny. There are a few funny scenes where I laughed. But mostly, I cringed. And I was glad I could fast-forward if need be. Most of the funny scenes, were in the trailer. Although there are two that are funny, that I'm not completely certain were intentional. I'm guessing they were -- since this read as a black comedic satire.
The set-up? A dirt poor family, the Kims, through a series of circumstances, plots to slowly infilterates an upper-middle class family, The Parks. On the face, it is seemingly harmless at first. Min, the eldest son's friend, suggests he take over his job as tutor to the daughter of a upper-middle class couple. He doesn't really need to know all that much. He'd gone to the military, he passed exams for the University and attended a few classes. So, taking the name "Kevin", he plots with his family how to go about it. Then learns from the mother, Moon-win, that her rambunctious son has gone through three art teachers. And they don't know what to do, and no one can tame him. So "Kevin" suggests that he knows a gal, named "Jessica" who is from the States and would work perfectly. He teaches his sister the back story and gets her into the house. Next up is well the parents...and that's when things begin to slowly get less nice. Also Jessica lies about what is wrong with the little boy. And ensures the chauffeur get fired, while both Jessica and Kevin get the housekeeper dismissed it. Not thinking of either, or caring. The Kim's much like the Parks only care about themselves and their family no one else. And they manipulate the Parks to get what they need from them, while the Parks feel no need to help them nor do they care about the Kim's.
Add to this mix...the former housekeeper, Chin-Sook, and her husband, who'd previously been living off the Parks. And this is where everything goes awry or horribly wrong. And the black satire switches to a thriller.
What hit me at various points watching it -- is if anyone in the film truly cared about someone other than their own family, then things may not have gone so wrong.
However, the Park's daughter does in a way save Kevin. But outside of that...and her motivation was mixed. If the Kim's cared about the Chin-Sook and her husband at all, they wouldn't have lost half their family. What they should have done was be kind and say, yes, come up, join us. We'll help you. No problem. Also, if the Parks cared about anyone other than themselves -- Mrs. Chin-Sook would not have had to hide her husband downstairs. And they probably would have ended up in the situation they found themselves in. All these people needed to do was put a stranger's life above their need for financial gain and comfort. Did they? No.
Through all this, there are some clever little jabs. The use of American names. The free extermination by leaving the windows open, which backfires when the guy urinating in front of the windows comes by. Or the flood - which ends up flooding their apartment. The Park's talk about how grateful they were for the rain and it was a blessing, while the rains almost killed the Kim's - and evicted them from their basement apartment. Another nice bit -- the man hiding out in the unknown bunker beneath the Park's house, bangs his head against the lights in a kind of morse code telling the Park's he's grateful for the privilege -- to be a parasite in their house. Da-Song, the little boy and son of the Parks, dresses up as an American Indian, shoots arrows, and wears a head-dress. He also has an Indian tent. American culture permeates the story...in various ways. Pizza served in boxes with the Pizza delivery guy. The names of various people - Nathan, Jessica (Jin-kung) Kevin...And the American Indian. Which in itself is a commentary on the falseness of the American dream or the Capitalist one.
It's a well-written, well-directed, well-acted, detail-laden film that does make you think afterwards. Is it great cinema? Eh. It didn't blow me away. I didn't dislike it either. Found it a tad slow in spots. It runs 2 hours and 13 minutes -- or really just two hours, so shorter than most.
I'd say it was worth the $5.99 rental, but I'm glad I didn't see it in a theater.
[ETA: This is NOT a horror film. There are no actual parasites. There's no gore. The violence is minimal. Everyone on my flist should be fine. If you could watch Buffy, Supernatural, Star Wars, Star Trek, any of the MCU films, X-Files, etc -- you'll be fine. The film is a black comedy-thriller about classicism in Korea. I don't know why people went nuts over it. I was kind of bored.]
Anyhow, I'm still ambivalent about this movie. There's some interesting metaphors and tricks/gimmicks that the writer/director utilizes to promote his theme. Such as the use of American names for a few of the characters, indicative of education or wealth and prestige. In addition the use of American education being something that is preferred or admired. While clever, it didn't blow me away or make me wish I'd seen it with someone to tear it apart. I'm not quite sure why it had that effect on my co-workers.
The film's theme is, however, indicative of a pattern that I'm seeing in popular culture and have been seeing for a while now. The condemnation of the divide between the rich and the poor, and to a degree a commentary on the need to obtain power through financial gain. Those with money have power and are either worshipped, denigrated, or envied - often all three. Parasite has similar themes to The Joker, although it's vicious in a very different and far broader way. And I'm guessing easier to watch from the reactions I've seen to The Joker. It also has similar themes to Breaking Bad.
The film, like pretty much all Korean films/television series that I've seen to date, is a commentary on class inequality, specifically in regards to Capitalism. There's an overwhelming theme in Korean Cinema that if only you can make enough money and become rich, you will be happy and everything will go as planned. All evidence to the contrary. None of the rich people in these television series and films are remotely happy, comfortable yes, happy no. Actually the rich's families seem to be disjointed, and distant, with a kind of boredom, while the poverty stricken eat together, work together, and plan together to survive.
Also nothing ever goes as planned. That's actually the best take-away from the film, "The best plan is no plan. Because with no plan, nothing can go wrong. And if things do, it just is, it's an act of God or luck. Every time you have a plan, everything goes wrong. Nothing goes right. Do you think all these people planned to sleep on the floor of this gym? Best plan is no plan."
The title in of itself is a metaphor for the parasitic nature of humanity to money, and what we'll do for money and comfort. Or another way of looking at it, the parasitic nature of the rich to the poor and back again. In this film, you can argue it both ways, the rich are living off their servants, with paid help doing everything for them and taking care of all the things they don't want to do. They see them as little more than robots, and if they become human, with smells, and coughs, or struggles - they are summarily dismissed. While the poverty stricken/needy live off the rich's scraps, feeding off of them like parasites, invading their homes, and if one tries to displace another -- fighting over who gets to be the parasite. It's not a fetching or complimentary portrait of humanity.
If you are depressed, angry, and/or anxious over current events, you might want to skip this film. No one in it is remotely likable. The film acts as a black satire on the Korean social class system. Which, if, anything, demonstrates that humans are selfish greedy assholes no matter what country you happen to be in at the moment.
Uplifting this film isn't.
I didn't find it that funny. There are a few funny scenes where I laughed. But mostly, I cringed. And I was glad I could fast-forward if need be. Most of the funny scenes, were in the trailer. Although there are two that are funny, that I'm not completely certain were intentional. I'm guessing they were -- since this read as a black comedic satire.
The set-up? A dirt poor family, the Kims, through a series of circumstances, plots to slowly infilterates an upper-middle class family, The Parks. On the face, it is seemingly harmless at first. Min, the eldest son's friend, suggests he take over his job as tutor to the daughter of a upper-middle class couple. He doesn't really need to know all that much. He'd gone to the military, he passed exams for the University and attended a few classes. So, taking the name "Kevin", he plots with his family how to go about it. Then learns from the mother, Moon-win, that her rambunctious son has gone through three art teachers. And they don't know what to do, and no one can tame him. So "Kevin" suggests that he knows a gal, named "Jessica" who is from the States and would work perfectly. He teaches his sister the back story and gets her into the house. Next up is well the parents...and that's when things begin to slowly get less nice. Also Jessica lies about what is wrong with the little boy. And ensures the chauffeur get fired, while both Jessica and Kevin get the housekeeper dismissed it. Not thinking of either, or caring. The Kim's much like the Parks only care about themselves and their family no one else. And they manipulate the Parks to get what they need from them, while the Parks feel no need to help them nor do they care about the Kim's.
Add to this mix...the former housekeeper, Chin-Sook, and her husband, who'd previously been living off the Parks. And this is where everything goes awry or horribly wrong. And the black satire switches to a thriller.
What hit me at various points watching it -- is if anyone in the film truly cared about someone other than their own family, then things may not have gone so wrong.
However, the Park's daughter does in a way save Kevin. But outside of that...and her motivation was mixed. If the Kim's cared about the Chin-Sook and her husband at all, they wouldn't have lost half their family. What they should have done was be kind and say, yes, come up, join us. We'll help you. No problem. Also, if the Parks cared about anyone other than themselves -- Mrs. Chin-Sook would not have had to hide her husband downstairs. And they probably would have ended up in the situation they found themselves in. All these people needed to do was put a stranger's life above their need for financial gain and comfort. Did they? No.
Through all this, there are some clever little jabs. The use of American names. The free extermination by leaving the windows open, which backfires when the guy urinating in front of the windows comes by. Or the flood - which ends up flooding their apartment. The Park's talk about how grateful they were for the rain and it was a blessing, while the rains almost killed the Kim's - and evicted them from their basement apartment. Another nice bit -- the man hiding out in the unknown bunker beneath the Park's house, bangs his head against the lights in a kind of morse code telling the Park's he's grateful for the privilege -- to be a parasite in their house. Da-Song, the little boy and son of the Parks, dresses up as an American Indian, shoots arrows, and wears a head-dress. He also has an Indian tent. American culture permeates the story...in various ways. Pizza served in boxes with the Pizza delivery guy. The names of various people - Nathan, Jessica (Jin-kung) Kevin...And the American Indian. Which in itself is a commentary on the falseness of the American dream or the Capitalist one.
It's a well-written, well-directed, well-acted, detail-laden film that does make you think afterwards. Is it great cinema? Eh. It didn't blow me away. I didn't dislike it either. Found it a tad slow in spots. It runs 2 hours and 13 minutes -- or really just two hours, so shorter than most.
I'd say it was worth the $5.99 rental, but I'm glad I didn't see it in a theater.
[ETA: This is NOT a horror film. There are no actual parasites. There's no gore. The violence is minimal. Everyone on my flist should be fine. If you could watch Buffy, Supernatural, Star Wars, Star Trek, any of the MCU films, X-Files, etc -- you'll be fine. The film is a black comedy-thriller about classicism in Korea. I don't know why people went nuts over it. I was kind of bored.]
no subject
Date: 2020-02-02 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-02 11:05 pm (UTC)The blood is relatively limited. It's not a horror film. Three people are killed and not in that gory a fashion -- actually it was rather tame. You'll find it laughably quaint in comparison to what you saw on The Witcher.
The Parasite title -- is just a metaphor. There are no "actual" parasites in it. The deaths are...well, how to put this? The blood looks fake. And it's meant to be comical.
If you're concerned about gore, violence, or gruesome images? You'll be fine. It's a black comedy-thriller about classicism in Korea.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-03 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-03 02:46 am (UTC)Movies aren't really doing much for me these days. I don't know why.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-03 11:39 pm (UTC)UA Sheepshead Bay had a noon showing of Parasite. I had the car. P&D weren't getting out before 4. I had a window, and I went for it.
I loved the first half. The escalating complexity of the Kim family's con was thrilling and fun to watch. I thought one of the underlying themes of the movie was going to be that the Kims' talents (especially Ki-Jung's phenomenal counterfeiting skills) were just as impressive as Daddy Park's tech; they just needed the proper environment to show that talent.
But once the old housekeeper came back, it turned into a dog eat dog battle between the lower class families. I was hoping the movie would dig further into the symbiotic relationship between the Kims and the Parks, but Bong Joon Ho didn't seem to be too interested in that after awhile. (Ki-Jung/Jessica nearly disappearing in the second half was a big mistake.)
Yeah, I get the parallels between the bomb shelter and the Kims' basement apartment, and between the old housekeeper's husband and Mr. Kim. I just wasn't entertained by it.
I agree that the movie was well directed and well written. (The symbolic architecture of the movie looks great on the big screen, kind of how the castle in The Favorite reflected the psychodrama happening inside its walls.) Judging from this movie, Okja and Snowpiercer, Joon Ho has a fascinating love/hate relationship with American capitalism and culture. He appreciates the possibilities afforded by capitalism, but appalled by the human cost. I think Parasite falls just short of being a great movie, but he's an interesting director to watch.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-04 01:46 am (UTC)We appear to agree. The first half or the con was entertaining, the second half, not so much. Also, agreed, the loss of Jessica half-way through was a mistake - she was among the best things in the film.
I haven't seen enough of his films. He did Snowpiercer? Interesting. I thought that was an American film for some reason? I haven't made it through it yet -- but that's more a mood issue than anything else. He does have some interesting ideas, but I felt they were poorly developed and the emphasis was in the wrong direction.
Most Asian cinema, by the way, has a love/hate relationship with American capitalism and culture. The Japanese are more direct about it. But I watched another Korean series this summer and the love/hate relationship with America was evident. I don't blame them. And it's not isolated to the Asian market, the French and British do too. LOL! I found that aspect entertaining.
The dog-eat-dog bit..bored me and didn't entertain me at all. I kind could see where it was going and was a little disappointed. Also Wiki is horrible at plot synopsis. I'd tried to spoil myself by reading Wiki's plot synopsis before finally giving in and watching it myself. And the plot synopsis made no sense. From the plot synopsis it appeared the Park's were hiding Mr. Park in the basement. LOL!